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James H. Hyde

1876 - 1959

BiographySources
found: Library of Congress Manuscript Division for the Papers of Henry T. Allen, 1806-1933 (James H. Hyde; correspondent)
found: WWW The New-York Historical Society, Mar. 21, 2005 (James Hazen Hyde; philanthropist and francophile; b. June 6, 1876 in New York City; Harvard, 1898; vice pres. of Equitable Life Assurance Society, 1899-1905; a scandal led Hyde to resign from all of his business concerns and relocate to Versailles where he lived until 1941; compiled an extensive collection of allegorical prints; a founder of the Alliance Fran?ise; awarded the Grand Cross of the French Legion of Honor; d. Saratoga Springs, N.Y., 1959)

Hyde, James H. (James Hazen), 1876-1959
type Collector
dates 1876–1959
city New York
state NY
other cities Saratoga Springs, NY; Cambridge, MA;Versailles, Paris;
gender M
history James Hazen Hyde was a businessman, socialite, art collector, philanthropist and Francophile.

Born on June 6, 1876 he was the son of the founder of Equitable Life Assurance Society, Henry Baldwin Hyde, and served as the company’s president from 1899-1905. After a business scandal and selling his business interests to Thomas Fortune Ryan, Hyde lived in self excile in Paris from 1905- 1941.

Hyde’s art collection of paintings, porcelains, engravings and tapestries was distributed to several museums, including Cooper Union, now the Cooper-Hewitt, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum.

Hyde was a founder of the Alliance Française in 1953; chosen as chairman of the executive committee of the Federation of French Alliances in the United States; and, awarded the Grand Cross of the French Legion of Honor.

The Manuscript Department of the New York Historical Society has Hyde's correspondence, diaries and other papers from 1891 to 1940. The Society also owns an oil portrait of Hyde by Theobald Chartran, from 1901.

The New York Historical Society Prints Department holds 766 prints and some posters from the 16th-20th centuries collected by Hyde. There are also a number of playing cards, caricatures, and popular prints from Épinal. The Metropolitan Museum and The Brooklyn Museum have prints, drawings (61 in MMA) and decorative objects representing the Four Continents from Hyde. The Cooper Hewitt has original ceramic furniture and other decorative art objects (ca. 130 pieces), as well as Hyde's collection of photographs of personifications of the Four Continents (ca. 4000 pieces). The Library of Congress black and white film negatives of the Cooper Hewitt's photographs, and the National Gallery of Art has a tapestry donated by Hyde.
decades 1900-1910
1920-1930
1930-1940
1940-1950
1950-1960
updated 12/01/2017 04:48
research links
Repository Description
The New-York Historical Society James Hazen Hyde Papers, [ca. 1891-1941].
New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division James Hazen Hyde papers, 1899-1934.
New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division John H. Finley papers, 1892-1940, bulk (1913-1935) (MssCol 1000)
Yale University Library William Adams Delano papers, 1902-1960 (inclusive), 1939-1960 (bulk).
Library of Congress Henry T. Allen papers, 1806-1933.
Library of Congress Abraham Flexner papers, 1865-1989 (bulk 1900-1959).
Syracuse University Libraries Archer Milton Huntington Papers, 1919-1957.
Harvard Libraries Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States Records, 1870-1919 (inclusive).
http://research.frick.org/directoryweb/browserecord.php?-action=browse&-recid=7478 I.S. 12/20/2017

Person TypeIndividual

Last Updated8/7/24

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