Seymour Horace Knox II (September 1, 1898 – September 27, 1990) was a

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, philanthropist and polo player. The son of wealthy businessman Seymour H. Knox, he owned a palatial home designed by

C. P. H. Gilbert Charles Pierrepont Henry Gilbert (August 29, 1861 – October 25, 1952) was an American architect of the late-19th and early-20th centuries best known for designing townhouses and mansions. Ancestry and early life Born in New York City, G ...

.Seymour H. Knox, Jr. House
excerpt from ''Oakland Place: Gracious Living in Buffalo'' by Martin Wachadlo Buffalo Heritage Unlimited (publisher)

Early life

He was born on September 1, 1898, to Grace Millard Knox and Seymour H. Knox I, who merged his chain of five-and-dime stores with those of his first cousins,

Frank Winfield Woolworth Frank Winfield Woolworth (April 13, 1852 – April 8, 1919) was an American entrepreneur, the founder of F. W. Woolworth Company, and the operator of variety stores known as "Five-and-Dimes" (5- and 10-cent stores or dime stores) which featured ...

and Charles Woolworth, to form the

F. W. Woolworth Company The F. W. Woolworth Company (often referred to as Woolworth's or simply Woolworth) was a retail company and one of the pioneers of the five-and-dime store. It was among the most successful American and international five-and-dime businesses, se ...

in 1912. Knox was one of three surviving children born to Seymour and Grace. His elder sisters were Dorothy Virginia Knox and Marjorie Millard Knox. Knox attended

Nichols School Nichols School is a private, non-denominational, co-educational college-University-preparatory school, preparatory day school in Buffalo, New York, United States. The average enrollment is 565 students with an average Upper School grade/class s ...

in Buffalo and the

Hotchkiss School The Hotchkiss School is a private college-preparatory day and boarding school in Lakeville, Connecticut. It educates approximately 600 students in grades 9–12, plus postgraduates. Founded in 1891, it was one of the first English-style boardi ...

in Connecticut. In 1917, as a passenger, he was in a crash landing in Buffalo of a seaplane piloted by a friend, and suffered a fractured skull, but he fully recovered. He was a 1920 graduate of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. At Yale he was a member of

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest Fraternities and sororities, fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active Colony (fraternity or sorority), colonies across No ...

Career

In 1921, upon graduation from Yale, Knox became a

Marine Midland Bank Marine Midland Bank was an American bank formerly headquartered in Buffalo, New York, with several hundred branches throughout the state of New York (state), New York, Pennsylvania and two branches located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washing ...

director. In 1926, he became vice-president, followed by chairman in 1943 until 1970. He joined the

F. W. Woolworth Frank Winfield Woolworth (April 13, 1852 – April 8, 1919) was an American entrepreneur, the founder of F. W. Woolworth Company, and the operator of variety stores known as "Five-and-Dimes" (5- and 10-cent stores or dime stores) which featured a ...

board in 1926 and was chairman from 1943 until reaching the mandatory retirement age forty-five years later in 1971. He became Chairman of The

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

's governing Council from 1950-69. Knox served on the board of directors of

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

Penn Central Railroad The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania Railroad, ...

, and the

American Steamship Company The American Steamship Company (ASC) is an American transportation company that operates a fleet of self-unloading vessels in the Great Lakes. The company is currently owned by Rand Logistics Inc. History The American Steamship Company was fo ...

Art

In 1926, he joined the board of Albright Art Gallery. From the beginning, he was a leader in the

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

movement and in modern cultural life in Buffalo. He spent 60 years working with the

Buffalo Fine Arts Academy Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

and by 1939, he was President of the Academy. He bolstered the Contemporary

Abstractionism Abstractionism is the theory that the mind obtains some or all of its concepts by abstracting them from concepts it already has, or from experience.Geach, Peter (1957) Mental Acts - Their Contents and Their Objects. Routledge Kegan Paul. One may, ...

collection during his tenure. He is best known for his 1962 addition to the Albright Art Gallery, designed by

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

. After the completion of the addition, the Gallery was renamed the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in his honor. He donated more than 160 works for the new wing, and over 700 pieces over his lifetime. He is said to be in part responsible for the popularity of

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...

. Under his direction, the Gallery became the first museum to purchase a

Clyfford Still Clyfford Still (November 30, 1904 – June 23, 1980) was an American Painting, painter, and one of the leading figures in the first generation of Abstract Expressionists, who developed a new, powerful approach to painting in the years immediat ...

, one of the first to purchase a

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

, and as leading champions of Abstractionism, they acquired selections from almost every major abstractionist. In 1965 he was appointed to a commission to choose modern art works for the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection in Albany, NY.

Personal life

In 1923, he married Helen Northrup, who had attended the Albright Art School. They lived in a mansion at 57 Oakland Place in Buffalo, designed by

. Construction on the home began in 1924 and was a gift to the couple from Knox's mother, who lived nearby at

800 Delaware Avenue The Mrs. Seymour H. Knox House (also known as the Grace Millard Knox House) is a 48,000-square-foot mansion located in Buffalo, New York, which was built between 1915 and 1918. The house was designed by architect C. P. H. Gilbert for Grace Millar ...

. Together, they had two sons: *

Seymour H. Knox III Seymour Horace Knox III (March 9, 1926May 22, 1996) was an American philanthropist and sports entrepreneur. He owned the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League from their foundation in 1970 to his death in 1996, and served as chairman of t ...

(1926–1996) * Northrup Rand Knox (1928–1998) Both sons were the original principal owners of the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

NHL team. Knox was the subject of the 1985

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

painting " Portrait of Seymour H. Knox". He also donated significant funds to the

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University. Although it embraces all cultures and period ...

, in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, which both the Seymour H. Knox Jr., Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and Seymour H. Knox Jr., Curator of European and Contemporary Art positions bear his name. He was an avid polo player and led his Aurora team to the United States Championship in 1932, later touring South America, and winning a tournament in Europe. Knox died on September 27, 1990, and was

eulogized A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a term of ...

in Congress by

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Bill Paxon Leon William Paxon (born April 29, 1954) is an American lobbyist and former member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. From 1989 to 1999, he served five terms in Congress. Early life Paxon was born in Akron, New Yo ...

Honors

In 1986, he was awarded the

National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...

by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

for his contributions to the arts in Buffalo and the nation.

References

* Goldman, Mark, "City on The Edge: Buffalo, New York," Prometheus Books, 2007.

External links

Sports Illustrated: School of Hard Knox

* ttp://friendsofknoxpark.org/ Friends of Knox Farm State Park {{DEFAULTSORT:Knox, Seymour H. II Philanthropists from New York (state) 1898 births 1990 deaths Seymour H. II Leaders of the University at Buffalo United States National Medal of Arts recipients Businesspeople from Buffalo, New York Buffalo AKG Art Museum 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists