Seth Low - Early Life, Mayor of Brooklyn, Presidency of Columbia University, International Peace Conference

College president and merchant, born in Brooklyn, New York, USA. A successful merchant, he developed public schools and transportation and a permanent civil service as mayor of Brooklyn (1881–6) and New York City (1901–3). As president of Columbia College (later University) (1890–1901) he bought the Morningside Heights site. Columbia's Low Library is named after him.

Seth Low, born in Brooklyn, New York, (January 18, 1850 - September 17, 1916) was an American educator and political figure who served as the mayor of Brooklyn, New York, as President of Columbia University, as diplomatic representative of the United States, and as Mayor of New York City.

Early Life

Low attended the Polytechnic Preparatory (now Poly Prep CDS) high school in Brooklyn.

Mayor of Brooklyn

Low became mayor of Brooklyn in 1881, following in the footsteps of his paternal grandfather, who was Brooklyn's mayor earlier in the century.

Presidency of Columbia University

Following his tenure as mayor of Brooklyn, Low assumed the presidency of Columbia College, serving between 1890 and 1901, during which time 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; In 1895, he gave one million dollars for Low Memorial Library to be built at the new Columbia University campus. It was to be dedicated to his father, Abiel Abbot Low (1811-1893), who was the wealthiest China trader in New York, importing teas, porcelains, and silk.

International Peace Conference

On July 4, 1899 he was one of the American delegates to attend the International Peace Conference at The Hague. and Frederick Holls of New York.

At the conference, Low made the concluding speech. His remarks were printed two months later in The New York Times. He said:

Mayor of New York City

He resigned as president of the university to become the second mayor of the newly consolidated City of New York (1902 to 1903). He and Twain made a joint appearance that The New York Times, on October 30, 1901, said drew a crowd of more than 2,000.

Even though 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-he managed to attain office four years later.

Low 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.

Later life

He was chairman of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama from 1907 until his death in 1916.

On September 17, 1916, Low died in his home in Bedford Hills, New York. Even his funeral demonstrated the ability of Low to reach political consensus, with honorary pallbearers that included both industrialist J.P.

Further reading

Benjamin R. Low, Seth Low (1925). Columbia Alumni News, Oct. 20, 1916. Board of Estimate and Apportionment and Board of Aldermen: Joint Session in Memory of Honorable Seth Low . Moffat, "Low Geneal.: The Descendants of Seth Low and Mary Porter" (1932), a copy of which is in the Lib. and the New York press of Sept.