Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Hyde, James H. (James Hazen), 1876-1959 print view role Collector dates 1876-1959 city New York City state NY other cities Saratoga Springs, NY; Cambridge, MA;Versailles, Paris, France; sex M historical notes 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 of activity 1900-1910 1920-1930 1930-1940 1940-1950 1950-1960 updated 03/22/2024 12:09:31 bibliographic search Search Frick Art Reference Library Catalog Search Photoarchive Search Worldcat Search Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) Search Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) Search Wikidata Entry Archives/Repository Collection Title Collection Details The New-York Historical Society Manuscript Department James Hazen Hyde Papers, [ca. 1891-1941]. see details... New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Rm 328 James Hazen Hyde papers, 1899-1934. see details... New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Rm 328 John H. Finley papers, 1892-1940, bulk (1913-1935) (MssCol 1000) see details... Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives William Adams Delano papers, 1902-1960 (inclusive), 1939-1960 (bulk). see details... Library of Congress Manuscript Division Henry T. Allen papers, 1806-1933. see details... Library of Congress Manuscript Division Abraham Flexner papers, 1865-1989 (bulk 1900-1959). see details... Syracuse University Libraries Special Collections Research Center Archer Milton Huntington Papers, 1919-1957. see details... Harvard Libraries Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States Records, 1870-1919 (inclusive). see details... «  back