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Adrian Van Sinderen Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: [Summit record]
Date: 1 Jan 2001

Biographical History

Adrian Van Sinderen (1887-1963) was an American banker, businessman and civic leader. A man of many and diverse interests, he was also an active traveler, a breeder and shower of ponies, and became well-known as a book collector.

Early in his career Van Sinderen worked for J.P. Morgan. He eventually sat on the board of directors for the New York Telephone Company and Manufacturers Trust Company. A graduate of Yale University (1910), he established Yale's Adrian Van Sinderen Book Collecting Prizes for Sophomores and Seniors in 1957, to encourage students to begin building their book collections. During World War I, he worked in the Quartermaster Corps at the New York Port of Embarkation in Hoboken, New Jersey, being discharged as a Major in 1919. His love of show horses is evident in his long association with the American Horse Shows Association, where he was president of that organization for over 20 years. A Brooklyn resident, Van Sinderen supported and was involved in many philanthropic causes of his hometown, including the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn Hospital, and the Brooklyn Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. He and his wife donated their 650-acre Connecticut country property, Hidden Valley, to the Steep Rock Association land trust, whose mission is to protect ecologically and historically significant landscapes and riparian corridors. As of 2025, the SRA held in trust more than 1300 acres across the state.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Adrian Van Sinderen Papers consists of memorabilia, New York Port of Embarkation material, organizational material, and writings.

Memorabilia, the smallest part of the collection, contains awards, programs, and other souvenirs from various events or recognitions.

New York Port of Embarkation material (at the time Van Sinderen was there, this was called Headquarters, Port of Embarkation, Hoboken, NJ) consists of five highly organized scrapbooks that detail the comings and goings of vessels in and out of the Port of New York during the time Van Sinderen worked there in the years surrounding World War I. The first four notebooks are arranged alphabetically by ship name. For each ship there is a typed list detailing dates of movements in and out of New York Harbor and various maintenance or other activities; for many of the ships there are miniature blueprints of the ship's layout, and in some cases there are clippings of news items about the ship (for example, if it was torpedoed en route to Europe) and/or photographs. The fifth scrapbook is more general and contains miscellaneous material such as official memos, maps, clippings and reports. Some clippings have been photocopied to preserve them. There is also a handwritten volume of miscellaneous information.

Organizational material contains annual reports and other material relating to organizations with which Van Sinderen was involved, such as the American Horse Shows Association, Brooklyn Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and The Rembrandt Club.

The bulk of Writings consists of what Van Sinderen called "Christmas Books," which was a series of books he wrote and gave as gifts at Christmas time. Beginning in 1935 and going on for 25 years, these books are wide-ranging in content, rich in history, geography, travel, famous people, memoirs and reminiscences. Also in this series are articles and speeches on a range of topics for a variety of occasions.

Arrangement of the Collection

Most of the collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material or name of originating organization. The exception is Writings, which is subdivided by type (articles, Christmas books, etc.) and arranged chronologically within each type.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

Most of the books have been transferred to Rare Books for cataloging. Please refer to Libraries Search and search on "gift of adrian van sinderen" to locate these items.

Subject Headings

Persons

Van Sinderen, Adrian, 1887-1963.

Corporate Bodies

American Horse Shows Association.
Brooklyn Hospital.
Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences.
Brooklyn Savings Bank.
Brooklyn Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Elihu (Society)
Port of Embarkation, Hoboken, New Jersey (U.S.)
Steep Rock Association.

Subjects

Authors, American.
Horses -- Showing.
Philanthropists -- United States.
Ships.
Upper class -- United States.
World War, 1914-1918.

Places

Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
New York Harbor (N.Y. and N.J.)

Genres and Forms

Annual reports.
Essays.
Manuscripts for publication.
Notebooks.

Occupations

Authors.
Philanthropists.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Adrian Van Sinderen Papers
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mrs. Adrian Van Sinderen, 1964.

Table of Contents

Memorabilia

New York Port of Embarkation material

Organizational material

Writings

Inventory