Paul Mellon
Encyclopedia
Paul Mellon KBE
(June 11, 1907 – February 1, 1999) was an American
philanthropist
, thoroughbred
racehorse
owner/breeder
. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
. He was co-heir to one of America's greatest business fortunes, the Mellon Bank
fortune, created by his grandfather Thomas Mellon
, his father Andrew W. Mellon
, and his father's brother Richard B. Mellon
. In 1957, when Fortune
prepared its first list of the wealthiest Americans
, it estimated that Paul Mellon, his sister Ailsa Mellon-Bruce
, and his cousins Sarah Mellon
and Richard King Mellon
, were all among the richest eight people in the United States, with fortunes of between 400 and 700 million dollars each (around $ and $ in today dollars).
Paul Mellon's autobiography, Reflections in a Silver Spoon ISBN 0-688-09723-5, was published in 1992. He died at his home, Oak Spring, in Upperville, Virginia
, on February 1, 1999. He was survived by his wife, Rachel (a.k.a. Bunny), his children, Catherine Conover (first wife of John Warner
) and Timothy Mellon
, and two stepchildren, Stacy Lloyd III and Eliza, Viscountess Moore.
, US Secretary of the Treasury
from 1921 to 1932, and brother of Ailsa Mellon-Bruce. He graduated from The Choate School
(now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut
, in 1925, where he wrote for the literary magazine and composed the school hymn, and from Yale
in 1929, where he joined Scroll and Key
and served as vice-chairman of the Yale Daily News
. He was a great benefactor of his alma maters, donating the Mellon Arts Center and the Mellon (now Icahn) Science Center to Choate, and two residential colleges and the Yale Center for British Art
to Yale. After graduating from Yale he went to England to study at Clare College, Cambridge
receiving a BA in 1931, while his father served as the US Ambassador to the Court of St. James's
from 1932 to 1933. He was a founding member of the CRABS, the Clare Rugby and Boating Society (one of the oldest Collegiate Gentlemen's societies still active). In 1938 he received a MA from Clare College
. He was a major benefactor to Clare College's Forbes-Mellon library, opened in 1986.
, to work for Mellon Bank and other businesses for six months. In 1935, he married Mary Conover Brown and the couple, who had two children, Catherine and Timothy, moved to Virginia
.
He enrolled at St. John's College
in Annapolis, Maryland
in 1940 but six months later joined the United States Army
, asking to join the cavalry
. Mellon served with the Office of Strategic Services
in Europe
. He rose to the rank of major
and was the recipient of four Bronze Star
s.
After his wife Mary's death in 1946 from an asthma
attack, he married Rachel Lambert Lloyd
, known as "Bunny", the former wife of Stacy Barcroft Lloyd Jr
She is a descendant of the Lambert family who formulated and marketed Listerine and an heiress to the Warner-Lambert corporate fortune (Warner-Lambert is now part of Pfizer
, following a 2000 merger). Bunny Mellon is an avid horticulturalist
and gardener, whose fondness for French
Impressionist
and Post-Impressionist
painting, as well as American art, Mellon came to share. By this marriage, he had two stepchildren: Stacy Lloyd III and Eliza Lambert Lloyd (d. 2008;who married and divorced Viscount Moore
).
in Washington, D.C.
, for which Andrew Mellon had provided funds. Four years later Paul Mellon presented both the building by John Russell Pope and his father's collection of 115 paintings to the nation. He served on the museum's board for more than four decades: as trustee, as president (twice), as board chair, and as honorary trustee. Mellon commissioned I. M. Pei
to build the East Wing and, with his sister Ailsa, provided funds for its construction in the late 1970s. Over the years he and his wife Bunny donated more than 1,000 works to the National Gallery, among them many French and American masterworks.
In 1936 Mellon purchased his first British painting, "Pumpkin with a Stable-lad" by George Stubbs
, who became a lifetime favorite of Mellon's. Beginning in the late 1950s, with the help of English art historian Basil Taylor, Mellon amassed a major collection by the mid-1960s. London
art dealer Geoffrey Agnew once said of his acquisitions: “It took an American collector to make the English look again at their own paintings.”
