Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
Encyclopedia
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (February 20, 1899 – December 13, 1992) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 businessman, film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, and government official, as well as the owner of a leading stable of thoroughbred racehorses
Thoroughbred horse race
Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

.

Born in Old Westbury, New York
Old Westbury, New York
Old Westbury is a village in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village population was 4,671....

, he was the son of the wealthy and socially prominent Harry Payne Whitney
Harry Payne Whitney
Harry Payne Whitney was an American businessman, thoroughbred horsebreeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family.- Early years :...

 (1870–1932) and Gertrude Vanderbilt
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was an American sculptor, art patron and collector, and founder in 1931 of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City...

 (1875–1942). As a scion of both the Whitney
Whitney family
The Whitney family is an American family notable for their social prominence, wealth, business enterprises and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635.-Rise to prominence:...

 and Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt family
The Vanderbilt family is an American family of Dutch origin prominent during the Gilded Age. It started off with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy...

 families, he inherited a substantial fortune. However, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney proved to be a very capable businessman, using his connections to make investments that played an important role in the development of the American economy.

Business career

Most often referred to as C.V. Whitney, he was also known widely by the nickname "Sonny." After graduating from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 in 1922, he went to work at a Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

 mine owned by his father. His grandfather William C. Whitney
William C. Whitney
William Collins Whitney was an American political leader and financier and founder of the prominent Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first Cleveland administration from 1885 through 1889. A conservative reformer, he was considered a Bourbon Democrat.-Early life:William...

 was a co-founder and director of the Guaranty Trust Company of New York and in 1926 C.V. Whitney was appointed a director, serving on the bank's board until 1940. In 1927, he joined with William A. Rockefeller and other investors to back Juan Trippe
Juan Trippe
Juan Terry Trippe was an American airline entrepreneur and pioneer, and the founder of Pan American World Airways, one of the world's most prominent airlines of the twentieth century.-Early years:...

 in establishing the Aviation Corporation of America which a year later would become Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...

.

In 1931, Whitney founded the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co. Limited
Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co.
HudBay Minerals Inc. is a Canadian mining corporation. Founded as Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Co., Limited it has been exploring and mining in Manitoba for over 80 years. Much of their history has centered around Flin Flon, Manitoba...

 in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The company became a major zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...

 mining operation and Whitney served as chairman of the board until 1964.

C.V. Whitney became involved in the motion picture industry, notably with his cousin Jock Whitney
John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney , colloquially known as "Jock" Whitney, was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, and a member of the Whitney family.-Family:...

 as a major shareholder backing the Technicolor Corporation
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...

. The two were also financiers for the 1939 film classic Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...

. Seventeen years later, C.V. Whitney served as a producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

 through his own "C.V. Whitney Pictures." His company made three films, the first being the acclaimed 1956 production, The Searchers
The Searchers (film)
The Searchers is a 1956 American Western film directed by John Ford, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May, and set during the Texas–Indian Wars...

, directed by John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...

. Second was The Missouri Traveler
The Missouri Traveler
The Missouri Traveler is a 1958 American coming-of-age period piece drama film directed by Jerry Hopper starring Brandon De Wilde and Lee Marvin. It is based on the novel by John Burress. The cinematography was by Technicolor developer Winton C. Hoch with harmonica and banjo score by Jack Marshall...

in 1958 with Brandon De Wilde
Brandon De Wilde
Andre Brandon deWilde was an American theatre and film actor. He was born into a theatrical family in Brooklyn. Debuting on Broadway at the age of 7, De Wilde became a national phenomenon by the time he completed his 492 performances for The Member of the Wedding and was considered a child...

 and Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...

 and the third The Young Land
The Young Land
The Young Land is a 1959 American Western drama film directed by Ted Tetzlaff starring Patrick Wayne and Dennis Hopper. The cinematography was by Technicolor developer Winton C. Hoch and Henry Sharp. The film was distributed by Columbia Pictures Corporation.It is the third and final of only 3 films...

in 1959 with Patrick Wayne
Patrick Wayne
Patrick John Morrison, better known by his stage name Patrick Wayne , is an American actor, the second son of movie star John Wayne and his first wife, Josephine Alicia Saenz. He made over 40 films in his career, including nine with his father...

 and Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...

.

