Seth Low | |
|---|---|
 Low in 1901 | |
| 92nd[1] Mayor of New York City | |
| In office January 1, 1902 – December 31, 1903 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Anderson Van Wyck |
| Succeeded by | George B. McClellan Jr. |
| 11th President of Columbia University | |
| In office 1890–1901 | |
| Preceded by | Frederick A. P. Barnard |
| Succeeded by | Nicholas Murray Butler |
| 23rd Mayor of Brooklyn | |
| In office January 1, 1881 – December 31, 1885 | |
| Preceded by | James Howell |
| Succeeded by | Daniel D. Whitney |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1850-01-18)January 18, 1850 New York City, US |
| Died | September 17, 1916(1916-09-17) (aged 66) Bedford Hills, New York, US |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Anne Wroe Scollay Curtis |
| Parent |
|
| Relatives | Abbot Augustus Low (brother) Harriet Low (aunt) |
| Alma mater | Columbia College |
Seth Low (January 18, 1850 – September 17, 1916) was an American educator and political figure who served as the mayor ofBrooklyn from 1881 to 1885, thepresident of Columbia University from 1890 to 1901, a diplomatic representative of the United States, and themayor of New York City from 1902 to 1903. He was a leading municipal reformer fighting for efficiency during theProgressive Era.
Low was the son ofAbiel Abbot Low and Ellen Almira Dow.[2] Low's father was a leading trader inChina, and his father's sister,Harriet Low, was one of the first young American women to live in China.[3] The Low family was old Puritan New England stock, descended from Thomas Low ofEssex County, Massachusetts.[4] Low was named after his grandfather Seth Low (1782–1853) who moved with his son Abiel to Brooklyn to start a prosperous importing company.[4] When Brooklyn was incorporated as a city in 1834, Seth the elder was one of the incorporators; he also served on the Board of Aldermen and was first President of the Board of Education.[4] Seth the elder was also involved with charity and support work for the poor; on his deathbed, he admonished his three-year-old grandson and namesake: "Be kind to the poor."[4]
Low's father was aUnitarian, and his mother was anEpiscopalian.[4] For years, Low wavered between the two faiths. Finally, at age 22, Low decided he would henceforth be an Episcopalian.[4]
Low attendedPoly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn andColumbia College. After graduating from Columbia in 1870, Low made a short trip abroad, and then entered the tea and silk house of A. A. Low & Brothers, which had been founded by his father in New York. In 1875, he was admitted a member of the firm, from which, upon its liquidation in 1888, he withdrew with a large fortune.[5]
In the mid-1870s, Seth Low began to lay the groundwork for his political career by supporting "welfare reform" and the elimination of food and coal disbursements for the poor which caused "starving people" to gather at "warehouses where food was stored" to beg for help. During this period, the reform movement, of which Low was a stalwart, denounced emergency assistance of potatoes and flour for the poor. The reduction in welfare assistance for the poor led many to seek shelter in "police station basements" and in city hospitals, and led many poor parents to bring "their children to asylums" and many men to beg on the streets for "charity or work."[6]
On December 9, 1880, he married Anne Wroe Scollay Curtis ofBoston, daughter of JusticeBenjamin R. Curtis of theUnited States Supreme Court. They had no biological children, but adopted two nieces and a nephew.[2]
By 1881 Brooklyn had been governed for years by a corrupt Democratic political machine underHugh McLaughlin.[4] By this time, a wave ofgoo-goo (or "good government") sentiment had begun to gain favor, and public sentiment was starting to turn against the incumbent Democratic regime.[4]
Brooklyn Republicans sensed an opportunity, but they were split between the "stalwart" candidate Benjamin F. Tracy and reform candidate Ripley Ropes.[4] Low had no particular ambition to become Mayor,[4] but his name was brought forth as a compromise, because his wealth and old family name appealed to the "stalwarts" and his reformist views appealed to the reformers.[4] Low accepted the nomination at the Republican city convention, making it clear that he would not be a partisan mayor.[4] Low defeated the incumbent DemocratJames Howell after a two-week campaign, 45,434 votes to 40,937.[4]
Low's time in office was marked by a number of reforms:
Low's tax increases and non-partisan governing policy lost him a measure of public support. By 1883, fellow Republicans were criticizing Low openly, and the press was critical of his tax policy.[4] Although the Democrats ran the weak, nearly unknown candidate Joseph C. Hendrix in 1883, Low beat him by a slimmer margin than his first election. Where Low won his first term by 5,000 votes, he squeaked by re-election with only a 1,548-vote margin.[4]
In 1884, Low'smugwump support of DemocratGrover Cleveland in 1884 furthered the rift with his fellow Republicans. He declined to run for a third term in 1885, and refused to support Republican nominee General Isaac S. Catlin.[4] Instead, he supported a reform candidate, General John R. Woodward.[4] By this time, the public was losing their attraction to reform, and DemocratDaniel D. Whitney won election. With Whitney came the return of Democratic machine politics for another seven years.[4] By 1892, some writers were looking back on Low's tenure as a "Golden Age" of clean government.[4]
Following his tenure as mayor of Brooklyn, Low assumed the presidency ofColumbia College, serving between 1890 and 1901. Not an educator in the specific meaning of the word, he succeeded by his administrative skill in transforming the institution.[5] He led the move of the institution fromMidtown Manhattan toMorningside Heights, and secured trustee approval to change its name to "Columbia University". The new campus matched Low's vision of a civic university fully integrated into the city; the original design subsequently reconceived, left it open to the street and surrounding neighborhoods.