Mellon granted his extensive collection of British art, rare books, and related materials to Yale University in the 1960s, along with the funding to create an appropriate museum to house it (designed by Louis Kahn
). He characteristically insisted that it not be named in honor of him, but rather would be called the Yale Center for British Art
, to encourage others to support it as well. Mellon also provided extensive endowment support to fund not only operations but also an ongoing program of acquisitions, and he made a generous bequest to the Center at the time of his death. The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
was founded in 1970 through a generous grant to Yale University
, as a London-based affiliate of the New Haven center, to encourage study of British art and culture both at the undergraduate and the research scholar levels.
Mellon also provided important leadership gifts to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
in Richmond, Virginia
, as well as Choate Rosemary Hall
.
including Kentucky Derby
winner, Sea Hero
. Two of his horses, Arts and Letters
and Fort Marcy
, were named American Horse of the Year in 1969 and 1970 respectively. Both are inductees in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
. He also owned two European champions, Mill Reef
and Gold and Ivory. Mill Reef was the #8 rated horse in the world for the 20th Century in "A Century of Champions", by John Randall and Tony Morris. Mellon won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder
in 1971 and again in 1986.
in 1945, both to support advancement and learning of the humanities
and liberal education
. The Bollingen Foundation published over 100 books before closing in 1969, the same year the assets of the Old Dominion Foundation were merged into those of the his sister Ailsa's Avalon Foundation. The combined organization was renamed The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in honor of their father.
, but his legacy makes itself felt across the campus.
Mellon's other major gift was to provide extensive funding to support the creation of two new undergraduate residential colleges at Yale, Ezra Stiles College
and Morse College
. Designed by Eero Saarinen
, these colleges along with the Kahn-designed British Art Center demonstrated Mellon's commitment to bringing modern architecture to Yale. Perhaps most importantly, the additional undergraduate capacity that these colleges provided were a critical prerequisite to the ability of the university to transition to co-education.
Beyond these capital gifts, Mellon endowed the deanships of each of Yale's 12 residential colleges. He created the Mellon Senior Forum program, which provides a weekly meal for seniors in each of the residential colleges where they can share progress on their senior essays and projects with one another.
Mellon was active in the humanities at Yale. He provided the funding necessary to create the Directed Studies program
of intense freshman-year focus on the humanities. He supported significantly the undergraduate theater studies program, and endowed named professorships in schools throughout the University, particularly in the humanities.
He donated the $1 million bonus that Sea Hero won in the Chrysler
Triple Crown Challenge to the United States Jockey Club's
Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. Furthermore he requested that double that amount be raised in response to his donation. That goal was met during the 1995–1996 fiscal year. Upon his death he left yet another $2.5 million to the Foundation's endowment.
In 1999, Paul Mellon bequeathed $8 million to the University of Cambridge
in England
for the Fitzwilliam Museum
. During his lifetime he agreed that £1 million of that sum could be allocated to the Museum's Courtyard Development and, under the terms of his Will, following his death in 1999, his Executors subsequently allocated a further $12.5 million to complete the renovations associated with the Courtyard, including the re-lighting of all of the Museum's galleries. The remaining balance was added to the Paul Mellon Fund which was established as a trust fund for the Museum at the time of the bequest, the income from which is being used to support education, exhibitions and publications.
He was also a major benefactor of Clare College
and Clare Hall
, both in Cambridge
, England. Indeed, Clare Hall, founded 1966, gains much from his benefaction; his generous bequest serves the intellectual needs of the graduate college members. The Mellon Fellowship is another example of his generosity, permitting the reciprocal exchange of two students from Yale and two from Clare College for graduate study in each other's institutions.
He developed his great love of England and English culture while studying at Clare College from 1929-1931. ‘It was while I was at Cambridge that I embarked on the dangerous seas of collecting,’ Paul Mellon once said - a statement by the man who described himself as "the incurable collector" that has had profound implications for his major beneficiaries, both in the US and the UK.
and one of the only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame
and the English Jockey Club Hall of Fame
.
Among honors, he was created an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
(KBE) in 1974, awarded the National Medal of Arts
in 1985, and awarded the National Medal of Arts and Humanities in 1997.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(June 11, 1907 – February 1, 1999) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
, thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorse
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
owner/breeder
Horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...
. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
. He was co-heir to one of America's greatest business fortunes, the Mellon Bank
Mellon Financial
Mellon Financial Corporation, was one of the world's largest money management firms. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it was in the business of institutional and high-net-worth-individual asset management, including the Dreyfus family of mutual funds; business banking; and shareholder and...
fortune, created by his grandfather Thomas Mellon
Thomas Mellon
Thomas Alexander Mellon was a Scotch-Irish American, entrepreneur, lawyer, and judge, best known as the founder of Mellon Bank and patriarch of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Early life:...