Sportsman

His father, Harry Payne Whitney
Harry Payne Whitney
Harry Payne Whitney was an American businessman, thoroughbred horsebreeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family.- Early years :...

, had been an avid polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...

 player and thoroughbred racehorse owner and C.V. Whitney followed in his footsteps, winning the U.S. Open polo title three times. Since 1979, the Greenwich Polo Club at Conyers Farm in Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...

 has awarded the C.V. Whitney Cup to the winner of an annual polo tournament

He was the third generation of Whitneys to be heavily involved in thoroughbred horse racing. The Grade 1
Conditions races
Conditions races are horse races where the weights carried by the runners are laid down by the conditions attached to the race. Weights are allocated according to; the sex of the runners, with female runners carrying less weight than males; the age of the runners, with younger horses receiving...

 Whitney Handicap
Whitney Handicap
The Whitney Handicap is an American Grade 1 handicap race for Thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and older run at a distance of 1⅛ miles. In 2007, the Breeders' Cup Ltd...

 at Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It opened on August 3, 1863, and is the oldest organized sporting venue of any kind in the United States. It is typically open for racing from late July through early September.-History:John...

 was inaugurated in his family's honor in 1928. C.V. Whitney acquired his father's stable in 1930 and on May 17, his two-year-old colt
Colt (horse)
A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....

 Equipoise
Equipoise (horse)
Equipoise was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse, a chestnut bred in the United States by Harry Payne Whitney and owned by his son, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney...

 gave him his first stakes race victory when he won the Keene Memorial Stakes at Belmont Park
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...

. Equipose would go on to become a success on the racetrack and as a leading sire and would be inducted in racing's Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 in 1957. Among Whitney's other outstanding horses, Top Flight
Top Flight
Top Flight was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred filly racehorse. Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry Payne Whitney, she was a daughter of the French stakes winner Dis Donc, a son of the French Champion Sire Sardanapale. She was out of the mare Flyatit, a daughter of U.S...

 was the 1931 American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly and the 1932 American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly who was aslso voted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame.

Although he had fifteen horses compete in the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

, Whitney never won the prestigious race. Silver Spoon
Silver Spoon (horse)
Silver Spoon , a multiple stakes winning American Thoroughbred race horse, was well named. She was a daughter of the great Triple Crown winner Citation. Citation was by Bull Lea, the foundation sire of Calumet Farm...

 was the only filly
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....

 entered in the Derby between the years 1945 and 1980, coming in a credible fifth in 1959. Ridden by jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

 Eddie Arcaro
Eddie Arcaro
George Edward Arcaro , known professionally as Eddie Arcaro, was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American classic races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Triple Crown twice...

 and trained by Sylvester Veitch
Sylvester Veitch
Sylvester E. Veitch was a Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse trainer.Veitch began his career in racing as a jockey and trainer in Steeplechase racing. In 1939 he moved to flat racing when he began employment as a trainer with Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney in Kentucky...

, Whitney's horse Phalanx
Phalanx (horse)
Phalanx was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by Pilate, a son of the 1916 Belmont Stakes winner, Friar Rock. His dam was the outstanding runner, Jacola, the American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly of 1937 who beat the great Seabiscuit by two lengths in the 1938 Laurel Stakes....

 won the first division of the 1947 Wood Memorial Stakes
Wood Memorial Stakes
The Wood Memorial Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica, New York. It is currently a Grade I race run over a distance of 9 furlongs on dirt....

, finished second in the 1947 Kentucky Derby, took third in the ensuing Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

, then won the Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...

. In the 1951 Kentucky Derby, Whitney's Veitch-trained colt Counterpoint
Counterpoint (horse)
Counterpoint was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Sired by 1943 U.S. Triple Crown champion Count Fleet, as a yearling he injured an ankle bone severely enough that his racing future was put in doubt...

 was still developing after an injury as a yearling that almost ended his career and tired badly, finishing 11th. However, Counterpoint came back to take second place in the Preakness Stakes and subsequently gave Whitney his second win in the Belmont Stakes and then went on to earn 1951 Horse of the Year
Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....

 honors. Among other successful horses from his stables, Career Boy
Career Boy
Career Boy was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred and raced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, a member of the prominent horse-racing Whitney family...

 won the United Nations Handicap
United Nations Handicap
The United Nations Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in July at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey. The race is open to horses, age three and up, going one and three-eighths miles on the turf. A Grade I event, it currently offers a purse of $750,000...

 and was voted the Eclipse Award
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...

 champion Grass Horse for 1956. And First Flight was one of his best fillies
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....

