View source for Seth Low

{{Short description|American politician (1850–1916)}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Seth Low
| image               = Seth Low cph.3a37073.jpg
| caption             = Low in 1901
| imagesize           = 
| order               = 92nd
| office              = Mayor of New York City
| term_start          = January 1, 1902
| term_end            = December 31, 1903
| predecessor         = [[Robert Anderson Van Wyck]]
| successor           = [[George B. McClellan&nbsp;Jr.]]
| order2              = 11th
| office2             = President of Columbia University
| term_start2         = 1890
| term_end2           = 1901
| predecessor2        = [[Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard|Frederick A. P. Barnard]]
| successor2          = [[Nicholas Murray Butler]]
| order3              = 23rd
| office3             = Mayor of Brooklyn
| term_start3         = January 1, 1881
| term_end3           = December 31, 1885
| predecessor3        = [[James Howell (politician)|James Howell]]
| successor3          = [[Daniel D. Whitney]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1850|1|18}}
| birth_place         = New York City, US
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1916|9|17|1850|1|18}}
| death_place         = [[Bedford Hills, New York]], US
| party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse              = Anne Wroe Scollay Curtis
| father              = [[Abiel Abbot Low]]
| relatives           = [[Abbot Augustus Low]] (brother)<br />[[Harriet Low]] (aunt)
| alma_mater          = [[Columbia College, Columbia University|Columbia College]]
}}

'''Seth Low''' (January 18, 1850&nbsp;– 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 [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907|International Peace Conference]] at [[The Hague]] in 1899, and the 92nd [[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.<ref name="cab">{{Cite CAB|wstitle=Low, Seth}}</ref> 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.<ref name="SWCR">{{Cite journal |last=Puga |first=Rogério Miguel |author-link=Rogerio Miguel Puga |date=June 2008 |title=Interpreting Macau through the Journals of Harriett Low and Rebecca Chase Kinsman |url=https://www.academia.edu/867552 |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Sino-Western Cultural Studies (中西文化研究) |language=en,zh |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220325050339/https://www.academia.edu/867552/Interpreting_Macao_through_the_Journals_of_Harriett_Low_and_Rebecca_Chase_Kinsman |archive-date=March 25, 2022}}</ref> The Low family was old Puritan New England stock, descended from Thomas Low of [[Essex County, Massachusetts]].<ref name=kurland /> Low was named after his grandfather Seth Low (1782–1853) who moved with his son Abiel to Brooklyn to start a prosperous importing company.<ref name=kurland /> When Brooklyn was incorporated as a city in 1834, Seth the elder was one of the incorporators; he also served on the Board of Aldermen and was first President of the Board of Education.<ref name="kurland">{{Cite book |last=Kurland |first=Gerald |url=https://archive.org/details/sethlowreformeri00gera |title=Seth Low: the Reformer in an Urban and Industrial Age |date=1971 |publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Twayne Publishers]] |language=en |lccn=76-125816 |oclc=1036866696 |access-date=March 25, 2022 |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> 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."<ref name=kurland />

Low's father was a [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]], and his mother was an [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalian]].<ref name=kurland /> For years, Low wavered between the two faiths. Finally, at age 22, Low decided he would henceforth be an Episcopalian.<ref name=kurland />

Low attended [[Poly Prep Country Day School]] in Brooklyn and [[Columbia College, Columbia University|Columbia College]]. After graduating from Columbia in 1870, Low made a short trip abroad, and then entered the tea and silk house of A. A. Low & Brothers, which had been founded by his father in New York. In 1875, he was admitted a member of the firm, from which, upon its liquidation in 1888, he withdrew with a large fortune.<ref name="nie">{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Low, Seth|year=1905}}</ref>

== 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."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wallace |first1=Mike |title=[[Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898]] |last2=Burrows |first2=Edwin G. |date=November 19, 1998 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-511634-2 |location=[[New York City]] |language=en |author-link=Mike Wallace (historian) |author-link2=Edwin G. Burrows}}</ref>

On December 9, 1880, he married Anne Wroe Scollay Curtis of [[Boston]], daughter of Justice [[Benjamin R. Curtis]] of the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]]. They had no biological children, but adopted two nieces and a nephew.<ref name="cab" />

==Mayor of Brooklyn==

===First term===
By 1881 Brooklyn had been governed for years by a corrupt Democratic political machine under [[Hugh McLaughlin (politician)|Hugh McLaughlin]].<ref name=kurland /> By this time, a wave of [[Goo-goos|goo-goo]] (or "good government") sentiment had begun to gain favor, and public sentiment was starting to turn against the incumbent Democratic regime.<ref name=kurland />

