The Rockefellers Program Transcript
Page 1 The Rockefellers Program Transcript Narrator: October 9th, 1901: The steam yacht Wild Duck sailed out of Providence, Rhode Island. On board was one of the richest men in America, John D. Rockefeller, and his family. The boat was bound for an estate at Warwick Neck, on the west shore of Narragansett Bay. Soon the groomed lawns would welcome 500 guests, the lions of the gilded age. Outside the gates, reporters gathered -- for the wedding of Rockefeller's only son, John Jr., and Abby Aldrich, daughter of a powerful Rhode Island senator. Pinkerton guards had been deployed to protect the bejeweled guests and glittering wedding presents. They had another, more dangerous assignment. John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil, was the most hated man in America -- described as monstrous, evil, cruel. Rockefeller was hounded by reporters -- stalked by strangers asking for money. He had taken to keeping a revolver by his bed. There had been kidnap threats against his family -- and letters warning of homemade bombs destined for the Rockefellers' house. This was a family under siege. It would fall to the new bride -- and to the dutiful, obedient son, already oppressed by the burdens of growing up a Rockefeller -- to find a way forward for the family. In the early 19th century, they called this part of upstate New York the "Burned Over District." Burned not by fire, but by fire and brimstone, by the blaze of Christian revivalism. Preachers urged a life of hard work, prayer, and good deeds, to build the Kingdom of God on Earth.
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