Joseph William Drexel
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Joseph William Drexel (24 January 1833 – 1888) was a banker, philanthropist, and partner of Baring Brothers in London and Rothschild et fils in Paris.
He was the son of Francis Martin Drexel, and his siblings were Anthony Joseph Drexel and Francis Anthony Drexel. He attended the Philadelphia high school, and traveled through Spain, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and Greece. He retired from business in 1876 and devoted his life to the philanthropic and civic organizations. He was chairman of New York Sanitary Commission, the commissioner of education, president of the New York Philharmonic Society, trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, trustee of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and director of the Metropolitan Opera house. He owned a 200 acre farm near New York City, where people without work were housed, clothed, fed, and taught, agriculture until they could find a job. He owned a large tract of land in Maryland, which was developed into a planned community, where the lots are sold to poor people at cost. About 7,000 acres in Michigan were bought for the same purpose.
Drexel was also an avid collector of music, eventually amassing a collection of over 6,000 items. Upon his death, his collection was accepted by the Lenox Library. When the Lenox Library was joined with those of John Jacob Astor and Samuel Tilden to form The New York Public Library, Drexel's collection became the basis for The Library's Music Division.
John Quincy Adams Ward's 1889 bust of Drexel is located on the 3rd floor vestibule of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
He was buried in The Woodlands Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
