Frank Arthur Vanderlip Sr.
President of National City Bank
In office 1909–1919
Preceded by	James Jewett Stillman
Succeeded by	Charles Edwin Mitchell
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
In office June 1, 1897 – March 5, 1901
Appointed by	Scott Wike
Preceded by	Milton E. Ailes
Personal details
Born	(1864-11-13)November 13, 1864 Aurora, Illinois, U.S.
Died	June 30, 1937(1937-06-30) (aged 72) New York City, U.S.
Spouse	Narcissa Cox Vanderlip ​ ​ (m. 1903)​
Children	6
Known for	Founding Father ofPalos Verdes, California
Signature

Frank Arthur Vanderlip Sr. (November 17, 1864 – June 30, 1937) was an Americanbanker andjournalist. He was president of theNational City Bank of New York (now Citibank) from 1909 to 1919, andAssistant Secretary of the Treasury from 1897 to 1901. Vanderlip is known for his part in founding theFederal Reserve System and for founding the firstMontessori school in the United States, theScarborough School and the group of communities inPalos Verdes, California.^[1]

Born in ruralIllinois, Vanderlip worked in farms and factories until beginning a career in journalism in 1885. His efforts in financial journalism led him to become Assistant Secretary of the Treasury until the National City Bank hired him. While president of the bank, Vanderlip worked with theJekyll Island group to develop a federal reserve; Vanderlip's later proposals also influenced the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913. His later life was focused towards developing Palos Verdes and creating the Scarborough School at his estate,Beechwood, inBriarcliff Manor, New York, as well as gentrifying the hamlet ofSparta, Ossining nearby. In addition, he helped found and was the first president ofSleepy Hollow Country Club. Vanderlip died in 1937 inNew York Hospital, after weeks of treatment there.

Frank Vanderlip was born on November 17, 1864, inAurora, Illinois. Vanderlip was one of several children of Charles Edmond and Charlotte Louise Woodworth Vanderlip. His early life was spent on his family's farm in nearbyOswego, Illinois until his father died in 1878. After his death, Vanderlip, his mother, and his sister moved to Aurora, where he went to work at alathe in a factory, at the age of 16. After one year at theUniversity of Illinois and another job at the factory lathe, Vanderlip became city editor of the local newspaper, the Aurora Evening Post in 1885.

Under the guidance of economistJoseph French Johnson, Vanderlip took a position at a financial investigative service for stock investors inChicago in 1886. Three years later, in 1889, he became a reporter for theChicago Tribune, and was promoted to financial editor in 1892. While working for the newspaper, Vanderlip took an extension course in political economy at the newly foundedUniversity of Chicago. This brought him to the attention ofLyman J. Gage, who becameSecretary of the Treasury under PresidentWilliam McKinley in 1897.^[2] Gage hired Vanderlip as his private secretary, six weeks before promoting him toAssistant Secretary of the Treasury.^[3] As directed by theWar Revenue Act of 1898, Vanderlip was put in charge of sending out the $200 million bond issue to fund theSpanish–American War and procuring the subscriptions, with the special direction to offer the bonds to the smallest subscribers first, so that the public would feel invested in the fight. Vanderlip and his team of 600 to 700 clerks succeeded in selling out the bond issue in just over 30 days, closing out the bond drive on July 14, 1898. Vanderlip's success brought him to the attention ofJames J. Stillman, president of theNational City Bank of New York, then the country's largest bank. Vanderlip became vice president in 1902, and was president from 1909 until 1919.

When the stock market and the financial system collapsed in thePanic of 1907, Vanderlip worked closely with other stable bankers, led byJ. P. Morgan, to stop the depositors' run on banks that was leading to economic disaster. As part of an international economic relief response for the Panic of 1907, Vanderlip allied with top Japanese business leaders, hoping they could work together to stabilize the U.S. economy by increasing business and financial relations between their nations. He hoped this would also improve political relations between the U.S. and Japan. Based on these goals, in 1908, Vanderlip led a business U.S. delegation to Japan, where they met with Japanese business leaders, includingBaron Shibusawa Eiichi, Baron Shibusawa's son Shibusawa Masao,Baron Takuma Dan, Taka Kawada, andBaron Takamine Mitsui. This 1908 visit was the first official, modern day U.S. business delegation to visit Japan. The 1908 photo to the right presents Vanderlip during that 1908 visit.^[4]

The Panic of 1907 had a deep effect on the thinking of Vanderlip and others who were involved. In November 1910, at the invitation of Senator Nelson Aldrich, Vanderlip joined a small group of leading bankers on a train toJekyll Island, Georgia, which later became known as theJekyll Island group. The bankers formulated the outline to a plan that laid the groundwork for the drafting of the eventualFederal Reserve Act.^[3] In the final month and a half before the act's enactment on December 23, 1913, Vanderlip's alternative plan for a Federal Reserve Act nearly derailed the one that President Wilson and the Democratic leadership were promoting.^[5][6] Several of Vanderlip's ideas were incorporated into the final Federal Reserve Act.

