Diego Rivera and the Rockefellers could not have been more different. And yet, for a brief moment in the midst of the turbulent 1930s, they shared the spotlight in a bizarre and very public drama.Â
For over 30 years, Rockefeller had applied his uncanny shrewdness, thorough intelligence, and patient vision to the creation of an industrial organization without parallel in the world. The new century found him facing his most formidable rival ever — a 45-year-old womanÂ
After a courtship that lasted five years, Abby Aldrich married John D. Rockefeller at a lavish wedding ceremony on Warwick Neck, Rhode Island on October 9, 1901.
Rockefeller's correspondence with his docile son John D. Jr. is surprisingly eloquent. Between the lines, these letters reveal the strong personalities and the sometimes strained relationships of these two very different Rockefellers.
Here is a sample of the appeals (with original spelling and grammar retained) that drove Rockefeller to seek more organized and efficient ways to donate his money.
