
George Walbridge Perkins I (January 31, 1862 – June 18, 1920) was an American politician and businessman. He was a leader of the
Progressive Movement, especially
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
's presidential candidacy for the
Progressive Party in 1912.
Starting as an office boy, he became a leading executive in insurance, steel, and banking and was always on the alert for new and better ways to do business. He was a top aide to financier
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. As the head of the banking firm that ...
and handled complex issues involving U.S. Steel, International Harvester, and other large corporations and insurance companies. He was vice-president of
New York Life Insurance Company
New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company and the largest mutual insurance, mutual life insurance company in the United States, and is ranked #69 on the 2025 Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporat ...
and a partner in
J.P. Morgan & Co. He served as president of the
Palisades Interstate Park Commission
The Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC) was formed in 1900 by Governors Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Foster Voorhees of New Jersey in response to the quarrying operations along the Palisades Cliffs of New Jersey. The Palisades, a N ...
from its creation in 1900 to his death.
Biography
Perkins was born on January 31, 1862, in Chicago.
With only a high-school education, he began work as an office boy in the Chicago office of the
New York Life Insurance Company
New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company and the largest mutual insurance, mutual life insurance company in the United States, and is ranked #69 on the 2025 Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporat ...
. By 1898 he had risen to the position of vice president. Perkins played an important role in the development of New York Life.
A strong believer in the
Efficiency Movement, he sought out instances of waste and believed that any practice could be improved by careful analysis. For example, he noticed that the old routine of farming out territory to middlemen, who in turn appointed men who did the actual soliciting for policies, was inefficient. The local agents were underpaid and often made misrepresentations in order to get initial premiums. Perkins, starting in 1892, made the local agents and solicitors permanent employees. In 1896, he introduced an incentive with a system of benefits based on length of service and value of policies written. He opened up new insurance markets in Russia and elsewhere in Europe.
Morgan & Co.
Perkins joined
J.P. Morgan & Co. in 1901 and negotiated many complex deals, especially the formation of the
International Harvester Corporation
The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated IH or International) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household equipment, and more. It wa ...
,
International Mercantile Marine Co., and
Northern Securities Company
The Northern Securities Company was an American railroad trust formed in 1901 by E. H. Harriman, James J. Hill, J. P. Morgan and their associates. The company controlled the Northern Pacific Railway; Great Northern Railway; Chicago, Burlington ...
. He also helped reorganize Morgan's
United States Steel Corporation
The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe.
The company produces and sells steel products, ...
.
Political career
In 1910 Perkins began to pursue
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) was a period in the United States characterized by multiple social and political reform efforts. Reformers during this era, known as progressivism in the United States, Progressives, sought to address iss ...
reform causes. Perkins was an articulate exponent of the evils of competition and the advantages of cooperation in business— he believed in the ''Good Trust''. His biographer, John A. Garraty, summarized Perkins' business philosophy as follows:
In 1912 he helped organize
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
's new
Progressive party, becoming its executive secretary. At the convention, an
antitrust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
plank was suddenly dropped, shocking reformers like
Gifford Pinchot
Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsyl ...
, who saw Roosevelt as a true trust-buster. They blamed Perkins, who was still on the board of U.S. Steel and remained on it until his death. Perkins's ties to
big business
Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly ...
alarmed the radical wing of the party. Roosevelt lost to the Democrat
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

After 1913, he focused on New York City politics while he continued as Progressive National Chairman. In
1916 he campaigned for
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American politician, academic, and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
and the GOP. The result was a deep split in the new party that was never resolved. Perkins was in effective control of the party in 1913, but the Progressives fared poorly in local elections. He went public with his denunciations of antitrust programs, arguing, "The country knows that the Progressive Party believes that large business units are necessary in this day of interstate and inter-national communication and trade."
Increasingly at odds with Progressives hostile to big business and humbled by the party's very poor showing in the
1914 elections, Perkins watched his Progressive Party support the Republican presidential candidate (
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American politician, academic, and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
) in 1916, after which the party soon disintegrated.
On September 7, 1917, the
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...
rejected his nomination as Chairman of the recently established New York State Food Control Commission. On October 2, the State Senate rejected again his nomination and instead confirmed the appointment of
John Mitchell,
Jacob Gould Schurman and Charles A. Wieting to the Food Control Commission.
