George Champion papers
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
A collection documenting the life and career of banker George Champion (1904–1997), who served as president and then chairman of Chase Manhattan in the 1950s and 1960s. The collection includes correspondence with numerous politicians, among them U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and, notably, Dwight D. Eisenhower, with whom Champion maintained a close exchange spanning two decades. Champion's myriad other activities, such as his leadership of the Economic Development Council of New York, and his involvement with the Presbyterian Lay Committee to bring the Reverend Billy Graham's crusades to New York City, are chronicled in the collection's newspapers clippings, photographs, and ephemera. At the core of the collection are the drafts and scripts of Champion's many speeches, which he delivered throughout the country and internationally, and which he issued as pamphlets and periodical articles for wider dissemination.
Biographical note
George Champion was born in Normal, Illinois on February 8, 1904 to George Champion (1871–1914) and Emily (Moore) Champion (1870–1945). [His paternal grandfather was also named George Champion (1840–1928).] He attended San Diego (California) High School and received a B.S. degree from Dartmouth College in 1926.
Champion was with the National Bank of Commerce, New York, from 1926 until 1929, when he joined the Equitable Trust Company. He was appointed Assistant Secretary of Equitable in 1930, and after Equitable and Chase National merged that year, he became an Assistant Cashier of Chase National.
In 1931 Champion left to become Vice President of Canal Bank and Trust Company, New Orleans. He returned to Chase National in 1933 as a Second Vice President in the southeastern district of the bank's national territorial organization. He was appointed Vice President in 1939 and became head of the southeastern district in 1942. He was named Senior Vice President in 1949.
Champion was appointed Chairman of the Personnel Relations Advisory Committee in 1950, Vice Chairman of the General Loan Committee in 1953, and Chairman of the Committee in 1954.
When Chase National Bank and the Bank of Manhattan Company merged on March 31, 1955, Champion was made an Executive Vice President. He was in charge of the United States Department, the bank's national territorial organization, from 1953 until January 1, 1957, when he became President. On January 1, 1961, he assumed the Chairmanship.
In the eight years during which he was Chairman of the Board, from 1961 through early 1969, Chase's assets grew from $9.3 billion to $19.3 billion and its deposits from $8.1 billion to $16.7 billion.
Champion retired from the Chairmanship of the Board of Directors of The Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A., New York, in March 1969. In that year he became Chairman and President of the Economic Development Council of New York City (EDC), a non-profit organization formed in 1965 "to help bring the capabilities of the business community to bear on vital urban problems."
During a career of some 40 years in banking, Champion won a reputation as one of the nation's foremost authorities on lending practices and money market operations. He also became an articulate spokesman for greater corporate involvement in social problems. A speech he delivered at Rutgers University in March 1966, which was later reprinted in the Reader's Digest, was widely heralded as a pioneering statement of the changing responsibilities of business in its new environment.
Champion was Chairman of the Contemporary Economics & Business Association and on the Board of Trustees of The Institute for Political Economy; the holder of Honorary Doctor of Law degrees from Millikin University, Grinnell College, and Pace College; and the recipient of Japan's Order of the Sacred Treasure, First Class.
He was a member of the Pilgrims of the United States, Psi Upsilon Fraternity, Casque and Gauntlet of Dartmouth, the August National Golf Club (Augusta, Georgia) and belonged to the Alfalfa Club (Washington, D.C.), the Links Club (New York), the Sky Club (New York), Round Hill Club, Inc. (Greenwich, Conn.), and Blind Brook Club (Port Chester, N.Y.).
George Champion died at home in Greenwich, Connecticut, on September 16, 1997. He and his wife, the former Eleanor Stevens, had two sons, George Jr. and Stevens, and a daughter, Emily Jean (Mrs. Carl W. Knobloch Jr.).
[This note is a reworking of a 1991 biographical summary of Champion found in the collection (Box 1, Folder 6). See also his New York Times obituary, "George Champion, 93, Head of Chase Manhattan in 1960's," Sep. 22, 1997.]
Arrangement
Before it was transferred to the New-York Historical Society, the collection was sorted in the alphabetical categories listed in the inventory of this finding aid. This arrangement has been preserved with some slight reordering and occasional expansion to accommodate objects not covered by the original categories, such as Champion's Dartmouth College sweater (Box 4), or the First Class Order of the Sacred Treasure insignia (Box 4, Enclosure 1). Maintaining this scheme has resulted in some degree of redundancy, particularly among the categories "Manuscripts," "Periodical articles—by George Champion," "Publications—by George Champion," and "Speeches," as some of Champion's writings and speeches, after their initial delivery, were printed in pamphlet form, or refashioned into magazine and newspaper articles. Similarly, researchers will find repeat correspondents appearing under the categories "Correspondence—Cabinet and other federal-level governmental," "Correspondence—Congressional," "Correspondence—Presidents, Vice-Presidents," and "Correspondence—Professional."
Scope and Contents
The George Champion Papers contain correspondence, draft and printed speeches, publications, newspaper clippings, photographs, oral history interview transcripts, and ephemera pertaining to Champion's forty-year career in banking, most notably with Chase Manhattan, and his philanthropic leanings. The collection includes letters between Champion and dozens of politicians, such as presidents Nixon, Ford, and George H. W. Bush, as well as the evangelist Reverend Billy Graham and the entertainer Bob Hope. Of particular note is the two-decades long, congenial correspondence between Champion and Dwight D. Eisenhower (frequently addressed as "My Dear General"), both before and after the latter's presidency (Box 1, Folder 12), and Champion's equally long exchange with Mamie Doud Eisenhower, much of which concerns fundraising for the establishment of Eisenhower College (Box 1, Folder 14). A note from Peggy Rockefeller (Box 1, Folder 10), wife of Champion's associate, David Rockefeller, praises Champion's decisive action during the so-called "Salad Oil scandal" of 1963, a fraudulent financial scheme committed by executives at Allied Crude Vegetable Oil Company that resulted in over $180 million in losses to major corporations; the scandal—and Champion's role in exposing it—is documented by newspaper clippings in the collection (Box 2, Folder 2). While the collection touches on Champion's myriad activities—such as his involvement with the Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) program (Box 2, Folder 5), the Economic Development Council of New York City (Box 2, Folder 19), and his continued interest in Dartmouth College's football team (Box 2, Folders 9 and 18)—at its core are the dozens of speeches he delivered to national and international venues (Box 3, Folder 10-14), which he often then issued as publications (Box 3, Folder 9) or periodical articles (Box 2, Folder 8) for wider dissemination of his philosophies.
Subjects
Organizations
Genres
People
Access Restrictions
This collection may be stored offsite. To arrange to consult it, please go to www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282. Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: www.nyhistory.org/rights-and-reproductions.
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as the "George Champion Papers, MS 3241, New-York Historical Society."
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Carla Knobloch, 2023.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Archivist Joseph Ditta arranged and described this collection in November 2023 - January 2024.