, winning the Matron Stakes
Matron Stakes (USA)
The Matron Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race once held annually during the second week of September at Belmont Park in Elmont, Long Island, New York, but is now a Spring/Summer event along with the Futurity Stakes. Open to two-year-old fillies, it is contested on dirt at a distance at...

 and beating males in Belmont's Futurity Stakes
Futurity Stakes (USA)
The Futurity Stakes, commonly referred to as the Belmont Futurity, is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid September at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to two-year-old horses, it is raced on dirt over a distance of seven furlongs.The creation of James G. K...

 in 1946.

One of Whitney's homes was the "Cady Hill" estate at Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...

, not far from the Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It opened on August 3, 1863, and is the oldest organized sporting venue of any kind in the United States. It is typically open for racing from late July through early September.-History:John...

. It was there in 1950 that he founded the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 and served as its first president. A former director of Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs, located in Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, is a Thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby annually. It officially opened in 1875, and held the first Kentucky Derby and the first Kentucky Oaks in the same year. Churchill Downs...

, he was given anl Eclipse Special Award
Eclipse Special Award
The Eclipse Special Award is part of the Eclipse Award program in United States Thoroughbred horse racing. The Special Award's purpose is to honor outstanding individual achievements in, or contributions to, the sport.Honorees:*1971 : Robert J. Kleberg...

 in 1984 in recognition of his lifetime contribution to thoroughbred horse racing in the United States. The C. V. Whitney Farm in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

 bred more than 175 stakes winners until age forced him to sell off a large part of the property in the 1980s to Gainesway Farm
Gainesway Farm
Gainesway Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding business in Lexington, Kentucky. It was originally called Greentree Farms.The 1,500 acre property has been home to sires such as Youth and Exceller and numerous others who are buried on the property...

. After his death in 1992, his widow, Marylou Whitney
Marylou Whitney
Marylou Whitney is a noted philanthropist and a prominent socialite...

, continued breeding and racing operations on a smaller scale. A much respected figure in racing, her "Marylou Whitney Stables" owned Birdstone
Birdstone
Birdstone is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2004 Belmont Stakes and is gaining notoriety as a fantastic sire....

, the 2004 Belmont Stakes winner.

Upon his death CV owned over 51,000 acres (210 km²) in the Adirondacks along with a great camp called Deerlands. Located within the Oswegatchie Great Forest, the Whitney estate is home to more than 40 lakes and ponds as well as the headwaters of the Beaver, Raquette and Bog rivers. In 1997 New York State bought 14,700 acres (59 km²) of the 51,000 acre (210 km²) Whitney tract from Marylou's "Whitney Industries" for $17.1 million.

Government and military service

Having spent considerable time in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, C.V. Whitney's mother, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was an American sculptor, art patron and collector, and founder in 1931 of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City...

, became involved supporting the Allied forces during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. She dedicated a great deal of her time and money to various relief efforts, establishing and maintaining a hospital in France for wounded soldiers. Eighteen-year-old C.V. Whitney joined the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, serving as a cadet in the Signal Corps, rising to the rank of Second Lieutenant.

With the onset of American involvement in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Whitney volunteered again for service, rising to the rank of colonel with the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

. At the end of the war, C.V. Whitney served under U.S. President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

 as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force
United States Secretary of the Air Force
The Secretary of the Air Force is the Head of the Department of the Air Force, a component organization within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Secretary of the Air Force is appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate...

 (1947–49) and Undersecretary of Commerce
United States Secretary of Commerce
The United States Secretary of Commerce is the head of the United States Department of Commerce concerned with business and industry; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce"...

 (1949–50). He was also appointed President Truman's special envoy to England, Luxembourg, Spain and Italy.

Philanthropy and arts patronage

C.V. Whitney was raised in an artistic environment. His mother, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, was an accomplished sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

 who studied in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 under Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...

. She was also the founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...

 in New York City. As an adult, C.V. Whitney played a role in establishing the Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Saratoga Performing Arts Center
The Saratoga Performing Arts Center is an amphitheater in Saratoga Springs, New York, which presents summer festivals of all kinds of music , dance, and opera, as well as a Wine & Food Festival...

 in Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...