Brooklyn Republicans sensed an opportunity, but they were split between the "stalwart" candidate Benjamin F. Tracy and reform candidate Ripley Ropes.<ref name=kurland /> Low had no particular ambition to become Mayor,<ref name=kurland /> but his name was brought forth as a compromise, because his wealth and old family name appealed to the "stalwarts" and his reformist views appealed to the reformers.<ref name=kurland /> Low accepted the nomination at the Republican city convention, making it clear that he would not be a partisan mayor.<ref name=kurland /> Low defeated the incumbent Democrat [[James Howell (politician)|James Howell]] after a two-week campaign, 45,434 votes to 40,937.<ref name=kurland />

Low's time in office was marked by a number of reforms:

* Low's major achievement as mayor was to secure a degree of "home rule" of the city. Previously, the State Government dictated city policies, hiring, salaries, and other affairs. Low managed to secure an unofficial veto over all Brooklyn bills in the State Assembly.<ref name=kurland />
* Low instituted a number of educational reforms. He was the first to integrate Brooklyn schools.<ref name=kurland /> He introduced free textbooks for all students, not just those who had taken a pauper's oath.<ref name=kurland /> He instituted a competitive examination for hiring teachers, instead of giving teaching jobs to pay political debts.<ref name=kurland /> Low set aside $430,000 for the construction of new schools to accommodate 10,000 new students.<ref name=kurland />
* Low introduced Civil Service Code to all city employees, eliminating patronage jobs.<ref name=kurland />
* German immigrants wanted to enjoy their local beer gardens on the Sabbath, in violation of state "dry" laws and the demands of local puritanical clergy. Low's compromise solution was that saloons could stay open as long as they were orderly.<ref name=kurland /> At the first sign of rowdiness, they would be closed.<ref name=kurland />
* Low served as a member of the board of the New York Bridge Company, the company that built the [[Brooklyn Bridge]], and led an unsuccessful effort to remove [[Washington Roebling]] as the chief engineer on that project.<ref name="GreatBridge">{{Cite book |last=McCullough |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/greatbridge0000mccu |title=The Great Bridge |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=1972 |isbn=0-671-21213-3 |author-link=David McCullough |url-access=registration}}</ref>
* Low raised the tax rate from $2.33 of $100 assessed valuation in 1881 to $2.59 in 1883.<ref name=kurland /> He also went after property owners who had not paid back taxes.<ref name=kurland /> This increase in city revenue enabled him to reduce the city's debt and increase services. However, raising taxes proved extremely unpopular.<ref name=kurland />

===Second term===
Low's tax increases and non-partisan governing policy lost him a measure of public support. By 1883, fellow Republicans were criticizing Low openly, and the press was critical of his tax policy.<ref name=kurland /> Although the Democrats ran the weak, nearly unknown candidate [[Joseph C. Hendrix]] in 1883, Low beat him by a slimmer margin than his first election. Where Low won his first term by 5,000 votes, he squeaked by re-election with only a 1,548-vote margin.<ref name=kurland />

In 1884, Low's [[mugwump]] support of Democrat [[Grover Cleveland]] in 1884 furthered the rift with his fellow Republicans. He declined to run for a third term in 1885, and refused to support Republican nominee General [[Isaac S. Catlin]].<ref name=kurland /> Instead, he supported a reform candidate, General [[John R. Woodward]].<ref name=kurland /> By this time, the public was losing their attraction to reform, and Democrat [[Daniel D. Whitney]] won election. With Whitney came the return of Democratic machine politics for another seven years.<ref name=kurland /> By 1892, some writers were looking back on Low's tenure as a "Golden Age" of clean government.<ref name=kurland />

==President of Columbia University==
[[File:Seth Low by Eastman Johnson.png|thumb|[[Eastman Johnson]]'s portrait of Seth Low, c. 1890]]

Following his tenure as mayor of Brooklyn, Low assumed the presidency of [[Columbia College of Columbia University|Columbia College]], serving between 1890 and 1901. Not an educator in the specific meaning of the word, he succeeded by his administrative skill in transforming the institution.<ref name="nie" /> He led the move of the institution from [[Midtown Manhattan]] to [[Morningside Heights]], and secured trustee approval to change its name to "Columbia University". The new campus matched Low's vision of a civic university fully integrated into the city; the original design subsequently reconceived, left it open to the street and surrounding neighborhoods.

