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Collection Data
- Description
- The Fred F. French Companies was established in New York City by Fred Fillmore French (1883-1936) in 1908. French was a real estate developer who financed the construction of the Tudor City and Knickerbocker Village housing developments, and the Midtown skyscraper that bears his name. The Fred F. French Companies records, dated 1902 to 1988, consist of financial, legal, and promotional materials in a range of formats including project development binders and scrapbooks; correspondence; legal agreements; stock ledgers and certificates; prospectuses; brochures; photographs; watercolors; and architectural blueprints and renderings that document French's distinctive approach to developing real estate in New York City during the early to mid-20th century.
- Names
- Fred F. French Companies (Creator)
- Dates / Origin
- Date Created: 1902 - 1988
- Library locations
- Manuscripts and Archives Division
- Shelf locator: MssCol 6206
- Topics
- Fred F. French Companies
- Real property -- New York (State) -- New York
- Genres
- Documents
- Correspondence
- Scrapbooks
- Photographs
- Notes
- Biographical/historical: The Fred F. French Companies was established in New York City by Fred Fillmore French (1883-1936) in 1908. French was a real estate developer who financed the construction of the Tudor City and Knickerbocker Village housing developments, and the Midtown skyscraper that bears his name. In addition to these properties, French owned several large apartment buildings in the Park and Fifth Avenue neighborhoods, some commercial buildings, Interlaken Gardens, a community on Westchester Lake, and the Hotel Everglades in Miami, Florida.
French was born in the Bronx in 1883. His father, a cigar maker, died when French was a child, leaving French's mother, a University of Michigan graduate, with four children to bring up on her own on a limited income. As a child and young adult, French worked odd jobs to help support the family. Through scholarships, French was able to attend high school, at the Horace Mann School, and Princeton University for one year, before leaving to try ranching in the American West. French soon returned to New York where he held various lower-level positions in construction and real estate ventures, before he began developing properties for himself.
Through his innovative investment strategy, which became known as the "French Plan," projects were financed by selling stock to stockholders and small investors, forgoing traditional bank financing. French also created architecture departments to provide in-house design services, acted as general contractor in the construction of buildings, and created subsidiaries to manage properties. Under this plan, French was able to maximize control of his developments and increase his profits. Each building or development became its own organization that existed under the umbrella of the Fred F. French Companies.
After French's death in 1936, Aaron Rabinowitz became the Chief Executive Officer of the Fred F. French Companies at the request of French's widow. Prior to this position, Rabinowitz had been the founder of Spears and Co., Inc., which he ran until 1928, when he left the company to his brothers. Rabinowitz also served on both the New York State Board of Housing and the State Insurance Board. In In the following decades, the corporation sold the majority of its initial holdings and shifted its emphasis to real estate investment.
The Fred F. French Companies was established in New York City by Fred Fillmore French (1883-1936) in 1908. French was a real estate developer who financed the construction of the Tudor City and Knickerbocker Village housing developments, and the Midtown skyscraper that bears his name. The Fred F. French Companies records, dated 1902 to 1988, consist of financial, legal, and promotional materials in a range of formats including project development binders and scrapbooks; correspondence; legal agreements; stock ledgers and certificates; prospectuses; brochures; photographs; and architectural blueprints and renderings that document French's distinctive approach to developing real estate in New York City during the early to mid-20th century.
- Content: The Fred F. French Companies records date from 1902 to 1988 and consist of financial, legal and promotional materials in a range of formats including, project development binders and scrapbooks; correspondence; legal agreements; stock ledgers and certificates; prospectuses; brochures; photographs; watercolors; and architectural blueprints and renderings that document French's distinctive approach to developing real estate in New York City during the early to the mid-20th century.
The scrapbooks and project binders represent a broad spectrum of French's projects with a heavy emphasis on the Tudor City and Knickerbocker Village housing projects. They reveal the process of raising money for, and construction of, new buildings, as well as documenting the promotional activities of the Companies. Photographs depict the prior conditions of the potential building sites, the construction processes, and the completed buildings. Although the financial papers and legal records are fragmentary, they provide insights into the investment strategies and legal particulars of the Companies.
The additions, dating from 1925 to 1980s (bulk dates 1960-1980s), supplement the collection mostly with financial records and legal documents that were folded into Series I and II. The following information regards the additional material.
The financial records are controller's reports, and consolidated financial statements of properties. There is an outside appraisal report prepared by the James Felt Realty Services for the French Companies' real estate holdings that is supplemented with photographs and diagrams.
The legal documents mainly represent two important legal issues: the sale of Tudor City along with the post-sale lawsuit Fred F. French Investing Company vs the City of New York disputing the rezoning of two private parks in Tudor City; and the merger of the FFF Subsidiary Corporation into the Fred F. French Company, Inc. going "private." Other legal files include annual reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission and some early records of the companies.
There are also several oversize watercolors of Tudor City.
- Content: Location of Other Archival Materials: Aaron Rabinowitz business records, 1938-1980; Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
- Acquisition: Donated by the Fred F. French Companies, August 1994, and by Alan Rabinowitz, April 2004. The additions were donated by Timon and Lori Malloy, in 2019.
- Content: Revision history: 18 boxes and 4 oversize folders processed by Valerie Wingfield. (2019)
- Content: Processing information: The collection was processed by Susan Malsbury in 2009.
- Physical Description
- Extent: 11.03 linear feet (28 boxes, 4 oversize folders)
- Type of Resource
- Text
- Still image
- Identifiers
- NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b19807923
- MSS Unit ID: 6206
- Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 8dfca040-a577-013b-1ad4-0242ac110002