, his father Andrew W. Mellon
Andrew W. Mellon
Andrew William Mellon was an American banker, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector and Secretary of the Treasury from March 4, 1921 until February 12, 1932.-Early life:...
, and his father's brother Richard B. Mellon
Richard B. Mellon
Richard Beatty Mellon , sometimes R.B., was a banker, industrialist, and philanthropist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania....
. In 1957, when Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
prepared its first list of the wealthiest Americans
Wealthiest Americans (1957)
In 1957 Fortune magazine developed a list of the seventy-six wealthiest Americans; the list was republished in many American newspapers. The primary source of wealth was indicated as being inherited or stemming from a particular business or industry...
, it estimated that Paul Mellon, his sister Ailsa Mellon-Bruce
Ailsa Mellon-Bruce
Ailsa Mellon Bruce , born in Pittsburgh, was a prominent socialite and the daughter of the banker and diplomat Andrew W. Mellon. She served from 1921 to 1932 as her father's official hostess during his tenure as United States Secretary of the Treasury, and again when he was U.S...
, and his cousins Sarah Mellon
Sarah Mellon
Sarah Mellon was the niece of Andrew W. Mellon . She was one of the heirs to the Mellon fortune, including Mellon Bank and major investments in Gulf Oil and Alcoa...
and Richard King Mellon
Richard King Mellon
Richard King Mellon , commonly known as R.K., was an American financier from Ligonier, Pennsylvania.-Biography:The son of Richard B. Mellon, nephew of Andrew W...
, were all among the richest eight people in the United States, with fortunes of between 400 and 700 million dollars each (around $ and $ in today dollars).
Paul Mellon's autobiography, Reflections in a Silver Spoon ISBN 0-688-09723-5, was published in 1992. He died at his home, Oak Spring, in Upperville, Virginia
Upperville, Virginia
Upperville is an unincorporated community in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States, located along U.S. Route 50 fifty miles from downtown Washington, D.C.. Founded in the 1790s along Pantherskin Creek, it was originally named Carrstown by first settler Josephus Carr...
, on February 1, 1999. He was survived by his wife, Rachel (a.k.a. Bunny), his children, Catherine Conover (first wife of John Warner
John Warner
John William Warner, KBE is an American Republican politician who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Senator from Virginia from January 2, 1979, to January 3, 2009...
) and Timothy Mellon
Timothy Mellon
Timothy Mellon is chairman and majority owner of Pan Am Systems, a transportation holding company.The son of Paul Mellon and his first wife, Mary Conover Brown, Timothy Mellon holds a degree in city planning from Yale University...
, and two stepchildren, Stacy Lloyd III and Eliza, Viscountess Moore.
Biography
Paul Mellon was the son of Andrew W. MellonAndrew W. Mellon
Andrew William Mellon was an American banker, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector and Secretary of the Treasury from March 4, 1921 until February 12, 1932.-Early life:...
, US Secretary of the Treasury
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
from 1921 to 1932, and brother of Ailsa Mellon-Bruce. He graduated from The Choate School
Choate Rosemary Hall
Choate Rosemary Hall is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school located in Wallingford, Connecticut...
(now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut
Wallingford, Connecticut
Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 43,026 at the 2000 census.- History :Wallingford was established on October 10, 1667, when the Connecticut General Assembly authorized the "making of a village on the east river" to 38 planters and freemen...
, in 1925, where he wrote for the literary magazine and composed the school hymn, and from Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1929, where he joined Scroll and Key
Scroll and Key
The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the wealthiest and second oldest Yale secret society...
and served as vice-chairman of the Yale Daily News
Yale Daily News
The Yale Daily News is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878...
. He was a great benefactor of his alma maters, donating the Mellon Arts Center and the Mellon (now Icahn) Science Center to Choate, and two residential colleges and the Yale Center for British Art
Yale Center for British Art
The Yale Center for British Art is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale University which houses the most comprehensive collection of British Art outside the United Kingdom...
to Yale. After graduating from Yale he went to England to study at Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
receiving a BA in 1931, while his father served as the US Ambassador to the Court of St. James's
Court of St. James's
The Court of St James's is the royal court of the United Kingdom. It previously had the same function in the Kingdom of England and in the Kingdom of Great Britain .-Overview:...
from 1932 to 1933. He was a founding member of the CRABS, the Clare Rugby and Boating Society (one of the oldest Collegiate Gentlemen's societies still active). In 1938 he received a MA from Clare College
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
. He was a major benefactor to Clare College's Forbes-Mellon library, opened in 1986.
