Frederick Townsend Martin

Born in Albany, New York, in 1849, Frederick Townsend Martin was an American author and prominent figure in New York society. He came from a well-known family, studied law at Albany Law School, and also served in the New York National Guard.

Martin is remembered for writing about the world of privilege he knew firsthand. His best-known work, The Passing of the Idle Rich (1911), criticized the emptiness and excess he saw among the wealthy and helped make him a recognizable public voice during the last years of his life.

What makes him especially interesting is that he was not only a man of society but also someone drawn to social reform and charity. Accounts of his life note his visits to the Bowery Mission and his concern for people far removed from the circles in which he moved, a contrast that gives his work and public image a distinctive edge.