, was a supporter of the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...

 in New York City, and was a founder of the Whitney Gallery of Western Art in Cody, Wyoming
Cody, Wyoming
Cody is a city in Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after William Frederick Cody, primarily known as Buffalo Bill, from William Cody's part in the creation of the original town. The population was 9,520 at the 2010 census...

. The Mr. And Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame collection was provided in 1987 to the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga, New York. It is the only museum in the United States dedicated to American professional dance.

C.V. Whitney donated important artworks to various museums. Notable donations include the gift of a 1634 Anthony van Dyck
Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next...

 painting of Henri II de Lorraine, 5e Duc de Guise, which had been in the Whitney family for three generations, to the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...

 in Washington, DC. In 1953 Whitney donated the 1872 Thomas Eakins
Thomas Eakins
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator...

 painting, The Biglin Brothers Racing, to the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...

 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

.

C.V. Whitney's interest in the natural history of marine animals resulted in the 1938 founding of the world's first oceanarium. Marineland
Marineland of Florida
-External links:**...

, near St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...

, included a small research laboratory that drew academic biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...

s. Eventually, Whitney provided the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

 with an adjacent parcel of land plus half of the construction capital required to build a full-scale academic center, the C.V. Whitney Laboratory for Experimental Marine Biology and Medicine (now called the Whitney Marine Lab
Whitney Marine Lab
Whitney Marine Lab at the University of Florida is a research and teaching facility, that conducts Research pertaining to Marine Bioscience.The Marine lab can be traced back to the benefactor Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, who donated numerous acres to the University of Florida so that a site could...

). In addition, he donated Whitney Hall to the university, a building that serves as a conference center and contains dormitories and apartments.

In 1963, his estate at Old Westbury, New York
Old Westbury, New York
Old Westbury is a village in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village population was 4,671....

 was subdivided and offered to the New York Institute of Technology
New York Institute of Technology
New York Institute of Technology is a private, non-sectarian, co-educational research university in New York City. NYIT has five schools and two colleges, all with a strong emphasis on technology and applied scientific research...

 for use as its Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

 campus.

Writings

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney wrote five books:
  • Lone and Level Sands (1951) – a personal narrative of Allied aerial operations during World War II
  • High Peaks (1977) – autobiography
  • Live a Year with a Millionaire (1981)
  • Owl Hoots Again (1988) – a collection of short stories for children
  • First Flight: The Diary of a Cadet in the Signal Corps in World War I (1989)

Family and legacy

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney was married four times. His first marriage was to Marie Norton
Marie Norton
-Biography:She was born in 1903, her grandfather was Benjamin F. Einstein who was the attorney to the New York Times and a shareholder in several advertising companies whose main client was the Times. She was the first wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney from 1923 to 1929, with whom she had two...

 from 1923–1929; they had two children, Harry Payne Whitney II http://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/26/nyregion/harry-payne-whitney-is-dead-yachtsman-from-manhattan.html and Nancy Marie Whitney. His second marriage was to Gladys Crosby Hopkins from 1931 to 1940; they had one daughter, Gayle. His third marriage was to Eleanor Searle
Eleanor Searle
Eleanor Searle Whitney McCollum was an independent woman of means who was married to two important American men, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and Leonard "Mac" McCollum. She achieved a unique and separable identify as a philanthropist and community organizer in Houston, TX...

, from 1941 to 1957; they had one son, Searle. His last marriage was in 1958 to Marie Louise Schroeder
Marylou Whitney
Marylou Whitney is a noted philanthropist and a prominent socialite...

 (Marylou Whitney); they had one daughter, Cornelia. Over the 1920s Whitney successfully fended off several million dollar law suits filed by former Ziegfeld Follies dancer Evan Burrows Fontaine
Evan Burrows Fontaine
-Early life:Evan-Burrows Fontaine was born on October 3, 1898 at Huron, Texas, a present day ghost town with the Cedar Creek Baptist Church as its last surviving structure.; She would later move to Dallas, where by the turn of the twentieth century her family was rooming at a boarding house...

 charging him with breach of promise and paternity of her son.

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney died in 1992 in Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...

and is buried there in the Greenridge Cemetery.
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