The Life of Lawrence A. Appley

Lawrence A. Appley

Lawrence A. Appley was born in Nyack, N.Y., on April 22, 1904. His father, Joseph Earl Appley, was a Methodist minister and his mother was Jessie (Moore) Appley. Due to his father’s occupation, the family moved every few years. He helped work his way through Mount Herman School for Boys in Massachusetts. He then attended Ohio Wesleyan University on a scholarship available to ministers' sons. He held various jobs, including a summer one as a New York streetcar conductor, to help pay for college. He dropped out in his sophomore year to earn money by teaching eight grades of a one-room, 35-student elementary school in Mahopac Mines, N.Y. He returned to Ohio Wesleyan and managed to finish a year early, graduating in 1927.

After graduating Ohio Wesleyan, Appley was appointed as a speech instructor and debate coach at Colgate University. He spent three years as an instructor at Colgate and fell in love with the area. In the summer of 1929, he took graduate classes in public administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. These courses shifted his interest to business administration.

In 1930, Appley left academia and entered the corporate world and held executive positions at Standard Oil Company, Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Vick Chemical Company, and Montgomery Ward.

Appley began consulting work as an advisor for the United States Civil Service Commission in 1938. In 1941, in Washington D.C. he became full-time advisor on civilian and personnel training to the United States Secretary of War, and in 1942, during World War II, he assisted the War Manpower Commission as director of its placement bureau. During his placement he worked with General Dwight Eisenhower, future 34th President of the United States. Eisenhower was a man Appley highly regarded and considered a friend. In 1946, President Harry Truman awarded him the Presidential Medal of Merit.

After becoming disenfranchised with life and a career in Washington D.C., Lawrence Appley returned to Hamilton, N.Y., the place he loved and originally set down his roots. He served president of the American Management Association and held this position from 1948-1968.

In 1948, he asked the American Management Association for $1 million dollars to create the White Eagle, a facility that would serve as a meeting place, educational center, and recreational center for current and future business leaders.  Not only did Appley facilitate the development of the White Eagle Property with the Appley Center, the Americana Village, and beautiful grounds, with his leadership he led the development of the AMA airport in Hamilton, NY.  

On April 4, 1997, Appley passed away at his home on Saddleback Farm, in Hamilton, NY, located just down the road from White Eagle.