Morris Ketchum Jesup
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
banker and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. He was the president of the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
.
Biography
He was born at Westport, ConnecticutWestport, Connecticut
-Neighborhoods:* Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices....
. In 1842 he went to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where after some experience in business, he established a banking house in 1852. In 1856 he organized the banking firm of MK Jesup & Company, which after two reorganizations became Cuyler, Morgan & Jesup. He became widely known as a financier, retiring from active business in 1884. Before his retirement, he was already active in a wide variety of philanthropic endeavors.
Jesup was one of the organizers of the United States Christian Commission
United States Christian Commission
The United States Christian Commission was an important agency of the Union during the American Civil War. It was designed to offer religious support, but also provided numerous social services and recreation to the soldiers of the U.S. Army. It provided Protestant chaplains and social workers,...
during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, which helped provide care for wounded soldiers. He was one of the founders of the Young Men's Christian Association
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
, and served as its president in New York in 1872.
After 1860 he helped found and served as president of the Five Points
Five Points
Five Points may refer to:*Five Points, Alabama*Five Points, California , multiple locations*Five Points, Florida*Five Points, North Carolina*Five Points, Ohio*Five Points, Pennsylvania , multiple locations...
House of Industry in New York, a type of settlement house in Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
to teach new European immigrants the skills needed in the United States. After 1881 he was president of the New York City Mission Society and donated the funds for construction of the mission's DeWitt Memorial Church in Rivington Street on the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
, a center of immigrant settlement. Jesup contributed funds and worked personally to better social conditions in New York, in a period when the city was struggling to aid many poor immigrants from rural areas of southern and eastern Europe, including the Russian Empire.
He was best known as a patron of scientific research: Jesup was a major contributor to fund the Arctic expeditions of Commander Robert E Peary. He was elected president of the Peary Arctic Club in 1899. Jesup also funded the Jesup North Pacific Expedition
Jesup North Pacific Expedition
The Jesup North Pacific Expedition was a major anthropological expedition to Siberia, Alaska, and the north west coast of Canada. The purpose of the expedition was to investigate the relationships between the peoples at each side of the Bering Strait...
(1897-1902), a major ethnographic project led by the anthropologist Franz Boas
Franz Boas
Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...
.
Jesup contributed to educational institutions. His contributions to Tuskegee Institute enabled George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver , was an American scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor. The exact day and year of his birth are unknown; he is believed to have been born into slavery in Missouri in January 1864....
to develop a mobile educational station that he took to farmers. Jesup was treasurer of the Slater Fund
Slater Fund
The John F. Slater Fund for the Education of Freedmen was created in the United States in 1882 for the encouragement of industrial education among negroes in the South....
at its beginning. He served as a member of the Peabody Educational Board
Peabody Education Fund
Founded of necessity due to damage caused largely by the American Civil War, the Peabody Education Fund was established by George Peabody in 1867 for the purpose of promoting "intellectual, moral, and industrial education in the most destitute portion of the Southern States." The gift of...
and of the General Education Board
General Education Board
The General Education Board was a philanthropy created by John D. Rockefeller and Frederick T. Gates in 1902. Rockefeller gave it $180 million, which was used primarily to support higher education and medical schools in the United States, and to help rural white and black schools in the South, as...
.
He was appointed president of the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
, in New York City, to which he gave large sums in his lifetime and bequeathed $1,000,000. In 1915 the Metropolitan Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, New York, received by bequest of Mrs. Jesup, a large and valuable collection of paintings.
Jesup was president of the New York Chamber of Commerce from 1899 until 1907, and was the largest subscriber to its new building. To his native town he donated funds to construct the Westport Public Library
Westport Public Library
The Westport Public Library in the town of Westport, Connecticut, was originally established on February 4, 1886, by a group of enthusiastic book-lovers who formed the Westport Reading-Room and Library Association...
. He died in New York City on 22 January 1908, aged 77.
Legacy and honors
- 1905, he was knighted by Czar Nicholas II of RussiaNicholas II of RussiaNicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
for his philanthropic work aiding immigrants from the Russian Empire. - Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
's Jesup Lectureship is named after him. - The Morris K. Jesup Psychological Laboratory on Vanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
's PeabodyPeabody CollegePeabody College of Education and Human Development was founded in 1875 when the University of Nashville, located in Nashville, Tennessee, split into two separate educational institutions...
campus was named for him and was the first building of its kind in the world; - Cape Morris JesupCape Morris JesupCape Morris Jesup is the northernmost point of mainland Greenland at and is 711.8 km from the geographic North Pole...
, the northernmost point of mainland GreenlandGreenlandGreenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, was named in his honor.
External links
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History - Objects and Photographs from Jesup North Pacific Expedition 1897-1902 (section Collections Online, option Collections Highlights).