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John D. Rockefeller

1839 – 1937 American oil magnate, philanthropist, founder of Standard Oil

Founder of Standard Oil and the archetype of the American industrial dynasty.

Religion
Protestant (Northern Baptist).
Affiliations
Founded Standard Oil; founded the Rockefeller Foundation, the University of Chicago and Rockefeller University.

He built Standard Oil into a near-monopoly over American oil refining until the Supreme Court broke it up in 1911, making him the country's first billionaire. In retirement he gave away much of his fortune through the Rockefeller Foundation and endowed major universities.

Connections

  • associate of Edward Thorndike — Worked within the era of mass schooling that Rockefeller's General Education Board and Carnegie money helped standardize; the philanthropies funded testing and school reform he championed.
  • family of John D. Rockefeller Jr. — His father.
  • family of John D. Rockefeller Jr. — His only son and heir.
  • rival of John Taylor Gatto — Gatto argued the Rockefeller General Education Board and Carnegie money promoted mass schooling to produce a compliant workforce; this is a contested claim of his.

In the timeline

Wikipedia