author
Seth Low
1850–1916
A reform-minded civic leader, he helped shape both Brooklyn and New York City while also guiding Columbia into a modern university. His career moved between business, public service, and education, giving him an unusual place in Gilded Age and Progressive Era history.
1 Audiobook
Opening Ceremonies of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, May 24, 1883
by William C. Kingsley, Franklin Edson, Seth Low
About the author
Born in Brooklyn in 1850, Seth Low came from a prominent mercantile family and graduated from Columbia College in 1870. After entering the family business, he quickly became known not just as a businessman but as a public-minded reformer with a strong interest in honest government and civic improvement.
Low served as mayor of Brooklyn in the 1880s, where he built a reputation for municipal reform. He later became president of Columbia University, leading the school from 1890 to 1901 and overseeing its transformation into a larger, more ambitious institution, including the move to Morningside Heights.
He returned to public life as mayor of New York City in the early 1900s and also represented the United States at the 1899 Hague Peace Conference. Remembered as a university builder, philanthropist, and advocate of cleaner city government, Low died in 1916.