The Pittsburgh banking dynasty that financed American industry — and gave the nation its National Gallery of Art.
Thomas Mellon founded a Pittsburgh bank whose capital seeded a generation of American industry. His son Andrew W. Mellon financed and helped build giants like Gulf Oil and Alcoa, and served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under three presidents.
Andrew Mellon donated his fortune and art collection to found the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the family's philanthropy continues through the Mellon foundations.
The Mellons shaped American banking and industry and left one of the country's greatest cultural gifts in the National Gallery. Their foundations remain major funders of the arts and humanities.
Carnegie Mellon University and much of Pittsburgh bear the family's mark.
The Mellon family is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A great American fortune turned into banks, corporations, and national art
1860s.
Thomas Mellon — founder of the family bank
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Portrait: Wikimedia Commons (public domain or freely licensed).