Inside the ‘Captains of Industry’: Historian Puts Entrepreneurs In Perspective At Concordia College

Mike Fix, financial advisor and historian, spoke to the in Concordia's Yeager Room recently about the George M. Yeager Collection, a rare display of autographs, documents and letters by America's financiers and wealth creators.

The collection is on permanent exhibition at in the Krenz Academic Center. 

The collection represents a broad spectrum of individuals identified with the entrepreneurial spirit of America as far back as the early 18th century. The collection offers numerous items of great rarity and interest. It has been called “one of the finest assemblages of its kind and unquestionably the best on public display” by Scott A Winslow, one of the leading authorities on business and financial autograph material. 

“Our history has spotlighted presidents and politicians, generals and military leaders, entertainers and sports figures,” said Fix, who is also a member of  the Eastchester Rotary Club, “The inventors and entrepreneurs of America have always been on the back bench of history but they are the people who gave us our way of life; electricity, transportation, food, and communications. These creators of American wealth can be an inspiration to our young people."

There are hundreds of stories tied to the autographs in the Yeager collection. In his presentation, Fix focused on Samuel Slater, an Englishman who moved to America to pursue his dreams.  President Andrew Jackson dubbed Slater the “father of American manufacturing.”

George Yeager’s quest to build this one-of-a-kind autograph collection began in 1960, coinciding with the beginning of his long and successful career as an investment counselor in New York City. His interest in autograph material of wealth creators was a natural extension of his own professional focus on investing in great American enterprises. The core of the collection was displayed in the Rockefeller Center offices of Yeager, Wood & Marshall for several decades. 

Concordia College is now making the collection available to schools, groups and organizations in the region for educational tours. The room can also be rented for events. For more information contact Shanley Hanlon. She can be reached at (914) 337-9300 x2157 or email Shanley.Hanlon@concordia-ny.edu