Winthrop Rockefeller

Winthrop Rockefeller (born May 1, 1912, New York City—died Feb. 22, 1973, Palm Springs, Calif., U.S.) was an American politician and philanthropist and a member of the famed Rockefeller family. He was the second youngest of the five sons of John D. Rockefeller, Jr..

He left college in 1934 and did various kinds of work for the Rockefeller interests—in the oil fields of Texas and at the Chase National Bank—before joining the U.S. Army in 1941. After World War II he became part of New York’s cafe society before moving to Arkansas in 1953, where he eventually built a massive experimental farm called Winrock. There he engaged in various local philanthropic ventures. Becoming Republican governor of Arkansas (1967–71), he secured passage of the state’s first minimum-wage law, introduced extensive prison reforms, and took significant steps toward the desegregation of state schools. His philanthropies in Arkansas included $1,250,000 for a model school, financing of civic projects and medical clinics, and contributions to the building of the Arts Center at Little Rock.