William Church Osborn
William Church Osborn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 8th President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art | |
| In office 1941–1947 | |
| Preceded by | George Blumenthal |
| Succeeded by | Roland L. Redmond |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 21, 1862 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 3, 1951 (aged 88) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse |
Alice Clinton Hoadley Dodge
(m. 1886; died 1946) |
| Children | 5, including Frederick, Aileen |
| Parent(s) | William Henry Osborn Virginia Reed Sturges Osborn |
| Relatives | Henry F. Osborn (brother) Jonathan Sturges (grandfather) |
| Alma mater | Princeton University Harvard Law School |
| Signature |  |
William Church Osborn (December 21, 1862 – January 3, 1951)[1] was the son of a prominent New York City family who served in a variety of civic roles including president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, president of the Children's Aid Society, and president of the New York Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and Orphaned.[2]
Early life
[edit]Osborn was born in 1862 in Chicago.[1] He was a son of Virginia Reed (née Sturges) Osborn (1830–1902) and William Henry Osborn, a prominent railroad tycoon who served as president of the Illinois Central Railroad and, later, became a philanthropist who exposed the Boss Tweed ring.[3] His older brother was Henry Fairfield Osborn, a paleontologist who served as president of the American Museum of Natural History for twenty-five years.[4]
His maternal grandfather was businessman and arts patron Jonathan Sturges. His maternal aunt, Amelia "Mimi" Sturges, married banker J. Pierpont Morgan in 1861, but died shortly thereafter in 1862.
Osborn graduated from Princeton University in 1883,[4] and from Harvard Law School in 1889.[1]
Career
[edit]A trained lawyer, Osborn was generally regarded as one of New York's first citizens and mostly served in philanthropic positions during his career.[4] At the time of his death, he was the senior partner is the law firm of Osborn, Fleming & Whittlesey located at 20 Exchange Place.[1] He also served as director of his mother's family business, Phelps Dodge, as well as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad the Picacho Mining Corporation, the Tucson, Cornelia and Gila Bend Railroad Company, the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad, and was the chairman of the executive board of the Texas and Pacific Railroad.[1]
Osborn unsuccessfully ran for New York State Senate in 1894 and 1904 as an Independent Democrat, and sought the governorship in New York in 1918. Although he was endorsed by then Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt and put forth at the convention by Samuel Seabury, he lost his bid to Alfred E. Smith, who was elected Governor.[1] He was, nevertheless, very active in the political life of New York City and the wider state, serving as president of the Society to Prevent Corrupt Practices at Elections, as chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee. In 1911, he was legal adviser to Gov. John Alden Dix.[1] He was also the founder, in 1932, president, and chairman of the Citizens Budget Commission.[5]
For fifty years, he served as the president or chairman of the board of the Children's Aid Society and was a trustee of Princeton University for almost forty years.[2]
He led the effort to create the Temple of Religion at the 1939 New York World's Fair.[6]
Art collection
[edit]Osborn was an art collector who focused on impressionist, post-impressionist, and American art of the 1800s and 1900s. His personal collection included artworks by Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin and Édouard Manet.[7] He also inherited works from his father's collection of American art,[8] including paintings by his father's close friend Frederic Edwin Church,[3] from whom Osborn's middle name was derived.[9]
Osborn served as president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1941 to 1947 and sat on its board of trustees for forty-five years.[1]
Personal life
[edit]On June 3, 1886, Osborn was married to philanthropist and social reformer Alice Clinton Hoadley Dodge (1865–1946).[10] Alice was a daughter of William E. Dodge, Jr. and the younger sister of Grace Hoadley Dodge, William E. Dodge III, and Cleveland Hoadley Dodge. Together, they lived at 135 East 36th Street (which was owned by J.P. Morgan) in Murray Hill, Manhattan,[11] and were the parents of:[12]
- Grace Dodge Osborn (b. 1887)[12]
- Frederick Henry Osborn (1889–1981), a major general who became a eugenicist and married Margaret Schieffelin, a descendant of John Jay.[13]
- Aileen Hoadley Osborn (1892–1979),[14] who became an arts patron and who married Vanderbilt Webb in 1912. He was a son of Eliza Osgood Vanderbilt Webb, grandson of William Henry Vanderbilt and great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt.[15]
- Earl Dodge Osborn (1893–1988),[16] who founded the EDO Corporation,[17] and donated 1,003 acres to New York, for an expansion of the Fahnstock Park.[18]
- William Henry Osborn II (1895–1971),[19] a founder of Scenic Hudson.[18]
