Charles Deering

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Charles Deering (born July 31, 1852, Paris, Maine; died February 5, 1927, Miami, Florida) was a U.S. business man and philanthropist.

Charles was the son of William Deering, founder of the Deering Harvester Company. In 1873 he graduated from the United States Naval Academy, and served as an officer in the Navy until 1881, when he became secretary of his father's company.

After the merger which combined Deering Harvester and the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company into the International Harvester Company in 1902, Charles Deering became the chairman of the board of the new company.

In 1930, construction began on the Charles Deering Library on Northwestern University's Evanston campus. Funding was provided primarily through donations made by the Deering, McCormick, and Danielson families. Dedicated in 1933, it served as Northwestern's primary library until 1970, when an adjacent library was constructed. The Deering Library now houses certain special collections of the Northwestern Library, along with art, music, and the University Archives.