Marriage and military service
Mellon returned to Pittsburgh, United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, to work for Mellon Bank and other businesses for six months. In 1935, he married Mary Conover Brown and the couple, who had two children, Catherine and Timothy, moved to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
He enrolled at St. John's College
St. John's College, U.S.
St. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
in 1940 but six months later joined the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, asking to join the cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
. Mellon served with the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. He rose to the rank of major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
and was the recipient of four Bronze Star
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
s.
After his wife Mary's death in 1946 from an asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
attack, he married Rachel Lambert Lloyd
Rachel Lambert Mellon
Rachel "Bunny" Lowe Lambert Lloyd Mellon is an American horticulturalist, gardener, philanthropist, fine arts collector, member of the International Best Dressed List, and widow of philanthropist, art collector, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder, and banking heir Paul Mellon.-Background:Known...
, known as "Bunny", the former wife of Stacy Barcroft Lloyd Jr
Stacy Barcroft Lloyd Jr
Stacy Barcroft Lloyd Jr. was a businessman, horse breeder, dairy cattle farmer and yachtsman. He was the founder of the equestrian journal ....
She is a descendant of the Lambert family who formulated and marketed Listerine and an heiress to the Warner-Lambert corporate fortune (Warner-Lambert is now part of Pfizer
Pfizer
Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...
, following a 2000 merger). Bunny Mellon is an avid horticulturalist
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
and gardener, whose fondness for French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Impressionist
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
and Post-Impressionist
Post-Impressionism
Post-Impressionism is the term coined by the British artist and art critic Roger Fry in 1910 to describe the development of French art since Manet. Fry used the term when he organized the 1910 exhibition Manet and Post-Impressionism...
painting, as well as American art, Mellon came to share. By this marriage, he had two stepchildren: Stacy Lloyd III and Eliza Lambert Lloyd (d. 2008;who married and divorced Viscount Moore
Derry Moore, 12th Earl of Drogheda
Henry Dermot Ponsonby Moore, 12th Earl of Drogheda is a British photographer known professionally as Derry Moore.He inherited the title of Earl of Drogheda from his father, Charles Moore, 11th Earl of Drogheda...
).
Art collection
While Mellon did not share his father's interest in business, the two found common ground in their love of art and philanthropy. Shortly before Andrew Mellon's death in 1937, construction began on the West Wing of the National Gallery of ArtNational Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, for which Andrew Mellon had provided funds. Four years later Paul Mellon presented both the building by John Russell Pope and his father's collection of 115 paintings to the nation. He served on the museum's board for more than four decades: as trustee, as president (twice), as board chair, and as honorary trustee. Mellon commissioned I. M. Pei
I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei , commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese American architect, often called a master of modern architecture. Born in Canton, China and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the gardens at Suzhou...
to build the East Wing and, with his sister Ailsa, provided funds for its construction in the late 1970s. Over the years he and his wife Bunny donated more than 1,000 works to the National Gallery, among them many French and American masterworks.
In 1936 Mellon purchased his first British painting, "Pumpkin with a Stable-lad" by George Stubbs
George Stubbs
George Stubbs was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses.-Biography:Stubbs was born in Liverpool, the son of a currier and leather merchant. Information on his life up to age thirty-five is sparse, relying almost entirely on notes made by fellow artist Ozias Humphry towards the...
, who became a lifetime favorite of Mellon's. Beginning in the late 1950s, with the help of English art historian Basil Taylor, Mellon amassed a major collection by the mid-1960s. London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
art dealer Geoffrey Agnew once said of his acquisitions: “It took an American collector to make the English look again at their own paintings.”
Mellon granted his extensive collection of British art, rare books, and related materials to Yale University in the 1960s, along with the funding to create an appropriate museum to house it (designed by Louis Kahn
Louis Kahn
Louis Isadore Kahn was an American architect, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935...
). He characteristically insisted that it not be named in honor of him, but rather would be called the Yale Center for British Art
Yale Center for British Art
The Yale Center for British Art is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale University which houses the most comprehensive collection of British Art outside the United Kingdom...
