Alfred Holland Smith

Alfred Holland Smith
Smith, c. 1910-1915
Born(1863-04-26)April 26, 1863
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
DiedMarch 8, 1924(1924-03-08) (aged 60)
New York City, U.S.
EmployerNew York Central Railroad
TitlePresident

Alfred Holland Smith (April 26, 1863 – March 8, 1924) was the President of New York Central Railroad from January 1914 to May 1918 and from June 1919 until his death. The entirety of Smith's forty-five-year career was dedicated to the railroads. He started his career as a messenger boy at the age of fourteen, earning 4 dollars a week, and became the highest-paid railroad manager in the U.S., receiving an annual salary of more than $100,000 according to one survey.[1]

After the American entry into World War I, Smith joined the federal service as the Eastern Director of the United States Railroad Administration and temporarily assumed control over the largest pool of railroads in U.S. history, carrying one half of the nation's freight.[2] He successfully alleviated traffic congestion and the buildup of Europe-bound cargoes in the docks.

Smith spoke and acted in favor of government-sponsored consolidation of American,[3] Canadian[4] and Cuban[5] railroads into larger corporations but opposed direct nationalization of railroads.[6] Smith's last full year with the New York Central Railroad, 1923, was the company's most successful year.[7] On March 8, 1924, before the record profit numbers were published, Smith was killed in a horse riding accident in Central Park.

  1. ^ A. H. Smith Killed by Fall From Horse. The New York Times, March 9, 1924, p. 21 col. 1: "From office boy and section hand, Alfred Holland Smith became the highest paid railroad executive in the country. His received a salary of more than $100,000 a year as the President of the New York Central Railroad according to a recent survey of the monetary rewards of railroad executives."
  2. ^ A. H. Smith Killed by Fall From Horse. The New York Times, March 9, 1924, p. 21 cols. 3-4.: "As Eastern Regional Director, Mr. Smith had control for the Government of the largest aggregation of railroads ever put under the operating direction of a single man. His region consisted of more than 100 companies and 80,000 miles of main lines, carrying more than one-half the railroad tonnage of the country."
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