After the Federal Reserve Act allowed national banks worth more than $1 million to be involved in the international market, Vanderlip and his vice president at National City Bank,Roger Leslie Farnham, plotted the takeover of theBank of the Republic of Haiti through theUnited States occupation of Haiti, with initial plans beginning in 1909.^[7][8][9] Vanderlip wrote to Chairman of National City BankJames Stillman in 1910, "In the future, this stock will give us a foothold [in Haiti] and I think we will perhaps later undertake the reorganization of the Government’s currency system, which, I believe, I see my way clear to do with practically no monetary risk".^[10]

During theTeapot Dome Scandal hearings in 1924, Vanderlip testified about what he believed to be a scandal during the administration of PresidentWarren G. Harding. Because he spoke out vigorously in defense of the public's right to know about various issues, Vanderlip was forced to resign from the boards of directors of almost 40 companies. He subsequently led a quieter life at his homes in New York and California.

After two weeks' hospitalization atNew York Hospital, Vanderlip died there on June 30, 1937, at age 72.^[1]

On May 19, 1903, Vanderlip married Mabel Narcissa Cox (Narcissa Cox Vanderlip) in her home town ofChicago, Illinois. In 1905, they purchasedBeechwood, on theHudson in the hamlet ofScarborough, inBriarcliff Manor, New York. There they founded theScarborough School, the firstMontessori school in the US.^[11]

Vanderlip purchased several other large parcels, often along with other investors. The Vanderlip-Stillman-Tilghman syndicate bought 15,000 acres (6,100 ha) of land at the mouth of theBrazos River in Texas, in 1912, and founded the city of Freeport. After several smaller land investments, Vanderlip spearheaded a group that bought 16,000 acres (6,500 ha) now known collectively asPalos Verdes, California. Vanderlip, known as the "Father of Palos Verdes" purchased the 16,000 acres (6,500 ha)Rancho de los Palos Verdes from Jotham Bixby in 1913. In 1916, he built the Vanderlip estates near thePortuguese Bend area ofPalos Verdes, California where some of his descendants still live.^[12] The Vanderlips helped develop landmarks in Rancho Palos Verdes, notablyWayfarers Chapel,Marineland of the Pacific, Portuguese Bend Riding Club, Portuguese Bend Beach Club, Nansen Field,Marymount College andChadwick School.^[13] Vanderlip's original real estate sales office,La Venta, was the first building in the city ofPalos Verdes Estates and is now listed as a historical landmark. His original purchase is now divided into four cities:Palos Verdes Estates,Rolling Hills Estates,Rolling Hills, andRancho Palos Verdes.

His last major purchase was the hamlet of Sparta in Ossining, a quarter-mile from his Beechwood home. He bought about 70 homes and business buildings in 1920, believing it to be too run-down. Tearing down dilapidated homes, turning some to face the river, and moving at least one across the street, Vanderlip beautified and gentrified Sparta. Some of these buildings became homes for teachers at Scarborough School. The Vanderlips later gave land in Scarborough to one of their daughters, Narcissa, and her husband Julian Street Jr., for their family home, theJulian Street Jr. residence.

Frank Vanderlip was an innovator in the world of banking. Besides being one of the founders of theFederal Reserve System, he led his bank to open the first overseas branches of an American bank, thus his bank became heavily involved in the American occupation of Haiti in 1915. He helped devise the war bond savings stamp program used in World Wars I and II, set up the first internship program to bring college students to work and study in the bank. He also worked to open up friendly business and personal relations with Japan in the 1920s.

His papers from 1890 to 1937 are stored atColumbia University.^[14]

Frank Vanderlip was awardedAmerican Library Association Honorary Membership in 1919.

• Vanderlip, Frank A.The American "commercial invasion" of Europe.Republished from Scribner's Magazine, 1902. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
• Vanderlip, Frank A.; Sparkes, Boyden (February 9, 1935)."From Farm Boy to Financier: Stories of Railroad Moguls"(PDF).The Saturday Evening Post. RetrievedJuly 18, 2014.

Bibliography

• Brooks, Frank H. (May–October 1902)."Frank A. Vanderlip".The World's Work.4.New York, New York:Doubleday, Page & Company:2185–90. RetrievedJuly 5, 2016.

• Mack, Vicki A. (2013).Frank A. Vanderlip: The Banker Who Changed America.Palos Verdes Estates, California: Pinale Press.ISBN 978-1492704904.
• Mack, Vicki A. (Director) (November 13, 2015).Money Man: Frank Vanderlip and the Birth of the Federal Reserve (motion picture). Duck Pond Productions.

Media related toFrank A. Vanderlip at Wikimedia Commons

• Frank A. Vanderlip Papers at the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York, NY
• Newspaper clippings about Frank A. Vanderlip in the20th Century Press Archives of theZBW

• 1864 births
• 1937 deaths
• American city founders
• American financiers
• Palos Verdes Peninsula
• People from Aurora, Illinois
• People from Briarcliff Manor, New York
• People from Oswego, Illinois
• 19th-century American journalists
• 20th-century American businesspeople
• 20th-century United States government officials
• 20th-century American essayists
• Writers from New York (state)
• Businesspeople from New York (state)
• Farmers from Illinois
• Journalists from Illinois
• Philanthropists from New York (state)
• Philanthropists from Illinois
• Members of the Men's League
• Recipients of the Medal of French Gratitude

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