, to encourage others to support it as well. Mellon also provided extensive endowment support to fund not only operations but also an ongoing program of acquisitions, and he made a generous bequest to the Center at the time of his death. The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art is a scholarly centre in London devoted to the study of British Art. It was founded in 1970 and opened to the public in 1977, and is endowed by a gift from Paul Mellon. Since 1996, it has been situated at 16 Bedford Square in a Grade I listed building...
was founded in 1970 through a generous grant to Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, as a London-based affiliate of the New Haven center, to encourage study of British art and culture both at the undergraduate and the research scholar levels.
Mellon also provided important leadership gifts to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, in the United States, which opened in 1936.The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia, while private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the support of specific programs and all...
in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, as well as Choate Rosemary Hall
Choate Rosemary Hall
Choate Rosemary Hall is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school located in Wallingford, Connecticut...
.
Rokeby Stables
Mellon owned many thoroughbred horses under his Rokeby StablesRokeby Stables
Rokeby Stables was an American thoroughbred racehorse breeding farm in Upperville, Virginia involved with both steeplechase and flat racing. The operation was established in the late 1940s by Paul Mellon who won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder in 1971 and again in 1986...
including Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
winner, Sea Hero
Sea Hero
Sea Hero is an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the 1993 Kentucky Derby as an almost 13:1 longshot. It marked the first Derby win for jockey Jerry Bailey and for 71-year-old trainer MacKenzie Miller...
. Two of his horses, Arts and Letters
Arts and Letters
Arts and Letters was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.Owned and bred by American sportsman and noted philanthropist Paul Mellon, and trained by future Hall of Famer Elliott Burch, the colt began racing at age two...
and Fort Marcy
Fort Marcy (horse)
Fort Marcy was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. His grandsire was the important Italian horse, Nearco. In 1970 he earned three Champion titles including Co-Horse of the Year honors. He competed for six years until his retirement at the end of the 1971 racing season.Fort Marcy died in 1991 at...
, were named American Horse of the Year in 1969 and 1970 respectively. Both are inductees in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
. He also owned two European champions, Mill Reef
Mill Reef
Mill Reef was a Champion Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was bred in the United States but was trained in the United Kingdom throughout his racing career which lasted from 1970 to 1972. Mill Reef won twelve of his fourteen races and finished second in the other two...
and Gold and Ivory. Mill Reef was the #8 rated horse in the world for the 20th Century in "A Century of Champions", by John Randall and Tony Morris. Mellon won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor for breeders. Created in 1971, it is part of the Eclipse Awards program and is awarded annually.Its Canadian counterpart is the Sovereign Award for Outstanding Breeder....
in 1971 and again in 1986.
Establishment of philanthropic foundations
Mellon established the Old Dominion Foundation in 1941 and the Bollingen FoundationBollingen Foundation
The Bollingen Foundation was an educational foundation set up along the lines of a university press in 1945. It was named for Bollingen Tower, Carl Jung's country home in Bollingen, Switzerland. Funding was provided by Paul Mellon and his wife Mary Conover Mellon...
in 1945, both to support advancement and learning of the humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
and liberal education
Liberal education
A Liberal education is a system or course of education suitable for the cultivation of a free human being. It is based on the medieval concept of the liberal arts or, more commonly now, the liberalism of the Age of Enlightenment...
. The Bollingen Foundation published over 100 books before closing in 1969, the same year the assets of the Old Dominion Foundation were merged into those of the his sister Ailsa's Avalon Foundation. The combined organization was renamed The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in honor of their father.
Yale
Paul Mellon's foremost philanthropic interest was his alma mater, Yale University. His most generous and well-known gifts established the Yale Center for British ArtYale Center for British Art
The Yale Center for British Art is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale University which houses the most comprehensive collection of British Art outside the United Kingdom...
, but his legacy makes itself felt across the campus.
Mellon's other major gift was to provide extensive funding to support the creation of two new undergraduate residential colleges at Yale, Ezra Stiles College
Ezra Stiles College
Ezra Stiles College is a residential college at Yale University, built in 1961 by Eero Saarinen. Architecturally, it is known for its lack of right angles. It is adjacent to Morse College.-Origin:...
and Morse College
Morse College
Morse College is one of the twelve residential colleges at Yale University, built in 1961 and designed by Eero Saarinen. It is adjacent to Ezra Stiles College. The current Master is Frank Keil, Professor of Psychology and Professor of Linguistics. The Associate Master is Kristi Lockhart...
