Wallace M. Alexander (1869–1939) was an American heir, businessman and philanthropist.

Biography

Early life

Wallace McKinney Alexander was born on November 10, 1869 in

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

.Stanford Historical Society: Wallace M. Alexander
/ref>Allen L. Chickering, 'Wallace M. Alexander, 1869-1939', ''California Historical Society Quarterly'', Vol. 18, No. 4 (Dec., 1939), pp. 379-38

/ref> His father was

Samuel Thomas Alexander Samuel Thomas Alexander (October 29, 1836 – September 10, 1904) co-founded a major agricultural and transportation business in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Early life In November 1831, the Reverend William Patterson Alexander (1805–1884) and Mary A ...

. His mother was Martha E. (Cooke) Alexander. His paternal grandfather,

William Patterson Alexander William Patterson Alexander (July 25, 1805 – August 13, 1884) was an American missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaii. His family continued to influence the history of Hawaii. Life William Patterson Alexander was born in Paris, Kentucky on July 2 ...

, was a missionary in Hawaii. His maternal grandfather,

Amos Starr Cooke Amos Starr Cooke (December 1, 1810 – March 20, 1871) was an American educator and businessman in the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was patriarch of a family that influenced Hawaii during the 20th century. Life Amos Starr Cooke was born in Danbury, Co ...

, was a Hawaii missionary and founder of the

Castle & Cooke Castle & Cooke, Inc., is a Los Angeles-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company at one time did most of its business in agriculture, including becoming, through mergers with the modern Dole F ...

company. Alexander grew up in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

and was educated at Oakland High School,Gail Lombardi, ''Piedmonts History: The Building Years 1910-1930'', The Attic Trunk a Publication of the Piedmont Historical Soceity 2006, p. 10] then

Phillips Andover Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

. He graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1892.Izumi Hirobe, ''Japanese Pride, American Prejudice: Modifying the Exclusion Clause of the 1924 Immigration Act'', Stanford University Press, 2001, pp. 121-12

/ref>

Career

Alexander owned

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s as well as sugar refining factories in Hawaii. He served on the Board of Directors of Alexander and Baldwin. He also served as the Vice President of the

Matson Navigation Company Matson may refer to: *Matson (surname) *Matson, Gloucester, England, a suburb of Gloucester *Matson, Missouri, an unincorporated community *2586 Matson, an asteroid * Matson, Inc., a shipping company, formerly Matson Navigation Company *Matson Film ...

and the Honolulu Oil Corporation. He served as president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. He was also a powerbroker in the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

of San Francisco. In 1928, he suggested prohibiting mutual immigration between the United States and Japan; the idea was rejected by Japan.

Philanthropy

Alexander served on the board of trustees of the

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington D.C. with operations in Europe, South and East Asia, and the Middle East as well as the United States. Founded in ...

. He was a member of the Japan Society of San Francisco and a co-founder of the

Institute of Pacific Relations The Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR) was an international NGO established in 1925 to provide a forum for discussion of problems and relations between nations of the Pacific Rim. The International Secretariat, the center of most IPR activity ov ...

. He supported the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

. He served as president of the

San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when he ...

. He also served on the Board of Trustees of

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, near

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...

, having been first elected in 1924 and re-elected in 1934. He received the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

from France in 1937.

Personal life

Alexander married Mary S. Baker in 1904,a classmate for when Alexander attended Oakland public schools., As an adult he lived in

Piedmont, California Piedmont is a small city located in Alameda County, California, United States, completely surrounded by the city of Oakland. Its residential population was 11,270 at the 2020 census. The name comes from the region of Piedmont in Italy, and it me ...

and moved back to

where he died.

Death

Alexander died on November 22, 1939 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was seventy years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Wallace M. 1869 births 1939 deaths People from Maui Businesspeople from Honolulu Businesspeople from Oakland, California Businesspeople from San Francisco Phillips Academy alumni Yale University alumni American corporate directors Philanthropists from California Stanford University trustees