Whitney family

The Whitney family is a formerly prominent American family descended from non-Norman English immigrant John Whitney (1592–1673), who left London in 1635 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. The historic family mansion in Watertown, known as The Elms, was built for the Whitneys in 1710. The Whitneys today continue to be involved in philanthropic efforts due to the wealth accumulated by past generations. They are also members of the Episcopal Church.

Until the mid-20th century, successive generations of the Whitney family had a significant impact on American history. Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793 enabled cotton seeds to be removed 50 times faster, a breakthrough which led the country to become home to 75% of the world's cotton supply. This caused the demand for slaves to increase rapidly, with Yale law professor Paul Finkleman writing that "slaves were a profitable investment before the cotton gin and an even more profitable investment after its invention". In 1844, Asa Whitney launched a campaign for a railway linking the country's west to the east that ultimately resulted in the first transcontinental railroad. Upon taking office as U.S. Secretary of the Navy in 1885, William Collins Whitney oversaw the American fleet's widespread adoption of steel ships, an event essential to the United States becoming a leading world power.

During the 20th century, family members continued to exercise massive influence over the country's economy through conglomerates such as Pan Am, J.H. Whitney & Company, and Freeport-McMoran. Beginning with William Collins Whitney, members of the Whitney family would also become major figures for more than a century in the breeding and racing of Thoroughbred horses.

Prominent descendants of John Whitney

 * Amos Whitney (1832–1920)
 * Anne Whitney (1821–1915)
 * Asa Whitney (1791–1874), canal commissioner
 * Asa Whitney (1797-1872)
 * Benson Whitney (born 1956)
 * Charlotte Anita Whitney (1867–1955)
 * Charles Andrew Whitney (1834–1912)
 * Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (1899–1992)
 * Courtney Whitney (1897–1969)
 * David Whitney Jr. (1830-1900)
 * Dorothy Payne Whitney (1887–1968)
 * Edward Baldwin Whitney (1857–1911)
 * Eli Whitney (1765–1825)
 * Eli Whitney Blake (1795–1886), inventor
 * Eli Whitney Blake, Jr. (1836–1895), scientist
 * Eli Whitney Debevoise II (born 1953)
 * Flora Payne Whitney (1897–1986)
 * Whitney Tower (1923–1999)
 * Flora Miller Biddle (born 1928)
 * Harry Payne Whitney (1872–1930)
 * Hassler Whitney (1907–1989)
 * Henry Melville Whitney (1839–1923)
 * James Scollay Whitney (1811–1878)
 * Joan Whitney Payson (1903–1975)
 * John Hay Whitney (1905–1982)
 * Josephine Whitney Duveneck (1891–1978)
 * Josiah Dwight Whitney (1819–1896)
 * Mary Watson Whitney (1847–1921)
 * Newel Kimball Whitney (1795–1850)
 * Orson F. Whitney (1855–1931)
 * Parkhurst Whitney (1784–1862)
 * Pauline Payne Whitney (1874–1916)
 * Olive, Lady Baillie Olive Cecilia Paget, (1899–1974), Anglo-American heiress, landowner and hostess.
 * Dorothy Wyndham Paget (1905–1960), British racehorse owner and sponsor of motor racing
 * William Payne Whitney (1876–1927)
 * Phyllis Ayame Whitney (1903–2008)
 * Richard Whitney (1888–1974)
 * Wheelock Whitney I (1894–1957)
 * Wheelock Whitney, Jr. (1926–2016)
 * Wheelock Whitney III (born 1949)
 * William Collins Whitney (1841–1904)
 * William Dwight Whitney (1827–1894)
 * Willis Rodney Whitney (1868–1958)

By marriage: 