To forge a university, Low vitally united the various schools into one organization whose direction was moved from the separate faculties to a university council. Further reforms effected by him include the reorganization of the Law School, the addition of a faculty of pure science, the association of the university with the Teachers College, and the extension of the department of political and social study.[5] In 1895, he gave one million dollars of his inheritance from his father forLow Memorial Library to be built at the new Columbia University campus. It was dedicated to his father and opened in 1897.
During his time at Columbia, Low was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society.[8]
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On July 4, 1899, he was one of the American delegates to attend theInternational Peace Conference atThe Hague. Others in the delegation wereAndrew D. White, then the United States Ambassador to the German Empire;Stanford Newel of Minnesota, then the United States Minister to the Netherlands; CaptainAlfred Mahan, of the United States Navy; CaptainWilliam Crozier, of the United States Army; andFrederick Holls of New York.
At the conference, Low made the concluding speech, printed two months later inThe New York Times, saying:
On this day, so full for Americans of thoughts connected with their National Independence, we may not forget that Americans have yet other grounds for gratitude to the people of the Netherlands. We cannot forget that our flag received its first foreign salute from a Dutch officer, nor that the Province ofFriesland gave to our independence its first formal recognition. By way ofLeyden and Delft-Haven andPlymouth Rock, and again by way ofNew Amsterdam, the free public school reached American shores.The United States of America have taken their name from theUnited States of the Netherlands. We have learned from you only that 'in union there is strength'; that is an old lesson, but also, in large measure, how to make 'One out of many'. From you we have learned what we, at least, value, to separate Church and State; and from you, we gather inspiration at all times in our devotion to learning, to religious liberty, and to individual and National freedom. These are some of the things for which we believe the American people owe no little gratitude to the Dutch; and these are the things for which today, speaking in the name of the American people, we venture to express their heartfelt thanks.
Low's first campaign for mayor of consolidated New York in 1897 was unsuccessful, partially because of a division among anti-Tammany Hall candidates and parties. However, four years later, he managed to attain office.[9]
During his 1901 campaign, he had the support of humoristMark Twain. He and Twain made a joint appearance that drew a crowd of more than 2,000.
In 1902, Low resigned as president of the university to become the second mayor of the newly consolidatedCity of New York. He stands out as the first mayor of Greater New York to be elected on afusion ticket, with the support of both theCitizens Union andRepublican parties. Some of his notable achievements include the introduction of a civil service system — based upon merit — for hiring municipal employees, reducing widespread graft within thepolice department, improving the system ofeducation within the city, and lowering taxes. Despite these seemingly impressive achievements he only served for two years and was defeated in 1903 by DemocratGeorge B. McClellan Jr.
He was chairman of theTuskegee University (formerlyTuskegee Institute), a historically black college directed underBooker T. Washington, from 1907 until 1916. From 1907, he was also president of the business-labor alliance theNational Civic Federation. Even though he believed in collective bargaining rights, which had customarily been denied to labor unions by those in authority, he did not favor strikes, but rather embraced arbitration as a suitable labor-management negotiation tactic.He was a founder and the first president of the Bureau of Charities of Brooklyn, and was elected vice-president of theNew York Academy of Sciences and president of theArchaeological Institute of America.[5]
Low became interested in the food supply problem, that is its contribution to the constantly increasingcost of living. He became convinced that this difficulty could best be solved by democratic cooperation among farmers and consumers. He was president of the Bedford Farmers' Cooperative Association. He was also one of the founders of the Cooperative Wholesale Corporation of New York City, an organization which seeks to bring about a business federation of all theconsumers' cooperative store societies in the eastern United States, but not being in sympathy with the radical tendency of this phase of thecooperative movement, he finally resigned and devoted himself entirely to the agricultural phase of cooperation. Low was also a trustee of theCarnegie Institute of Washington, D.C.[2]
In the Spring of 1916, Low became ill with cancer.[4] He died in his home inBedford Hills, New York, on September 17, 1916. Even his funeral demonstrated the ability of Low to reach political consensus, with honorary pallbearers that included both financier and philanthropistJ. P. Morgan Jr. and labor activist andAFL founderSamuel Gompers.[10]He is buried inGreen-Wood Cemetery inBrooklyn, New York.
TheBrooklyn Fire Department operated afireboat namedSeth Low from 1885 to 1917.[11]
In theBensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn there is also a playground named after Low.[12]
InSeth Low Pierrepont State Park Reserve, named afterLow's nephew, there is a street named after Low called Seth Low Mountain Road.[13]Intermediate School 96 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn is known as Seth Low Intermediate School 96.
In theBrownsville section ofBrooklyn, New York, there is aNYCHA public housing development named Seth Low Houses. It consists of four 17 and 18 story buildings.
There was aSeth Low Junior College atColumbia University between 1928 and 1936.[14]
Homans, James E., ed. (1918)."Low, Seth" .The Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: The Press Association Compilers, Inc.
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of Columbia University 1890–1901 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Mayor of Brooklyn 1882–1885 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Mayor of New York City 1902-01-01 – 1903-12-31 | Succeeded by |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
