Rodman Wanamaker, the second son of John Wanamaker and Mary Erringer (Brown), was born in Philadelphia. His father, whose formal education ended before the completion of grade school, believed strongly in the value of a college training for his children.
Rodman, like his elder brother Thomas B. , was sent to the College of New Jersey (Princeton). He received his A. B. degree in 1886.
He entered his father's "Grand Depot" store. In 1888 he was put in charge of the buying office in Paris, where he remained for ten years. He returned in 1898 to assist his father, whose sphere of activity had been increased in 1896 by the acquisition of the old store of A. T. Stewart in New York City. In 1902 Rodman was made a member of the firm. His rôle in the management of the huge Wanamaker enterprises was expanded considerably with the retirement of Robert C. Ogden from the business in 1907 and the death of his brother Thomas in 1908. John Wanamaker's diary and letters reveal the extent to which he relied upon Rodman in the trying financial crisis of 1907, as well as the close personal bond which existed between father and son. The latter became resident manager of the New York store in 1911. On the death of his father in 1922, he became sole owner and director of both the Philadelphia and the New York corporations. To his father's emphasis on goods of sturdy quality and the satisfaction of customers, Rodman added an emphasis on "art in trade. " From his headquarters in Paris he shipped to America a stream of gowns, paintings, antiques, house furnishings, and other objets d'art which at first bewildered the members of the firm at home, but soon became an integral part of the business of Wanamaker's, as of other leading department stores. Wanamaker was an important art patron. He was for a long time president of the American Art Association in Paris. For his services in encouraging French art, he was decorated by the French government in 1897 and again in 1907. He gave a collection of works of art to his alma mater. He also made a notable collection of rare musical instruments, which were used in a series of public concerts given in the New York and Philadelphia stores by outstanding artists. He conceived the idea of installing in the grand court of the Philadelphia store the organ which had been used at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis and of constructing for the New York store a magnificent organ which was completed in 1921. Wanamaker was an early aviation enthusiast, and was particularly interested in demonstrating the feasibility of commercial transatlantic flights. As early as 1914 he financed the construction of two planes for a transatlantic flight. The war interrupted further activity along this line. On July 1, 1927, however, about a month after Lindbergh made his successful flight, Wanamaker's America, commanded by Commander Richard Byrd, successfully completed a flight to France, being the first tri-motored plane to make the crossing. Wanamaker financed three expeditions among the Indian tribes of the West. These were led by Dr. Joseph K. Dixon, who in The Vanishing Race (1913) recorded the proceedings at the last Council of the Chiefs, witnessed by the second expedition in 1909. The collection of Indian articles gathered by the expeditions was turned over to the United States government. Although he devoted considerable time to public affairs, Rodman Wanamaker never attained the position in public life which his father held. During the World War, he served without pay as special deputy police commissioner in New York City in charge of police reserves. He was also chairman of the mayor's committee to welcome foreign guests and the homecoming troops. In 1923 he gave to the city the perpetually burning light in Madison Square as a memorial to the city's war dead. He served at various times as consular representative in Philadelphia for Paraguay, Uruguay, and the Dominican Republic. In addition to his French decorations, he was honored by the governments of Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Serbia, and Venezuela. Wanamaker remained in active charge of both stores until his death at Atlantic City on March 9, 1928. His holdings in the stores were placed in charge of a group of trustees to be administered in the interest of his children, all of whom survived him. With his death, the Wanamaker name disappeared from the list of active directors of the stores.
After spending a few months in Europe he married, on November 4, Fernande Antonia Henry of Philadelphia. Wanamaker's first wife died in 1900, having borne him three children, Fernande, John, and Marie Louise. A second marriage, to Violet Cruger on July 27, 1909, ended in a divorce on November 5, 1923.
