Professional Life
He was educated by tutors and at private schools including St. Mark's School, Harvard College (AB 1907), and Harvard Law School, graduating in 1910. He then joined the New York Central Railroad, the centerpiece of his family's vast railway empire, of which his father was president.
In March 1917 Vanderbilt was commissioned a lieutenant (junior grade) in the United States Navy Reserve. He was called to active duty on 9 April 1917 and was assigned as commanding officer of the scout patrol boat USS Patrol #8 (SP-56) which was assigned to the Nantucket patrol. On 20 July he was reassigned to command the Block Island, Rhode Island anti-submarine sector and on 17 November the New London, Connecticut anti-submarine sector. On 17 July 1918 he was reassigned to the US Navy forces in Europe and reported to Submarine Chaser Detachment 3 at Queenstown, Ireland in August. He was promoted to lieutenant on 21 September and served with Detachment 3 until the unit was disbanded on 25 November 1918. He was placed on inactive duty on 30 December 1918.
On his father's death in 1920, Harold inherited a fortune that included the Idle Hour country estate at Oakdale, New York, (on Long Island) and equity in the following railway companies:
- Detroit, Toledo and Milwaukee Railroad
- Genesee Falls Railway
- Kanawha and Michigan Railway
- Kanawha and West Virginia Railroad
- New Jersey Junction Railroad
- New York Central Railroad
- New York and Harlem Railroad
- Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad
Following the death of his brother William in 1944, he remained the only active representative of the Vanderbilt family in the New York Central Railroad, serving as a director and member of the executive committee until 1954.
Read more about this topic: Harold Stirling Vanderbilt
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