 The development was named after Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), a Civil War Union army general and the 18th President of the United States.Morningside Heights Inc. (MHI) was founded by Columbia University and other area institutions to begin renovating Morningside Heights to target the "undesirables" and stop neighborhood blight in the neighborhood.David Rockefeller and Lawrence M. Orton, a planning commissioner, were President and Executive Director of the organization.