Edward Roland Noel "Bunny" Harriman (December 24, 1895 – February 16, 1978) was an American financier and philanthropist.

Early life

Harriman was born on December 24, 1895, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

.Kenneth T. Jackson, Lisa Keller, Nancy Flood, ''The Encyclopedia of New York City'', New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 201

/ref> He was the youngest of five surviving children of Mary Williamson Averell and

Edward Henry Harriman Edward Henry Harriman (February 20, 1848 – September 9, 1909) was an American financier and railroad executive. Early life Harriman was born on February 20, 1848, in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman Sr., an Episcopal clergyma ...

.JOIN YALE FRATERNITIES.; E. Roland Harriman Among Those Elected to Junior Societies.
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', November 19, 1914 Among his siblings was W. Averell Harriman, the financier and government official, four years his senior. Edward H. Harriman's estate was substantial, variously estimated between $70 million and $100 million upon his death in 1908, leaving his wife and children well provided for. Roland, whom friends and family sometimes called "Bunny," was educated at Groton School, from which he graduated in 1913, and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

(B.A., 1917), where he was a member of

Psi Upsilon Psi Upsilon (), commonly known as Psi U, is a North American fraternity,''Psi Upsilon Tablet'' founded at Union College on November 24, 1833. The fraternity reports 50 chapters at colleges and universities throughout North America, some of which ...

fraternity. He was also a member of

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

with his classmate and friend Prescott Bush. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served for 10 months as an inspector with the rank of lieutenant in the United States Army Ordnance Department; stricken with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

and influenza, he was honorably discharged in January 1919.

Career

After regaining his health in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, in November 1919, Harriman joined the Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation, a firm in which his brother W. Averell Harriman had an interest. In 1922 Harriman joined W. A. Harriman Company,

investment bankers Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...

in New York City, and in 1923 he became its vice president. In 1927 the two brothers formed the banking firm Harriman Brothers and Company. In 1931 the firm was merged with Brown Bros. & Co., with Roland as vice president. Headquartered on Wall Street, Brown Brothers Harriman started with nine partners and about 200 employees, performing specialized banking services for customers, mainly medium-sized corporations; it was not a member of the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

System or the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cr ...

. In 1968 Harriman and three other senior partners at Brown Brothers (

Robert A. Lovett Robert Abercrombie Lovett (September 14, 1895May 7, 1986) was the fourth United States Secretary of Defense, having been promoted to this position from Deputy Secretary of Defense. He served in the cabinet of President Harry S. Truman from 1951 ...

, secretary of defense under President

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

; Prescott Bush, former senator from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

; and Knight Woolley — all Yale men) moved "upstairs," literally and figuratively, to make way for the younger partners, one of whom was

Robert Roosa Robert Vincent Roosa (June 21, 1918 – December 23, 1993) was an American economist and banker. He served as Treasury Undersecretary for Monetary Affairs during the Kennedy administration. He believed the U.S. dollar should be the world's le ...

, former undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury. In 1975 a few years prior to Harriman's death, there were 29 partners and approximately 1,000 employees. Harriman served as the chairman of the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

for 23 years.

Union Bank

Harriman was one of the seven directors of the

Union Banking Corporation The Union Banking Corporation (UBC) was a banking corporation in the US. Founding member and one of its seven directors was Prescott Bush. The banks assets were seized by the United States government on October 20, 1942, during World War II unde ...

(along with Prescott Sheldon Bush, father of future U.S. president George H. W. Bush), which financed

Fritz Thyssen Friedrich "Fritz" Thyssen (9 November 1873 – 8 February 1951) was a German businessman, born into one of Germany's leading industrial families. He was an early supporter of the Nazi Party, but later broke with them. Biography Youth Thyssen w ...

a donor to the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

and whose assets were seized by the United States government during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

under the

Trading with the Enemy Act Trading with the Enemy Act is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom and the United States relating to trading with the enemy. ''Trading with the Enemy Acts'' is also a generic name for a class of legislation generally pas ...

and Executive Order No. 9095.

Personal life

On April 12, 1917, he married Gladys Fries (1896–1983). They resided in Arden, New YorkKenneth Czech, ''With Rifle & Petticoat: Women as Big Game Hunters, 1880-1940'', Derrydale Press, 2002, pp. 91-9

/ref> and were listed in the

Social Register The ''Social Register'' is a semi-annual publication in the United States that indexes the members of American high society. First published in the 1880s by newspaper columnist Louis Keller, it was later acquired by Malcolm Forbes. Since 2014, ...

.Social Register, Social Register Association, Volume 101, p. 1168
/ref> Together they had two children: *Elizabeth Harriman, who was married to Alexander C. Northrop, then Maximillian Bliss, Jr. *Phyllis Harriman, a landscape painter, who was married for several years to fellow artist

Frank Herbert Mason Frank Herbert Mason (February 20, 1921 – June 16, 2009) was an American painter and teacher. Early life Frank Herbert Mason was born on February 20, 1921, in Cleveland, Ohio.Mary ThomasFirst exhibit at Point Park gallery impressive ''Pittsb ...

Harriman died on February 16, 1978, in Arden, New York, and his wife died in 1983, also in Arden, New York.Gladys Fries Harriman
''

'', August 24, 1983

Philanthropy

With his wife, Harriman established the Irving Sherwood Wright professorship in

geriatrics Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on providing care for the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατρός ''iatros ...

at New York Hospital-

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach a ...

Medical Center, and provided funds for cardiovascular research at the hospital. After World War II, Harriman joined the American Red Cross as a member of the board of governors in 1947 and helped reorganize it, serving as manager for the organization's North Atlantic area from 1944 to 1946, as vice-president and national annual fund appeal chair in 1949, and was appointed its president by President Truman to succeed General

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the US Army under Pre ...

in 1950. President Dwight Eisenhower reappointed him president in 1953. Harriman's other philanthropic board memberships included that of the American Museum of Natural History, for which he was also treasurer. He was also the chairman of the U.S. Trotting Association. He was also president and chairman of the Boys' Club of New York.

Bibliography

*''I Reminisce'' (1975).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harriman, E. Roland 1895 births 1978 deaths Businesspeople from New York City People from Orange County, New York Groton School alumni Yale University alumni Cornell University faculty Philanthropists from New York (state) Harriman family