Schieffelin was a strong advocate for the rights and social progress of African Americans, women's suffrage, and the improvement of working conditions in factories.

He studied for two years at the University of Munich with Professor von Baeyer and received his Ph.D. in chemistry cum laude in 1889.

The wedding of Maria Louise and William was a highly social event and reflected the splendor of the Gilded Age.

The Schieffelin family lived at 5 East 66th Street in Manhattan (the building has been owned by the Lotos Club since 1947) and moved to 620 Park Avenue in 1925.

They also owned an estate in Bar Harbor and on the Schieffelin Point peninsula in Maine called Tranquility Farm.

In August 1898, William Jay Schieffelin served as senior aide on the staff of General Peter Conover Hains.

[2] On August 13, 1898, General Miles had ordered an advance against the Spanish forces entrenched in Cayey, Puerto Rico.

[2] When he was in Puerto Rico, Schieffelin was affected by the Army beef scandal, because the troops in the field were supplied with rancid canned meat.

[2] Schieffelin joined the group and met regularly with John Jay Chapman, Henry L. Stimson, Charles Bernheimer, and other members.

The Lexow Committee's report, in his opinion, clearly showed the system of corruption and bribery of Tammany and the police department that existed at that time.

[2] In 1894, the Committee of Seventy, appointed by the Chamber of Commerce, was organized and prompted by a group of leading merchants and financiers in New York City, including Alexander Orr, Morris Jesup, John S. Kennedy, and Gustav H.

[2] In 1896, mayor Strong appointed William Jay Schieffelin as Civil Service Commissioner in New York City.

[2][23] In 1897, City Club helped found Citizens Union, of which William Jay Schieffelin served as president from 1908 to 1941.

The club's mission was not only to fight corruption, but also to generally improve the quality of life in the city, particularly the preservation of Central Park.

[2] The election of Fiorello La Guardia as the Fusion candidate for mayor was the result of a conference held in the Bar Association building between the Republican leaders and the independent citizens represented by Samuel Seabury, C. C. Burlingham, A.

[2] On January 9, 1939, 60 prominent Americans formed the Volunteer Christian Committee to Boycott Nazi Germany (VCC) under the leadership of Christopher Temple Emmet, Jr. (secretary) and William Jay Schieffelin (chairman).

The committee campaigned for many months, primarily through newspaper advertisements, calling on Christians to strengthen the boycott already imposed by American Jews.

In March 1939, Schieffelin asked William Green to link up the American Federation of Labor with the VCC to strengthen America's boycott movement against the Nazis.

Schieffelin later merged his group with others and formed the Coordinated Boycott Committee, which continued its work until shortly before America's entry into World War II.

[2][54] On December 20, 1940, France Forever called a public meeting at Carnegie Hall, and William Jay Schieffelin was asked to speak as a representative of the Huguenot Society.

In his speech, Schieffelin said: ”It is high time to discard that slogan ’Short of War’ which was put in political platforms to placate the isolationists and the pacifists.

It is a cowardly slogan encouraging Hitler and Japan, saying we will not stand up like men and fight, even when our National safety and most cherished beliefs are threatened.

Therefore, the Federal Union Inc., of which William Jay Schieffelin was New York’s chairman, hosted a dinner for the Uniting States of the World at the Waldorf Astoria on January 22, 1941.

[2][55] For Schieffelin, this was the culmination of a movement called the League to Enforce Peace, founded in 1915 and headed by former President William Howard Taft.

At the outbreak of World War I, Schieffelin offered to raise an African American cavalry regiment and become its colonel.

[1] In 1906 William Jay Schieffelin went to the White House at Theodore Roosevelt’s invitation to discuss race relations.

[2] In 1909 Theodore Roosevelt sent a letter to William Jay Schieffelin in which he wrote: “Did I tell you how much Sir Harry Johnston admired your family?

[2] William Jay Schieffelin was a (Lincoln) Republican, but he came out in support of Franklin D. Roosevelt and voted for him on the American Labor Party Line in 1944.

In the 1890s, William Jay Schieffelin became a member of the board of trustees and later honorary president of the New York College of Pharmacy.

William Jay Schieffelin was invited by Congress to testify as an expert and help clarify the matter.