Engel's Lecture Sheds Light on One of America's Richest Families

Professor Elliot Engel brought his famous wit to Piedmont Arts on Tuesday to present the lecture, “The Vanderbilts,” to an audience of over 100 guests.

Focusing on one of America’s most famous families, Engle’s lecture shed light on the lives of the Vanderbilts…all of them…from the 18^th century to present day.

A veritable telenovela, the Vanderbilt family story is rife with tales of perseverance, oddball personalities and not-so-rare strokes of genius.

Vanderbilt family patriarch, Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, overcame meager beginnings to build one of the greatest business empires in U.S. history. From cross continental shipping to the New York Central Railroad, Cornelius’s business ventures ruled the world of transportation. And, as Engel pointed out, Cornelius even changed his first name to “Commodore,” so there would be no mistaking his status as commander of the seas and land.  

The success of Cornelius’s eldest son, William Henry “Billy” Vanderbilt, was unexpected, said Engel. “As a child, Commodore never referred to his son as William or Bill or Billy. Only as blatherskite,” another word for blockhead.

Though Billy’s business acumen was a surprise to his family, he became a successful farmer and, after his father’s death, he doubled the family fortune in less than two years. Unfortunately, Billy was only able to achieve this feat by selling off a significant share of his father’s railroad—“The last source of significant income the Vanderbilt family would ever have,” said Engel.

After the sale of the railroad, Billy never again increased the family fortune. His four sons, three of whom inherited substantial fortunes upon their father’s death, were to spend their days in the lap of luxury, whiling away their time at idle pursuits. One son, said Engel, “won the America’s Cup three times!” and invented the game of contract bridge. 

Billy’s youngest son, George Washington Vanderbilt II, was not so lucky. A “weird” boy who spent his time translating British novels into ancient Greek, Billy left George a mere fraction of his fortune—“only $500 million,” according to Engel.

Not to be outdone by his older siblings and their grand New England homes, George used his inheritance to build the 250-room Biltmore Estate, in Asheville, North Carolina. When George opened Biltmore to his family and friends on Christmas Eve in 1895, his guests were amazed by the manse’s indoor pool. George, however, “was terrified of water,” said Engel, and refused to dip a single toe into the pool’s 70,000 gallons. 

“When it was built,” Engel said, “Biltmore was the largest private residence in the world, and it remains the largest private residence in the world today.” 

Another well-known Vanderbilt is socialite and fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt. In the 1950s, the young designer became famous for elevating blue jeans from work clothes to high fashion—simply by “plastering her name across the rear.”

Along with her son, news anchor and reporter Anderson Cooper, Gloria represents today’s generation of Vanderbilts. A generation that Engel says has “never had to work a real job. Even Anderson flies from place to place for a living—but the Vanderbilt genius was there,” making them, like Vanderbilts of the past, successful in all their ventures. 

Dr. Elliot Engel lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he has taught at the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University and Duke University. He is also president of the Dickens Fellowship of North Carolina, the largest branch of this worldwide network of clubs, and raises money for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, which Dickens helped found in London in 1852.  He has appeared at Piedmont Arts numerous times presenting lectures on Edgar Allen Poe, the Bronte Sisters and more.

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