PHILIP A. S. FRANKLIN - STOCK CERTIFICATE SIGNED 04/20/1915 CO-SIGNED BY: A. J. LORING, H. G. PHILIPS - HFSID 176107

PHILIP A. S. FRANKLIN
His signature on 100 shares of International Mercantile Marine Company purchased by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1915. Franklin, who had been the company's spokesman during the Titanic disaster, became its President the year he signed this certificate, as IMM went into receivership.
Stock Certificate signed: "P A S Franklin", as Vice President, "H G Philips" as Treasurer, 2 pages (front and verso), 10½x7½. State of New Jersey, 1915 April 20. Certificate A-270 for 100 shares of Preferred Stock of the International Mercantile Marine Company, purchased by the Rockefeller Foundation. Also signed in side margins by representatives of the Hudsons Trust and Bankers Trust companies. On verso, transfer of the shares on April 23, 1915 to Charles Henson is acknowledged by "A J Loring Rockefeller Rep". Shipping executive PHILIP ALBRIGHT SMALL FRANKLIN (1871-1939) became President of the Atlantic Transport Line in 1902, and shortly thereafter Vice President of International Mercantile Marine, which owned the White Star Line. It fell to Franklin to brief the press in response to reports that the luxury liner Titanic had sunk in mid-Atlantic on its maiden voyage. His first statement (April 15, 1912) declared: "We place absolute confidence in the Titanic. We believe that the boat is unsinkable." The following day, a tearful Franklin was obliged to recant, giving the first official confirmation of the calamity. In 1914, IMM defaulted on bond payments. In 1915 - the very year this certificate was issued - the company was placed in receivership, with Franklin as its President. World War I proved the financial salvation of IMM. In 1918, Franklin was placed in charge of the Shipping Control Commission, earning an Army Distinguished Service Medal and a Belgian Legion of Honor award for efficient management of the wartime shipment of troops and supplies to Europe. IMM struggled again during the Great Depression, its fleet shrinking from 35 to 11 vessels from 1930 to 1935. Franklin retired in 1936, when the company merged with the Roosevelt line co-founded by his son, John Philip Franklin. The Rockefeller Foundation, established by John D. Rockefeller, Sr. in 1913 "to promote the well-being of mankind through the world." With war already raging in Europe, purchase of preferred stock in a bankrupt shipping company looks like a smart contrarian buy, but the Foundation re-sold the stock three days later. Rockefeller Foundation whose assets totaled $4.6 billion in 2007, now gives $137 million in annual grants. Five hole punches on right side. One hole punch on upper left side. Fine condition.