Alfred Tredway White (May 28, 1846 – January 29, 1921) was an American housing reformer and philanthropist, and was known as "Brooklyn's first citizen." He developed the Home Buildings (1877), Tower Buildings (1879, now Cobble Hill Towers) and the Riverside Buildings (1890). He advocated a model of "philanthropy plus five percent," accepting a limited financial return on his projects. Warren Place snow jeh

White's buildings were extensively praised by

Jacob Riis Jacob August Riis ( ; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in America at the turn of the twen ...

in "

How The Other Half Lives ''How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York'' (1890) is an early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s. The photographs served as a basis ...

" as a "''beau ideal''" and a "big village of contented people." They covered roughly half of their lots, leaving large

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

s suitable for concerts and other recreation. He served as Commissioner of City Works for Brooklyn during the administration of

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Schieren Schieren is a commune and town in central Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Diekirch. The town of Schieren, which lies in the west of the commune, has a population of . Schieren is served by a railway station. Schieren was formed on 1 Jul ...

. He was an early benefactor of the

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. It was founded in 1910 using land from Mount Prospect Park in central Brooklyn, adjacent to Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Museum. The garden holds ...

, and is memorialized there by the Alfred T. White Memorial and Amphitheater. He was also a major supporter of both the

Hampton Institute Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association aft ...

and

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

. He was a member of the

Unitarian Universalist Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

church. Thredway White died in 1921, leaving some $15 million to his daughter Annie Jean Van Sinderen.

References

1846 births 1921 deaths People from Brooklyn American real estate businesspeople Philanthropists from New York (state) 19th-century American businesspeople American Unitarian Universalists {{US-business-bio-1840s-stub