Frederick H. Ecker

Frederick H. Ecker
Born(1867-08-30)August 30, 1867
DiedMarch 20, 1964(1964-03-20) (aged 96)
OccupationInsurance Executive
Years active1883–1964
Notable workStuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village

Frederick Hudson Ecker (August 30, 1867 – March 20, 1964) was an Insurance executive, and president of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. He won the 1947 Gold Medal Award from The Hundred Year Association of New York.[1]

Life

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He was born in Phoenicia, New York, and grew up in Brooklyn. He starting working for Metropolitan as an office boy, and rose to become chairman. He was president, from 1929 to 1936.[2]

He was involved in the company's real estate investments: Parkchester, and Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village and Riverton Houses in Manhattan.[3] These projects were racially segregated, which Ecker justified by saying, "If we brought Negroes into these developments, it would be to the detriment of the city, because it would depress all the surrounding property.”[4]

In 1935, he was questioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission, about railroad investments.[5] In 1940, he defended investing in the Empire State Building.[6] In 1941, the company invested in large garden apartment developments in San Francisco, and Los Angeles.[7]

Family

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In 1890, married Henrietta Worrall Harris; in 1932, he married Mrs. Ann Edith Strafford.[3] She died in 1950.[8] His son Frederic W. Ecker (1896-1964) was his second successor (after Leroy A. Lincoln) as president and chairman of Metropolitan Life.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "WELL-DESERVED HONOR". The New York Times. 1947-10-02. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  2. ^ "Metropolitan Life Hails Ecker For His 75 Years of Service; Honorary Chairman, 91, Was Once an Office Boy Who Sought Opportunity". The New York Times. 1958-05-08. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  3. ^ a b "Frederick Ecker, Financier, 96, DIES". The New York Times. 1964-03-21. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  4. ^ Bagli, Charles V. (November 21, 2010). "A New Light on a Fight to Integrate Stuyvesant Town". New York Times. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  5. ^ "ECKER QUESTIONED ON FRISCO POSTS; Insurance President Denies at SEC Hearing That Dual Places Embarrassed Him". The New York Times. 1935-06-07. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  6. ^ Times, John H. Crider Special To The New York (1940-02-22). "METROPOLITAN LIFE DEFENDS BIG LOAN; F.H. Ecker Tells TNEC Empire State Building Will Be on Paying Basis in 1943 RATE READJUSTED IN 1937 Original Mortgage of $27,500,000 Reduced $500,000 in1938, Expires in 1950". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  7. ^ "PUTS MORE MONEY INTO NEW HOUSING; Metropolitan Life to Provide for 5,000 Families in California Projects ECKER DESCRIBES PLANS He Tells Company Managers of Program for Developing Unified Communities". The New York Times. 1941-05-03. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  8. ^ "RITES FOR MRS. ECKER; Business and Banking Leaders Attend Service Here". The New York Times. 1950-11-22. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  9. ^ New York Times obituary
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