New exhibit features personal artifacts from members of the Vanderbilt family

by Ann Marie Deer Owens

"The Vanderbilts at Vanderbilt," an exhibit highlighting materials from many of the Vanderbilt family collections, is now on display in Special Collections at the Jean and Alexander Heard Library through March 31.

"This exhibit pays tribute to the legacy of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt and his descendants in the development of Vanderbilt University," said Hosanna Banks, Heard Library manuscript archivist and the exhibit's curator. Banks noted that while the Commodore never set foot on campus, he gave $1 million in 1873 to build and endow a university with the wish that it "contribute to strengthening the ties which should exist between all sections of our common country."

Among the featured items are several scrapbooks filled with clippings about the new institution, the failing health of the Commodore and the scandal surrounding the contesting of the late Commodore's will. Personal items include a calligraphic "Resolution of Thanks" from the U.S. government for his donation of the steamship Vanderbilt for military use during the Civil War. In addition, there is an onyx-and-gold decorative fob that once belonged to Commodore Vanderbilt.

Another Vanderbilt family member highlighted in the exhibit is Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, who played key roles in the development of the University as a longtime member and president of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust. Harold Stirling Vanderbilt was instrumental in keeping the University on course during the struggle over the integration of the student body in the 1960s, Banks said. He was also an avid yachtsman and the originator of the rules for contract bridge. On display are memorabilia from his yachting days, materials relating to the inception of contract bridge and personal items belonging to both him and his wife, Gertrude.

Other Vanderbilts included in the exhibit are Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, a horse racing enthusiast who died when the Germans torpedoed the Lusitania; his first wife, Ellen French Vanderbilt, a woman influential in East Coast society; their son, William H. Vanderbilt, who served as governor of Rhode Island; and Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., who claimed journalism among his many careers. The exhibit features papers detailing their many accomplishments as well as photos and personal items of interest.