Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Ryan, Thomas Fortune, 1851-1928

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role Collector
dates 1851-1928
city New York City
stateNY
other citiesArrington, VA; Suffern, NY; Baltimore, MD;
sex M
historical notes Thomas Fortune Ryan was an art collector, patron and businessman. His business interests encompassed the Manhattan transit system, the American Tobacco Company, banking, the Equitable Life Assurance, the Thompson Sub-Machine Gun, railroads, Mexican rubber plantations and diamond mines in the Belgian Congo.

Ryan’s art collection largely consisted of Renaissance statuary and painting from Italy, France and Spain, however, it also included work of modern artists such as Auguste Rodin, French-Canadian artist M. Suzor-Cote, French-Canadian artist M. Suzor-Cote, Chinese cloisonné, tapestries, etchings, picture books, carpets, Etruscan urns and other pomps & gauds.

As a Catholic philanthropist, Thomas Fortune Ryan endowed Sacred Heart Cathedral in Richmond, Virginia and St. Jean de Baptiste in New York City, as well as funding churches, schools, and hospitals in Virginia’s Nelson County.

Ryan married twice his first wife, Ida M. Barry Ryan (d.1917) they were married in 1873 and had four sons together, his second wife was a prominent society woman of New York, Mrs. Cornelius C. Cuyler. Ryan married Cuyler a few weeks after the death of his first wife.
decades
of activity
1880-1890
1890-1900
1900-1910
1910-1920
1920-1930
updated 09/18/2024 15:48:02
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Archives/Repository Collection Title Collection Details
Library of Congress
Manuscript Division
Papers of Elihu Root, 1863-1937 (bulk 1899-1937). see details...
Library of Congress
Manuscript Division
Papers of Raoul Heilbronner, 1887-1914 (MSS25650) see details...
University of Virginia Library
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
Papers pertaining to Thomas Fortune Ryan see details...
University of Pennsylvania
Rare Book & Manuscript Library Collections
Correspondence with Theodore Dreiser, n.d. see details...
University of Virginia Library
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
John Skelton Williams Papers, 1884-1926 see details...
Alabama Department of Archives & History
624 Washington Ave.
Oscar Wilder Underwood papers, 1876-1962. see details...
University of Virginia Library
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
Papers of James Taylor Ellyson, 1865, 1896-1910. see details...
Library of Congress
Manuscript Division
Papers of Henry Delaware Flood, 1870-1921 (bulk 1901-1921). see details...
Library of Congress
Manuscript Division
Papers of Thomas Henry Carter, 1883-1917. see details...
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
[Home of Thomas Fortune Ryan at Fifth Ave. and 12th St. in New York City] [graphic], 1906. see details...
Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
101 Independence Ave. SE
Thomas F. Ryan funeral from the church of St. Jean Baptist[e] [graphic]. see details...
Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
101 Independence Ave. SE
Ryan Estate [graphic], c1910. see details...
Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
101 Independence Ave. SE
T.F. Ryan [graphic]. see details...
Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
101 Independence Ave. SE
[Thomas Fortune Ryan, full-length portrait, walking on street, facing right] [graphic], c1910.
see details...
Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
101 Independence Ave. SE
[Cardinal Désiré Mercier and Thomas F. Ryan, standing, full-length portrait] [graphic], c1920. see details...
University of Pennsylvania
Rare Book & Manuscript Library Collections
The London company of Virginia; a brief account of its transactions in colonizing Virginia, ... see details...

see also:
Ryan, Margaret Kahn
Ryan, Mary Townsend (Nicoll) Lord Cuyler