To forge a university, Low vitally united the various schools into one organization whose direction was moved from the separate faculties to a university council. Further reforms effected by him include the reorganization of the Law School, the addition of a faculty of pure science, the association of the university with the Teachers College, and the extension of the department of political and social study.<ref name="nie" /> In 1895, he gave one million dollars of his inheritance from his father for [[Low Memorial Library]] to be built at the new Columbia University campus. It was dedicated to his father and opened in 1897.

During his time at Columbia, Low was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Seth+Low&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

==International Peace Conference==
[[File:Houghton MS Am 1308 (363) - Peace Conference 1899.jpg|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 [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907|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 (artillerist)|William Crozier]], of the United States Army; and [[Frederick William Holls|Frederick Holls]] of New York.

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

{{blockquote|On this day, so full for Americans of thoughts connected with their National Independence, we may not forget that Americans have yet other grounds for gratitude to the people of the Netherlands. We cannot forget that our flag received its first foreign salute from a Dutch officer, nor that the Province of [[Friesland]] gave to our independence its first formal recognition. By way of [[Leiden|Leyden]] and Delft-Haven and [[Plymouth Rock]], and again by way of [[New Amsterdam]], the free public school reached American shores.

The United States of America have taken their name from the [[Dutch Republic|United States of the Netherlands]]. We have learned from you only that 'in union there is strength'; that is an old lesson, but also, in large measure, how to make 'One out of many'. From you we have learned what we, at least, value, to separate Church and State; and from you, we gather inspiration at all times in our devotion to learning, to religious liberty, and to individual and National freedom. These are some of the things for which we believe the American people owe no little gratitude to the Dutch; and these are the things for which today, speaking in the name of the American people, we venture to express their heartfelt thanks.}}

==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.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Feld |first=Bruce |date=March 9, 1992 |title=Seth Low's Mayoralty |work=[[New York Times]] |type=Letter to the editor |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE6DC123FF93AA35750C0A964958260 |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 8, 2008}}</ref>

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 [[New York City|City of New York]], and the 92nd overall.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mayors of the City of New York |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/dcas/about/green-book-mayors-of-the-city-of-new-york.page |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220325030632/https://www1.nyc.gov/site/dcas/about/green-book-mayors-of-the-city-of-new-york.page |archive-date=March 25, 2022 |access-date=March 25, 2022 |language=en}}</ref> He stands out as the first mayor of Greater New York to be elected on a [[electoral fusion|fusion]] ticket, with the support of both the [[Citizens Union]] and [[History of the Republican Party (United States)|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 [[New York City Police Department|police department]], improving the system of [[New York City Department of Education|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]].<ref name="nie" />

Low became interested in the food supply problem, that is its contribution to the constantly increasing [[cost of living]]. He became convinced that this difficulty could best be solved by democratic cooperation among farmers and consumers. He was president of the Bedford Farmers' Cooperative Association. He was also one of the founders of the Cooperative Wholesale Corporation of New York City, an organization which seeks to bring about a business federation of all the [[consumers' cooperative]] store societies in the eastern United States, but not being in sympathy with the radical tendency of this phase of the [[cooperative movement]], he finally resigned and devoted himself entirely to the agricultural phase of cooperation. Low was also a trustee of the [[Carnegie Institution of Science|Carnegie Institute]] of Washington, D.C.<ref name=cab/>

In the Spring of 1916, Low became ill with cancer.<ref name=kurland /> He died in his home in [[Bedford Hills, New York]], on September 17, 1916. Even his funeral demonstrated the ability of Low to reach political consensus, with honorary pallbearers that included both financier and philanthropist [[J. P. Morgan Jr.]] and labor activist and [[American Federation of Labor|AFL]] founder [[Samuel Gompers]]. 
<ref>{{Cite web |title=NYC 100 – NYC Mayors - The First 100 Years |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/nyc100/html/classroom/hist_info/mayors.html#low |website=[[New York City]] |access-date=August 5, 2006 |archive-date=October 12, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012003808/http://nyc.gov/html/nyc100/html/classroom/hist_info/mayors.html#low |url-status=dead }}</ref>
He is buried in [[Green-Wood Cemetery]] in [[Brooklyn]], New York.

