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Seth Low (January 18, 1850 – September 17, 1916) was an American public figure. He chronologically served as the 23rd mayor of Brooklyn from 1881 to 1885, the 11th president of Columbia University from 1890 to 1901, a diplomatic representative of the United States to the International Peace Conference at The Hague in 1899, and the 93rd mayor of New York City from 1902 to 1903. He was a leading municipal reformer fighting for efficiency during the Progressive Era.

Early life

Low was the son of Abiel Abbot Low and Ellen Almira Dow. Low's father was a leading trader in China, and his father's sister, Harriet Low, was one of the first young American women to live in China. The Low family was old Puritan New England stock, descended from Thomas Low of Essex County, Massachusetts. Seth the elder was also involved with charity and support work for the poor; on his deathbed, he admonished his three-year-old grandson and namesake: "Be kind to the poor."

Advocating cuts to welfare

In the mid-1870s, Seth Low began to lay the groundwork for his political career by supporting "welfare reform" and the elimination of food and coal disbursements for the poor which caused "starving people" to gather at "warehouses where food was stored" to beg for help. During this period, the reform movement, of which Low was a stalwart, denounced emergency assistance of potatoes and flour for the poor. The reduction in welfare assistance for the poor led many to seek shelter in "police station basements" and in city hospitals, and led many poor parents to bring "their children to asylums" and many men to beg on the streets for "charity or work."

On December 9, 1880, he married Anne Wroe Scollay Curtis of Boston, daughter of Justice Benjamin R. Curtis of the United States Supreme Court. They had no biological children, but adopted two nieces and a nephew.

Low raised the tax rate from $2.33 of $100 assessed valuation in 1881 to $2.59 in 1883.

International Peace Conference

thumb|left|Seth Low (seated at right) with other members of the American delegation to the International Peace Conference, 1899

On July 4, 1899, he was one of the American delegates to attend the International Peace Conference at The Hague. Others in the delegation were Andrew D. White, then the United States Ambassador to the German Empire; Stanford Newel of Minnesota, then the United States Minister to the Netherlands; Captain Alfred Mahan, of the United States Navy; Captain William Crozier, of the United States Army; and Frederick Holls of New York.

At the conference, Low made the concluding speech, printed two months later in The New York Times, saying:

Mayor of New York City

Low's first campaign for mayor of consolidated New York in 1897 was unsuccessful, partially because of a division among anti-Tammany Hall candidates and parties. However, four years later, he managed to attain office.

During his 1901 campaign, he had the support of humorist Mark Twain. He and Twain made a joint appearance that drew a crowd of more than 2,000.

In 1902, Low resigned as president of the university to become the second mayor of the newly consolidated City of New York, and the 93nd overall. He stands out as the first mayor of Greater New York to be elected on a fusion ticket, with the support of both the Citizens Union and Republican parties. Some of his notable achievements include the introduction of a civil service system — based upon merit — for hiring municipal employees, reducing widespread graft within the police department, improving the system of education within the city, and lowering taxes. Despite these seemingly impressive achievements he only served for two years and was defeated in 1903 by Democrat George B. McClellan Jr.

Later life

He was chairman of the Tuskegee University (formerly Tuskegee Institute), a historically black college directed under Booker T. Washington, from 1907 until 1916. From 1907, he was also president of the business-labor alliance the National Civic Federation. Even though he believed in collective bargaining rights, which had customarily been denied to labor unions by those in authority, he did not favor strikes, but rather embraced arbitration as a suitable labor-management negotiation tactic.

He was a founder and the first president of the Bureau of Charities of Brooklyn, and was elected vice-president of the New York Academy of Sciences and president of the Archaeological Institute of America.

He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

Legacy

thumb|Entrance of Seth Low Intermediate School 96 in Brooklyn

A school in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn is named Seth Low Intermediate School 96. A playground on the next block was known for many years as Seth Low Playground to locals, before the name was officially given in 1987.

In Seth Low Pierrepont State Park Reserve, named after Low's nephew, there is a street named after Low called Seth Low Mountain Road.

In the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, there is a NYCHA public housing development named Seth Low Houses. It consists of four 17 and 18 story buildings.

The Brooklyn Fire Department operated a fireboat named Seth Low from 1885 to 1917.

There was a Seth Low Junior College at Columbia University between 1928 and 1936.

References

;Notes

;Further reading

External links

Finding aid to Seth Low papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.