 * Mary Elizabeth Altemus (1906–1988)
 * Charles T. Barney (1851–1907)
 * Kathleen Blatz (born 1954)
 * Betsey Cushing (1908–1998)
 * Henry F. Dimock (1842–1911)
 * Leonard Knight Elmhirst (1893–1974)
 * Helen Julia Hay (1876–1944)
 * Almeric Hugh Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough (1861–1949), British industrialist and politician
 * Marie Louise Schroeder (1925–2019)
 * Willard Dickerman Straight (1880–1918)
 * Whitney Willard Straight (1912–1979)
 * Beatrice Whitney Straight (1914–2001)
 * Michael Whitney Straight (1916–2004)
 * Adeline Dutton Train (1824–1906)
 * Gertrude Vanderbilt (1875–1942)
 * George W. Headley (1908–1985)
 * Dorothy Laverne Whitney (born 1930)
 * Alfa Vanderbilt-Winther (1924–2008)

Associates
The following is a list of figures closely aligned or subordinate to the Whitney family.


 * Henry Lawrence Burnett
 * Roscoe Channing
 * Merian C. Cooper
 * Herbert Croly
 * William Lukens Elkins
 * Catharine Littlefield Greene
 * Daniel Guggenheim
 * Daniel S. Lamont
 * Oliver Hazard Payne
 * Benjamin Franklin Pearson
 * Francis A. Pratt
 * Benno C. Schmidt Sr.
 * David O. Selznick
 * Kenneth A. Spencer
 * Charles Shipman Payson
 * Sherman Pratt
 * Thomas Fortune Ryan
 * W.E.D. Stokes
 * Ilya Andreyevich Tolstoy
 * Juan Trippe
 * Clarissa Watson
 * Peter A.B. Widener
 * Langbourne Meade Williams Jr.
 * Richard Thornton Wilson Jr.

Businesses
The following is a list of companies in which the Whitney family have held a controlling or otherwise substantial interest.


 * American Tobacco Company
 * Art in America
 * Burnett & Whitney
 * Cataract House Hotel
 * Dominion Iron & Steel Company
 * Dun & Bradstreet
 * Foshalee Plantation
 * Freeport Texas Company
 * Great Northern Paper
 * Greentree Stable
 * Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Company
 * International Herald Tribune
 * J.H. Whitney & Company
 * Manhasset Stable
 * Marineland of Florida
 * Metropolitan Steamship Company
 * Metropolitan Street Railway Company
 * Minnesota North Stars
 * Minnesota Vikings
 * Minute Maid Company
 * The New Republic
 * New York Loan & Improvement Company
 * New York Mets
 * Pan Am
 * Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems
 * Selznick International Pictures
 * Spencer Chemical Company
 * Technicolor Corporation
 * West End Street Railway
 * Westbury Stable
 * Western Airways
 * Whitney Armory
 * Whitney Real Estate Corporation

Philanthropy and non-profit organizations

 * Almeric Paget Massage Corps
 * American Philological Association
 * Association of Junior Leagues International
 * Country Art Gallery & Art School
 * Dartington College of Arts
 * Dartington International Summer School
 * Greentree Foundation
 * Helen Hay Whitney Foundation
 * Jockey Club (United States)
 * John Hay Whitney Foundation
 * Markey Cancer Center
 * National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame
 * National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
 * The New School for Social Research
 * North Shore University Hospital
 * Payne Whitney Gymnasium
 * Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic
 * Saratoga Performing Arts Center
 * Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience
 * Whitney South Sea Expedition
 * William C. Whitney Foundation
 * Whitney Gallery of Western Art
 * Whitney Museum of American Art
 * Whitney Stakes (NYRA)

Buildings, estates and historic sites

 * Belmont Park
 * Breuer Building
 * Brookdale Farm
 * C.V. Whitney Farm
 * Dartington Hall
 * David Whitney House
 * Eli Whitney Gun Factory
 * The Elms
 * Greentree
 * Greenwood Plantation
 * Joye Cottage
 * Llangollen Farm
 * Payne Whitney House
 * Saratoga Race Course
 * Waters Farm
 * Whitney Studio Gallery
 * Whitney Park
 * Willard Straight Hall