. Designed by Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.-Biography:Eero Saarinen shared the same birthday as his father,...
, these colleges along with the Kahn-designed British Art Center demonstrated Mellon's commitment to bringing modern architecture to Yale. Perhaps most importantly, the additional undergraduate capacity that these colleges provided were a critical prerequisite to the ability of the university to transition to co-education.
Beyond these capital gifts, Mellon endowed the deanships of each of Yale's 12 residential colleges. He created the Mellon Senior Forum program, which provides a weekly meal for seniors in each of the residential colleges where they can share progress on their senior essays and projects with one another.
Mellon was active in the humanities at Yale. He provided the funding necessary to create the Directed Studies program
Directed Studies at Yale University
Directed Studies at Yale University is a selective humanities study program for freshmen. It follows the Great Books of the Western tradition, and resembles Princeton University's Interdisciplinary Approaches to Western Culture, Columbia University's Core Curriculum, The University of Notre Dame's...
of intense freshman-year focus on the humanities. He supported significantly the undergraduate theater studies program, and endowed named professorships in schools throughout the University, particularly in the humanities.
Other philanthropy
Mellon was highly supportive of causes that advanced the preservation of horses, including the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. That organization allocates grants towards specific research projects for the safety, welfare, longevity and improvement of life for race horses.He donated the $1 million bonus that Sea Hero won in the Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
Triple Crown Challenge to the United States Jockey Club's
The Jockey Club
The Jockey Club, formed on February 9, 1894, is the keeper of The American Stud Book. It came into existence after James R. Keene spearheaded a drive in support of racehorse trainers who had complained about the Board of Control that governed racing in New York State.-History:On its formation, The...
Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. Furthermore he requested that double that amount be raised in response to his donation. That goal was met during the 1995–1996 fiscal year. Upon his death he left yet another $2.5 million to the Foundation's endowment.
In 1999, Paul Mellon bequeathed $8 million to the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for the Fitzwilliam Museum
Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 300,000 visitors annually. Admission is free....
. During his lifetime he agreed that £1 million of that sum could be allocated to the Museum's Courtyard Development and, under the terms of his Will, following his death in 1999, his Executors subsequently allocated a further $12.5 million to complete the renovations associated with the Courtyard, including the re-lighting of all of the Museum's galleries. The remaining balance was added to the Paul Mellon Fund which was established as a trust fund for the Museum at the time of the bequest, the income from which is being used to support education, exhibitions and publications.
He was also a major benefactor of Clare College
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
and Clare Hall
Clare Hall, Cambridge
Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students.Informality is a defining value at Clare Hall and this contributes to its unique character...
, both in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England. Indeed, Clare Hall, founded 1966, gains much from his benefaction; his generous bequest serves the intellectual needs of the graduate college members. The Mellon Fellowship is another example of his generosity, permitting the reciprocal exchange of two students from Yale and two from Clare College for graduate study in each other's institutions.
He developed his great love of England and English culture while studying at Clare College from 1929-1931. ‘It was while I was at Cambridge that I embarked on the dangerous seas of collecting,’ Paul Mellon once said - a statement by the man who described himself as "the incurable collector" that has had profound implications for his major beneficiaries, both in the US and the UK.
Honors and awards
Paul Mellon was a trustee of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of FameNational Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
and one of the only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame
Virginia Sports Hall of Fame
The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a sports hall of fame located in Portsmouth, Virginia. Founded in 1972, it moved to its current location in 2005...
and the English Jockey Club Hall of Fame
Jockey Club
The Jockey Club is the largest commercial organisation in British horseracing. Although no longer responsible for the governance and regulation of the sport, it owns 14 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham and Newmarket, amongst other concerns such as the National Stud and...
.
Among honors, he was created an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(KBE) in 1974, awarded the National Medal of Arts
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. It is the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Honorees are selected by the National Endowment for the...
in 1985, and awarded the National Medal of Arts and Humanities in 1997.
Quotations
- "I have been an amateur in every phase of my life; an amateur poet, an amateur scholar, an amateur horseman, an amateur farmer, an amateur soldier, an amateur connoisseur of art, an amateur publisher, and an amateur museum executive. The root of the word "amateur" is the Latin word for love, and I can honestly say that I've thoroughly enjoyed all the roles I have played." - Paul Mellon from his autobiography "Reflections in a Silver Spoon"