==Legacy==
[[File:Seth Low I.S. 96.jpg|thumb|Entrance of Seth Low Intermediate School 96 in Brooklyn]]

A school in the [[Bensonhurst, Brooklyn|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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seth Low Playground/ Bealin Square Highlights : NYC Parks |url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/seth-low-playground-bealin-square/history |access-date=November 20, 2017 |website=[[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Seth Low Playground/ Bealin Square Highlights : NYC Parks |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/seth-low-playground-bealin-square/history |access-date=2025-07-30 |website=www.nycgovparks.org}}</ref>

In [[Seth Low Pierrepont State Park Reserve]], named after [[Seth Low Pierrepont|Low's nephew]], there is a street named after Low called Seth Low Mountain Road.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seth Low Pierrepont State Park |url=https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/deep/stateparks/maps/sethlowpierrepontpdf.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220325055312/https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DEEP/stateparks/maps/SethLowPierrepontpdf.pdf |archive-date=March 25, 2022 |access-date=March 25, 2022 |website=[[Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection]] |language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Brownsville, Brooklyn|Brownsville]] section of [[Brooklyn]], New York, there is a [[New York City Housing Authority|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 (fireboat)|''Seth Low'']] from 1885 to 1917.<ref name="Marine1FdnyHistory">{{Cite web |last=Meek |first=Clarence E. |date=July 1954 |title=Fireboats Through The Years |url=http://marine1fdny.com/fireboat_history_new.php |access-date=June 28, 2015}}</ref>

There was a [[Seth Low Junior College]] at [[Columbia University]] between 1928 and 1936.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Hirt |first=Leeza |date=Fall 2016 |title=Columbia for Jews? The Untold Story of Seth Low Junior College |url=http://www.columbia-current.org/seth_low_junior_college.html |url-status=live |magazine=The Current |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319072402/http://www.columbia-current.org/seth_low_junior_college.html |archive-date=March 19, 2022 |access-date=January 18, 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of mayors of New York City]]

==References==
;Notes
{{Reflist}}

;Further reading
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Low, Seth |encyclopedia=[[American National Biography]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[New York City]] |url=https://archive.org/details/americannational14garr/page/29/mode/2up |access-date=March 25, 2022 |last=Cerillo |first=Augustus |date=1999 |editor-last=Garraty |editor-first=John Arthur |volume=14 |page=29 |language=en |isbn=0-1952-0635-5 |lccn=98020826 |oclc=468280018 |editor-link1=John Arthur Garraty |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]] |editor-last2=Carnes |editor-first2=Mark Christopher}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Fredman |first=L. E. |date=1972 |title=Seth Low: Theorist of Municipal Reform |journal=Journal of American Studies |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=19–39 |doi=10.1017/S0021875800001171 |s2cid=145262585 |issn=0021-8758}}
* {{Cite book |last=Low |first=Benjamin R. C. |title=Seth Low |date=1925 |publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons]] |ol=6676816M |lccn=25008687 |oclc=3940557}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Swett |first=Steven C. |author-link=Steven C. Swett |date=1960 |title=The Test of a Reformer: A Study of Seth Low, New York City Mayor, 1902-1903 |journal=New York Historical Society Quarterly |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=5–41 |issn=0028-7253}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Topper |first=Joby |date=2011 |title=College Presidents, Public Image, and the Popular Press: A Comparative Study of Francis L. Patton of Princeton and Seth Low of Columbia, 1888–1902 |journal=Perspectives on the History of Higher Education |volume=28 |pages=63–114 |issn=1948-6812}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{Commons category}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=33194| name=Seth Low}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Seth Low}}
* [https://findingaids.library.columbia.edu/ead/nnc-rb/ldpd_4079050 Finding aid to Seth Low papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.]

{{s-start}}
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{{succession box|title=[[President of Columbia University]]|before=[[Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard|Frederick A. P. Barnard]]|after=[[Nicholas Murray Butler]]|years=1890–1901}}
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{{Succession box|title= [[Mayor of Brooklyn]]|before=[[James Howell (politician)|James Howell]]|after=[[Daniel D. Whitney]]|years=1882–1885}}
{{succession box|title=[[Mayor of New York City]]|before=[[Robert A. Van Wyck]]|after=[[George B. McClellan Jr.]]|years=1902-01-01{{thinsp|{{ndash}}}}1903-12-31}}
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{{Columbia University presidents}}
{{Mayors of New York City}}
{{Republican NYC mayoral nominees}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Low, Seth}}
[[Category:1850 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century mayors of places in New York (state)]]
[[Category:20th-century mayors of places in New York (state)]]
[[Category:American Geographical Society]]
[[Category:Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery]]
[[Category:Columbia College, Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Delegates to the Hague Peace Conferences]]
[[Category:Mayors of Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Mayors of New York City]]
[[Category:New York (state) Republicans]]
[[Category:People from Bedford Hills, New York]]
[[Category:Politicians from Westchester County, New York]]
[[Category:Poly Prep alumni]]
[[Category:Presidents of Columbia University]]
[[Category:Progressive Era in the United States]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Archaeological Institute of America]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]