Along with his children, he bought up land on the eastern shore of the Hudson River in New York, mostly small farms, and eventually donated thousands of acres to the state, including Sugarloaf Hill in Putnam County to be known as the Hudson Highlands State Park. He was also involved in the establishment of the Hudson River Conservation Society and the Garrison Landing Association,[18] where he had a larger summer estate in the town of Garrison, New York near his father's estate, known as Castle Rock, which was inherited by his elder brother Henry.[11]
His wife died at their home, 40 East 36th Street, in March 1946.[10] Osborn died at his then home, 720 Park Avenue in New York City, on January 3, 1951.[1] After a funeral at the Brick Presbyterian Church on the Upper East Side (which was attended by John D. Rockefeller Jr., Archibald Roosevelt, Bayard Dodge, Henry Sturgis Morgan, Junius S. Morgan, Frederick H. Ecker, and John F. Curry among others), he was buried at Saint Philip's Church Cemetery in Garrison.[20]
Honors and legacy
[edit]In 1939, he received a gold medal from the National Institute of Social Sciences for "distinguished services to humanity."[21] In 1942, he received an honorary LL.D. from his alma mater Princeton University as well as an honorary LL.D. from Columbia University in 1943.[1]
The Osborn Gates, at Ancient Playground within Central Park in Manhattan, are named in his memory.[22]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "William C. Osborn, Civic Leader, Dead; Ex-President of Metropolitan Museum of Art Also Headed Children's Aid Society; Lawyer Here for 61 Years; Was a Founder of the Citizens Budget Commission in 1932 --Served With Railroads" (PDF). The New York Times. January 4, 1951. p. 29. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ a b "Dodge-Osborn Hall". Princeton University Press. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ a b "The Obituary Record.; William H. Osborn" (PDF). The New York Times. March 5, 1894. p. 5. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
- ^ a b c Leitch, Alexander (2015). A Princeton Companion. Princeton University Press. p. 142. ISBN 9781400870011. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ "William Church Osborn". The New York Times. January 5, 1951. p. 19. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ McAll, Reginald L. (February 1, 1939). "Great Church Music at Exposition" (PDF). The Diapason. 30 (3): 1.
- ^ "Osborn, Wm. Church (William Church), 1862-1951". research.frick.org. Frick Art Reference Library. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ Oaklander, Christine I. (2008). "Jonathan Sturges, W.H. Osborn, and William Church Osborn: A Chapter in American Art Patronage". Metropolitan Museum Journal. 43: 186. doi:10.1086/met.43.25699093. S2CID 192999034.
- ^ Howat, John K. (2005). Frederic Church. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 170. ISBN 0-300-10988-1.
- ^ a b "Mrs. Osborn Dies; Philanthropist, 81; Wife of Head of Metropolitan Museum of Art a Leader in Travelers Aid Society" (PDF). The New York Times. March 31, 1946. p. 46. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ a b Miller, Tom (January 3, 2019). "Daytonian in Manhattan: The William Church Osborn House - 135 East 36th Street". Daytonian in Manhattan. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ a b Dodge, Joseph Thompson (1898). Genealogy of the Dodge Family of Essex County, Mass. 1629-1894: 1629-1898. Democrat Printing Company. pp. 605–606. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ Saxon, Wolfgang (January 7, 1981). "Frederick Osborn, a General, 91, Dies". The New York Times. p. 12. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
- ^ "Aileen O. Webb, Leading Figure In National Crafts Movement, 87". The New York Times. August 17, 1979. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ Shaykett, Jessica. "This Month in American Craft Council History: June 2012". www.craftcouncil.org. American Craft Council. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ Cook, Joan (December 13, 1988). "Earl Dodge Osborn Is Dead at 95; Founded Aircraft Manufacturer". The New York Times. p. B17. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
- ^ "Earl Dodge Osborn, Founder of EDO Corporation, Inducted into Long Island Technology Hall of Fame". www.businesswire.com. March 2, 2004. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ a b c Dunwell, Frances F. (1991). The Hudson River Highlands. Columbia University Press. p. 197. ISBN 9780231070430. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ "Osborn and Dodge Family Papers | Rare Books and Special Collections". rbsc.princeton.edu. Princeton University Library. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ "Associates Attend Osborn's Funeral; Notables in Several Fields Pay Tribute to Civic Leader at Brick Presbyterian Church" (PDF). The New York Times. January 6, 1951. p. 12. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ "Three Get Medals in Social Sciences; N.C. Osborn, Miss Berry and Pepper Receive Medals of National Institute; Works of Each Extolled; Hoover Presents the Award to Lawyer in Recognition of His Achievements Changed Attitude Seen Hoover Presents Medal". The New York Times. May 11, 1939. p. 25. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- ^ "Central Park Monuments - William Church Osborn Gates : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
External links
[edit]- William Church Osborn at Find a Grave
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives; William Church Osborn Records, 1904-1953
- 1931 Portrait of William Church Osborn by Sidney Edward Dickinson at the Princeton University Art Museum.
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