Carl Pforzheimer

Carl Howard Pforzheimer (1879 – April 4, 1957) was an American banker and curbstone broker based in New York City.

He was a founder of the American Stock Exchange and amassed a large fortune on Wall Street as a specialist in Standard Oil stock.

An avid collector of rare books, he built up the Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle, which is now held at New York Public Library.

Early life and education Carl H. Pforzheimer was born to a Jewish family in 1879 in New York to Isaac and Mina Heyman Pforzheimer. He attended City College.

Career Founding his firm Early in his career he was a $4 per week clerk on Wall Street. He later established his own firm, Carl H. Pforzheimer & Co. at the age of 23 in 1901. In June 1914, he resigned from the board of representatives of the Curb Association. Pforzheimer and two other retirees had composed the Complaint Committee, had recently had their charges against Secretary Franklin Leonard dismissed by the full board. Leonard had offered to resign if the three complaint committee members resigned as well. Pforzheimer did not drop his membership in the organization.

As of 1922, his firm Carl H. Pforzheimer & Co. was located at 25 Broad St. In the Broad Exchange Building. Specializing in Standard Oil and miscellaneous securities, firm members included Carl Pforzheimer and his brothers Walter and Arthur.

Later positions In February 1951 he was elected to the twenty-five person board of trustees at the New York Public Library, after serving as a member of the library committee since 1949. He also joined the library's finance committee. He was also a trustee and vice chairman of the Institute of the Public Administration. He helped form the Purchase Community, Inc., serving as its first treasurer for 25 years. He was also founding chairman of the Town of Harrison Finance and Advisory Committee.

He has had several buildings named after him. In December 1956, Pforzheimer Hall at Horace Mann School in Riverdale of the Bronx was named for him, after he was chairman of the school's board for three decades. In 1955, the National Municipal League named their building after him, after he was treasurer of the organization for 35 years.

Book collection Pforzheimer was an avid collector of rare books, collecting manuscripts and books over decades and housing them in an office building in Manhattan as the Pforzheimer Library, with access only allowed to specialized scholars.

The Ransom Center’s annual Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Lecture was established specifically to honor the library acquired in 1986.

Personal life On January 16, 1906 Pforzheimer married Lily Oppenheimer. and a son Carl Howard Pforzheimer Jr. He was an honorary member of the Elizabethan Club of Yale University, was a member of the Grolier Club, the Metropolitan Opera Club, the Lucullus Circle, the Newcomen Society of England, the Bankers Club, the City Midday Club, the Century Country Club, the Westchester Country Club, Quaker Ridge Golf Club, and Baton Rouge Country Club. In 1922, Carl and his brother Walter had a falling-out that “drew a fault line” between their two families. Carl Pforzheimer would not see his nephew, the young Walter Pforzheimer, until 1955 when the elder Walter died.

His manor in Purchase had twenty rooms and was English-style on 400 acres. It adjoined the estate of Governor Lehman. As of 1936, Pforzheimer, his wife, his daughter, his son-in-law John Long, and two grandchildren were living in the manor. After the fire was quelled, Pforzheimer was heard remarking that he would call a meeting of the Purchase fire district, which he had previously helped organize with New York broker George Agents, the next day to organize a Purchase fire department. By 1957, he was residing at Hidden Brook Farm in Purchase, New York. He died in April 1957 at his apartment at 820 Park Avenue, at the age of 78.