Norman Wait Harris (August 15, 1846 – July 15, 1916) was an American banker. He founded Chicago-based N.W. Harris & Co., the predecessor of

Harris Bank BMO Harris Bank, N.A. is an American bank based in Chicago, Illinois. It is a member of the Federal Reserve System and operates branches in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas, Florida, Wisconsin, and California ...

as well as its affiliate Harris, Forbes & Co. and later Harris, Hall & Co.

Biography

Harris was born in

Berkshire County, Massachusetts Berkshire County (pronounced ) is a county on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,026. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield. The county was founded in ...

in 1846, to Nathan Wait Harris and C. Emeline Wadsworth Harris. Harris was educated at

Westfield Academy Westfield Academy (formerly Westfield Community Technology College) is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in the Holywell Estate in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. Previously a community school ...

, graduating at age 17 to pursue a career in business. In 1867, at age 21, Harris joined the

Union Central Life Insurance Company Union Central Life Insurance Company was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1867. It was established as a mutual insurance company. Among its founders were Norman Wait Harris, founder of Harris Bank. In 2005, it formed a mutual insurance In ...

of Cincinnati, which he helped to found, as secretary. In 1882, Harris founded the banking firm that would bear his name, N.W. Harris & Co. The firm was initially based in Chicago and would later open offices in New York City and Boston. In 1907, Harris reorganized his banking business, founding the Harris Trust and Savings Bank, based in Chicago and Harris, Forbes & Co. based in New York. Harris was also a director of

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

. In 1916, during a tour of Asia, Harris suffered a heart attack in Japan. He arrived in Seattle in May 1916, where he remained briefly before returning home. Harris died just two months later in July 1916 at his summer home in

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Lake Geneva is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located in Walworth County and situated on Geneva Lake, it is home to an estimated 8,105 people as of 2019, up from 7,651 at the 2010 census. It is located about 40 miles southwest of Milwa ...

. He is interred at

Rosehill Cemetery Rosehill Cemetery (founded 1859) is an American garden cemetery on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, and at , is the largest cemetery in the City of Chicago. According to legend, the name "Rosehill" resulted from a City Clerk's error – the ar ...

in Chicago.

Philanthropy

In his later years, Harris was a philanthropist supporting a wide range of institutions, particularly in Chicago. Harris made substantial gifts to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, which in 1924 endowed an "Institute of Politics";"Watered Gruel"
''TIME'' Magazine, May 5, 1924 the Field Museum, where a $250,000 gift was used to fund a public school expansion; and the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

. In 1913, Harris gave $250,000 to

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

for the construction of Harris Hall of Political Science and History (today known as Harris Hall), which is located at the front gate of the University. Harris also gave a substantial gift to the Chicago Training School for Home and Foreign Missions, the largest training school of its kind for

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

missionaries in the United States. Harris, who was actively involved with the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

, donated the land for the construction of its main campus and chapel.

References

External links

Harris-Maclean Family Papers
at

the Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics rela ...

Guide to the Norman Wait Harris Foundation Records 1923-1956
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Norman Wait 1846 births 1916 deaths People from Becket, Massachusetts Bank of Montreal American investment bankers 19th-century American businesspeople Burials at Rosehill Cemetery