As chairman of a finance committee of
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
, he raised $200,000,000 for welfare work among American soldiers abroad.
Palisades Interstate Park Commission
In 1900, Theodore Roosevelt (then New York governor) appointed Perkins president of the newly formed
Palisades Interstate Park Commission
The Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC) was formed in 1900 by Governors Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Foster Voorhees of New Jersey in response to the quarrying operations along the Palisades Cliffs of New Jersey. The Palisades, a N ...
. It had been formed with the aim of stopping the destruction of the
Palisades, a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower
Hudson River
The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
, in northeast
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
and southern
New York. Although the Palisades and the Hudson Highlands were admired for their beauty, and were featured in paintings of the
Hudson River School, they were also viewed as a rich source of traprock (
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
) by quarrymen seeking to provide building material for the growth of nearby Manhattan Island. By the early 1900s, development along the lower Hudson River had begun to destroy much of the area's natural beauty. The Commission was authorized to acquire land between
Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades.
As of the 2020 Uni ...
, and
Piermont, New York; its jurisdiction was extended to
Stony Point, New York, in 1906.
The Commission was expected to raise the funds needed for the acquisition of land from private sources. Needing at least $125,000, Perkins turned first to J. P. Morgan, who offered to put up the entire sum on the condition that Perkins would become a Morgan partner. Perkins agreed, with the immediate result that quarrying along the Palisades was stopped on December 24, 1900.
Then, in 1908, the
State of New York
New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
announced plans to relocate
Sing Sing Prison to Bear Mountain. Work was begun and in January 1909, the state purchased the 740 acre (3.0 km
2) Bear Mountain tract. Conservationists, inspired by the earlier work of the Park Commission, lobbied successfully for the creation of the Highlands of the Hudson Forest Preserve. However, the prison project was continued.
Working with
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
president
Edward Henry Harriman and (after Harriman's death) with his widow,
Mary Averell Harriman, Perkins, arranged a gift to the state of ten thousand acres (40 km
2) and one million dollars from the Harrimans toward the creation of a state park. Another $1.5 million was raised from a dozen wealthy contributors including
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the List of richest Americans in history, wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern hist ...
and Morgan. New York state appropriated a matching $2.5 million.
Bear Mountain-
Harriman State Park became a reality in 1910 when the prison was demolished. Perkins hired Major
William A. Welch as Chief Engineer, whose work for the park would achieve national influence as state and national park systems grew. The Perkins Memorial Tower at Bear Mountain State Park commemorates his work for the park; the view from the tower takes in four states and the Hudson River valley, including New York City.
Perkins died on June 18, 1920. He is buried in
Woodlawn Cemetery in
the Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
, New York City.
Wave Hill House
In 1903, George W. Perkins purchased
Wave Hill House in
Riverdale, Bronx
Riverdale is a residential neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City borough of the Bronx. Riverdale, which had a population of 47,850 as of the 2000 United States Census, contains the city's northernmost point at the Colle ...
on the East side of the Hudson. He had been accumulating properties since 1895 to create a great estate along the river, including Oliver Harriman's adjacent villa on the site of what is now Glyndor House. Perkins planned the grounds to enhance the property's beautiful river views and added greenhouses, a swimming pool, terraces and the recreational facility; rare trees and shrubs were planted on the lawns, and gardens were created to blend with the natural beauty of the Hudson highlands. The property is now Wave Hill, a public botanical garden and cultural center.
See also
*
Glynwood Center
References
Further reading
* Cole, Marena. "A Progressive Conservative": The Roles of George Perkins and Frank Munsey in the Progressive Party Campaign of 1912" (PhD dissertation, Tufts University ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2017. 10273522).
* Garraty, John A. ''Right Hand Man: The Life of George W. Perkins'', (1960
online* Mowry, George E. ''Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Movement''. (1946) focus on 1912
* Myles, William J., ''Harriman Trails, A Guide and History'', The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, New York, N.Y., 1999.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, George W.
1862 births
1920 deaths
American philanthropists
American businesspeople in insurance
Palisades Interstate Park system
Ramapos
New York (state) Progressives (1912)
20th-century American politicians
YMCA leaders
Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in New York (state)