This letter reproduced below, written by a mother to her children, was found among the personal effects of one of my family’s dearest friends. Though it refers to times 100 years ago, it could also have been written last year, last month, or last week.
The letter was written in approximately 1920 by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, wife of John D. Rockefeller’s son, John D., Jr.
She addressed this letter to three of her very young sons: John D. III (b. 1906), Nelson (b. 1908), and Laurance (b. 1910). Three other siblings later completed the family.
What follows describes a mother's hopes and wishes for her young children and for all children. It contains eternal truths and values that have served the past and should served in current and future generations.
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Dear John, Nelson, and Laurance:
For a long time I have had very much on my mind and heart a certain subject. I meant to bring it up at prayers and then later have it for a question to be discussed at a family council; but the right time, because of your father’s illness, never seemed to come.
Out of my experience and observation has grown the earnest conviction that one of the greatest causes of evil is race hatred or race prejudice; in other words, the feeling of dislike that a person or nation has against another person or nation without just cause. An unreasoning aversion is another way to express it. The two peoples or races who suffer most from this treatment are the Jews and the Negroes; but some people “hate” the Italians, who in turn hate the Jugoslavs, who hate the Austrians, who hate the Czecho-Slovaks, and so it goes endlessly.
You boys are still young. No group of people has never done you a personal injury; you have no inherited dislikes. I want to make an appeal to your sense of fair play and to beseech you to begin your lives as young men by giving the other fellow, be he Jew or Negro or whatever race, a fair chance and a square deal.
It is to the disgrace of America that horrible lynchings and race riots frequently occur in our midst. The social ostracism of the Jew is less brutal, and yet often causes cruel injustice and must engender in the Jews a smoldering fire of resentment.
Put yourself in the place of an honest, poor man who happens to belong to one of the so-called “despised” races. Think of having no friendly hand held out to you, no kindly look, no pleasant, encouraging word spoken to you. What I would like you always to do is what I try humbly to do myself: that is, never to say or do anything which would wound the feelings or the self-respect of any human being, and to give special consideration to all who are in any way repressed. This is what your father does naturally from the fineness of his nature and the kindness of his heart.
I long to have our family stand for what is best and highest in life. It isn’t always easy, but it is worthwhile.
Your mother,
(Abby Aldrich Rockefieller)
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Mrs. Rockefellers children turned out well:
- Abby Aldrich Rockeffeller became a lifelong and generous philanthropist.
- John D. Rockefeller III also pursued philanthropy, but on a grand scale, not only donating miss lions, but also re-organizing the foundation structure in America.
- Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, also a philanthropist, was an art collector who also served three presidents before becoming the governor of New York State. Later, he was appointed 41st vice-president of the U.S. following Gerald Ford’s elevation to the presidency after President Nixon’s resignation in 1974.
- Winthrop Aldrich Rockefeller, a lifelong Republican, was elected governor of Arkansas in 1966. Prior to that election, only one percent of Arkansas voters self-identified as Republicans.
- Laurance Rockefeller was a prominent conservationist, philanthropist, financier, and developer who founded and ran the Rockresorts chain of vacation destinations.
- David Rockefeller established himself as brilliant economic, financial, and political advisor to presidents and monarchs around the world. He served as Chief Operating Officer and Chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank.
