Alexander D. Henderson Jr.

Alexander D. Henderson, Jr.

Avon Products

Henderson started working for the California Perfume Company (CPC) in 1919 in the Shipping Department. By 1925, Henderson had become Vice President and a Director of CPC in charge of purchases. In the article, "Introducing You to the CPC", "Mr. Henderson buys the ingredients from which everything in the CPC line is made. As such, he is, of course, a most important factor in the maintaining the high quality and low prices of the products you sell."[11]

On October 6, 1939, The California Perfume Company changed its name to Allied Products and then, in 1939, to Avon Products Inc.[12]

On December 17, 1935, Henderson's mother created a holding company called the Alexander Dawson Inc. (ADI), which was named after her husband, Alexander D. Henderson Sr. The certificate of incorporation of the company was filed with the Secretary of State of Trenton, New Jersey. Ella B. Henderson, Alexander D. Henderson, and Girard B. Henderson were the directors.[13] ADI is still in existence today and is located in Las Vegas, Nevada.

On April 12, 1940, it was reported that Henderson had resigned as vice-president of the Allied Products Company of Suffern, after 23 years of service. He would remain a director of the company. He was going to work with a boyhood friend, Sanford M. Treat, in the management of a soft drink “Dr. Sweet’s Original Root Beer.”[14]

Henderson loved to play golf, and appeared in the New York newspapers on several occasions. On May 29, 1937, he was listed in The New York Times as, “Henderson Makes First Flight With 83” - Alex Henderson of Pelham, N. Y., former Houvenkopf champion and holder of the course amateur record of 71, qualified in the first flight with an 83.”[18] He was a mbember of several Florida country clubs and the Oyster Harbors Club, Osterville, Massachusetts, and the New York Athletic Club.[19]

Henderson was interested in improving the local community and became vice mayor of Hillsboro Beach, Florida in 1955.[20] He became the Mayor of Hillsboro Beach in 1958 and held this position for six consecutive years (1958–1964).[21] On March 12, 1963, the Fort Lauderdale News" reported: “Henderson Is Major 4th Time.”[22]

As major, he was the city's representative on the Hillsboro Inlet Improvement and Maintenance District Commission. Henderson was Major at the time when a decision was made to construct a toll bridge over the Hillsboro Inlet.[23]

On June 1, 1965, after the death of Henderson, Police Chief Raymond McMullin presented a memorial to the former mayor's window, Mrs. Lucy Henderson. Mrs. Henderson turned the plaque over to the town's present mayor. The memorial will be displayed in the Town Council Room.[24]

In 1953, Henderson created the Hillsboro Country Day School in Pompano Beach, Florida. "He devoted his vast energies and considerable financial resources to the operation of this school." The school grew from a 10-pupil school to 150 students with 11 teachers. The school was in operation until 1969, when the E. B. R. Corporation bought the property and the Avon Villas, a group of vacation cottages, on six acres fronting Highway A1A in Hillsboro, Florida.[25]

Henderson was well known in South Florida for his philanthropic work in support of the Henderson Clinic in Fort Lauderdale. In 1960, Henderson gave a generous amount of Avon stock to the Henderson Mental Clinic of Broward County for emotionally disturbed children in Fort Lauderdale. Today, the clinic is called Henderson Behavioral Health (HBH) and offers comprehensive behavioral health services.[26]

The A. D. Henderson Foundation was founded in 1959 by Henderson and his wife, Lucy E. Henderson with the vision to improving the lives of children through early learning. The Foundation focuses its grantmaking on the early care and education of children, ages zero to eight, in Broward County, Florida, and the State of Vermont; and adult-to-child mentoring programs in Vermont. Today, his son, A. Douglas Henderson runs the foundation, along with a Board of Directors.[27]

Henderson made significant contributions needed to start the Saint Andrew's School, an Episcopal school for boys in Boca Raton, Florida. In August 1960, Henderson offered $375,000 to open the school for 100 students in the fall of 1961.[28] Henderson was named building committee chairman for St. Andrew's School in 1961. Henderson contributed to the Saint Andrew's School, including the administration and the classroom building named, Henderson Hall.[29] On April 19, 1967, the Chapel of Saint Andrew, located on the campus of Saint Andrew's School in Boca Raton, Florida, was dedicated in memory of Alexander D. Henderson.[30]

Alexander D. Henderson University School

On September 30, 1965, Henderson's wife, Lucy E. Henderson, donated $750,000 to the Florida Atlantic University Endowment Corporation in memory of her late husband, Alexander D. Henderson.[34] In December 1966, the board of directors of the FAU Endowment Corporation met with Lucy Henderson in the new administration building.[35]

On December 1, 1968, the A.D. Henderson University School at the Florida Atlantic University College of Education was dedicated in his honor. The Alexander D. Henderson University School is a public elementary and middle school (K-8) and legislated school district operating as an educational laboratory on the FAU's Boca Raton campus.[36]