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Rockefeller exhibit shows the money -- and the manAugust 5, 1999 (CNN) -- John D. Rockefeller was not just the tycoon of an era, but one that transcends eras. The world's first billionaire, he built his Standard Oil Company into a fortune that, adjusted for inflation, was more than double that of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. And he donated all but $22 million of it to large-scale philanthropic endeavors. An exhibit at the Museum of American Financial History in New York is examining the full scope of the often ruthless businessman who lived and made his fortune between 1839-1937. It shows his gentler side -- as a philanthropist and easy-going grandfather. The exhibit includes some of personal effects from the family archive that have never before been displayed to the public, such as Rockefeller's small coin purse in which he kept dimes to hand out to children, a gesture that became his public relations trademark. There's a golf club monogrammed with his initials and a film clip that shows him jumping over a small boy on his 93rd birthday to demonstrate his agility. The exhibition also re-creates Rockefeller's office, with a simple rolltop desk, chair, letter box and business papers. (It's said a visitor once asked him why his office was so plain. Rockefeller's response: "Whom do I need to impress?") Appropriately, the museum is the same building that once housed the headquarters of Rockefeller's oil empire. "Rockefeller Rediscovered" is on display through December 10 at the Museum of American Financial History, 28 Broadway in lower Manhattan. For more information, call (212) 908-4110 or toll-free (877) 98-FINANCE.
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