D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A feller Family, five generations later, amazingly, continues to expand and enhance its founderâs original objectives. It is also true that philanthropy in New York today is, perhaps now more than ever, a recognized path for newcomersâparticularly those with new fortunes, who are seeking social acceptance and public recognition. It is not so for every modern philanthropist, but in New York one is often motivated by the imagined personal social rewards. An acceptance in the climb. Despite its contributive aspects for the public good, such philanthropy has much to do with ego and self-regard. Nevertheless, the good news is that all of these philanthropic efforts conjoined promote the end result: a higher objective.
Philanthropy is the editorial theme of this monthâs Quest. Among our features is an article by our regular contributor who writes under the nom de plume âAudaxâ about philanthropist, art and book collector, politician, and businessman Carter Burden, a remarkable man who first came on the New York scene in the early 1960s when great societal changes were sweeping the world. Born in Los Angeles in 1941, he was named for his father, S. Carter Burden, Jr., but always known as Carter. He was tall, willowy, and patricianâa word that is rarely used to accurately describe someoneâin his comportment. He was an heir to what was the last great Vanderbilt fortune, which was
possessed by his great-grandmother Florence Vanderbilt Twombly. Twombly, who was 98 when she died in 1952, was one of four daughters of William H. Vanderbilt and the last surviving grandchild of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt (the founder of the family fortune). Two of Twomblyâs brothers (Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Willie K. Vanderbilt) were her fatherâs main heirs. Her husband, Hamilton McKown Twombly, however, managed to increase their fortunes many times over, leaving his wife far richer than all of her other siblings, including the two eldest brothers. Carter Burden was born in Los Angeles and brought up in Beverly Hills in a house that had been designed by Wallace
Neff for actor Frederic March and his wife, actress Florence Eldridge. (Later, the house belonged to Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.) His father, Shirley Carter Burden, was an Easterner who had married Flobelle Fairbanks, a niece of Douglas Fairbanks, the legendary movie star whose spectacular career spanned the history of the film industry, from the âsilentsâ right into the era of the âtalkies.â Young Carter was educated in Catholic schools, including Portsmouth Priory in Rhode Island followed by Harvard University, where he majored in English and graduated cum laude. After Harvard, he attended Columbia Law School. The first time I ever heard his name was when one night in the late summer of 1962,
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