The Walpole Society is an organization that is dedicated to the appreciation and study of American decorative art, architecture, and history. It took its name from Horace Walpole (1717-1797), an English writer, political figure, and collector. A member of the society once wrote of Walpole: "his turn of mind and methods of collecting were similar to those of our collectors--their prototype, as it were." The society was established in Boston in October 1909, by H. Eugene Bolles, H.W. Kent, and Luke Vincent Lockwood. Early leaders of the society held an organizational meeting on January 21, 1910, at Heublein's Hotel, Hartford, Conn., and it is this day that the group recognizes as its date of origin. At that time 25 individuals were invited to join the society; 21 accepted. Membership included--and still includes--scholars, antiquarians, writers, collectors, and museum and library professionals. Throughout the years, many Walpoleans have enjoyed the personal wherewithal to assemble their own significant collections of Americana. From its inception in 1910 through 1994, there have been 125 members, by design all male. In recent years, wives of members and widows of former members have been invited to society functions. At one point in its history, qualifications for membership were defined as "distinction in the collecting of early American objects of the decorative arts and fine arts, or attainment through study or experience in the knowledge of these arts; and the social qualifications essential to the well-being of a group of like-minded persons." Early members included Edwin Atlee Barber, writer and expert on pottery and porcelain and director of the Philadelphia Museum and School of Industrial Art; Clarence Brigham, bibliophile and director of the American Antiquarian Society; Thomas Benedict Clarke, art collector, connoisseur and agent; John Cotton Dana, director of the Free Public Library of Newark, New Jersey, and also of the Newark Museum Association; Henry Francis du Pont, collector of American decorative arts and founder of the Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library; Mantle Fielding, an architect by training and an author of studies on American painting; R.T.H. Halsey, a broker by vocation and an art critic, collector, and writer by avocation; and Thomas W. Streeter, lawyer, businessman, and book collector. The Walpole Society meets regularly, customarily two or three times each year. Meetings have usually taken place in states along the eastern seaboard from Maine to South Carolina, though members of the society traveled to Bermuda in 1968 and Italy in 1984. In an effort to expand membership geographically during the 1990s, there were meetings in California, New Mexico, and Texas. Typically, meetings consist of visits to historic sites and libraries, as well as social functions. Members are encouraged to discuss their interests and collections at their gatherings.
Albert Goodhue, Jr. (April
26, 1915 - February 26, 1992), elected in 1970
Albert
Hastings Pitkin (August 20, 1852 - 1917), elected 1910/died 1917
Alexander
O. Vietor (November 13, 1913 – March 9, 1981), elected in 1958
Alexander Smith Cochran
(February 28, 1874 – June 20, 1929), elected in 1915
Alexander W. Weddell
(April 6, 1876 – January 1, 1948), elected in 1932
Alfred Coxe Prime (March 3, 1883 - March 2, 1926),
elected in 1926
Alfred Craven Harrison, Jr., elected 1995
Alfred
Elliott Bissell (February 11, 1903 - February 25, 1975), elected in 1969
Alfred
Francis Ritter, Jr., elected 2006/resigned 2010
Andrew Oliver (March 14,
1906 - October 20, 1981), elected in 1965
Anthony William Wang,
elected 1999/resigned 2010
Arthur Amory Houghton, Jr. (December 12, 1906
– April 3, 1990), elected in 1951, honorary member in 1968
Arthur
Jeffrey Parsons (1856-1915), elected 1910/died 1915
Augustus Peabody
Loring (1856-1986), elected 1957/died 1986
Augustus
Peabody Loring, Jr. (April 16, 1885 - October 1, 1951), elected in 1946
Bertram Kimball Little (July 27, 1899 – June 21, 1993),
elected in 1949, honorary member in 1987
Brock William Jobe (born April 5,
1948), elected 2009
Bruce Coleman Perkins (born 1960), elected 2011
Carleton Rubira Richmond (February 13, 1887 - December 13, 1975),
elected in 1939, honorary member in 1972
Charles A. Platt (October 16, 1861
– September 12, 1933), elected 1910, resigned 1912
Charles Allen
Munn (1859–1924), elected 1915/died 1924
Charles Eliot Pierce, Jr. (born
December 25, 1941), elected 1990/inactive 2011
Charles F. Montgomery
(April 14, 1910 – February 21, 1978), elected in 1955
Charles Hitchcock Tyler (October 11, 1863
- December 6, 1931), elected in 1910
Charles Russell Richards
(June 30, 1865 – February 21, 1936), elected in 1914
Chauncey Cushing Nash (October 17, 1884 - July 16, 1968),
secretary from 1939 to 1962, elected in 1929
Christopher Pruyn Monkhouse
(born 1947), elected 1992
Clarence Saunders
Brigham (August 5, 1877 - August 13, 1963), elected in 1941
Clifton
Waller Barrett (June 1, 1901 - November 6, 1991), elected in 1958, honorary member
in 1990
Daniel Porter Jordan III (born November 20, 1964), elected
1990/inactive 2011
Dean Abner Fales, Jr. (October
10, 1925 - May 10, 1998), elected in 1965, honorary member in 1987
DeCourcy Eyre McIntosh (born December
1, 1942), elected 1975, emeritus 2007-2011/regular membership resumed 2011
Dwight Blaney (January 24, 1865 -
February 2, 1944), selected in 1910, secretary from 1911 to 1912
Dwight Pierson Lanmon (born July 28, 1938), elected 1993/inactive 2013
Earl Alexander Powell III (born October 24, 1943), elected 1979
Edward
"Ned" S. Cooke, Jr. (born 1954), elected 2005
Edward Crosby Johnson III
(June 29, 1930 – March 23, 2022), elected in 1998
Edwin Atlee Barber (August 13, 1851 -
December 12, 1916), elected 1910/died 1916
Edwin James Hipkiss
(September 25, 1885 - September 1, 1955), elected in 1943
Francis Hill
Bigelow (24. Februarr 1859 - 17 May 1933), elected 1910/resigned 1929/died
1933
Francis Lewis Berkeley, Jr. (April
9, 1911 - February 19, 2003), elected
in 1955, honorary member in 1991
Frank Sherwin Streeter (March 25, 1918
- June 12, 2006), elected in 1970
Franklin Wood Kelly (born June 1,
1953), elected 2008
Frederic B. Pratt (February
22, 1865 – May 3, 1945),
elected in 1918
Frederick Baldwin Adams, Jr. (March 28, 1910 -
January 7, 2001), elected in 1962, honorary member in 1973
Frederick
Doveton Nichols (July 1, 1911 - April 9, 1995), elected in 1963, honorary
member in 1992
Frederick Scott Wait (1851 - July 1, 1910), elected
1910/died 1910
George Dudley Seymour (October 6, 1859 – January 21, 1945),
elected 1918/died 1945
George Francis Dow (January 7, 1868 – June 5,
1936), elected in 1916
George Munson Curtis (1857-1915), elected
1910/died 1915
George Parker
Winship (July 29, 1871 – June 22, 1952), secretary from 1912 to 1915,
elected in 1911
George Shepard Palmer (March 20, 1855 - January 23, 1934),
elected 1910/died 1934
Guy
Warren Walker, Jr. (April 11, 1897 - April 18, 1978), elected in 1953
H. Richard Dietrich III, elected 2010
H. Richard Dietrich, Jr.
(1938-2007), elected 1979/died 2007
Harry Harkness Flagler (December
2, 1870 - June 30, 1952), elected in 1910
Harry Twyford Peters (August 1,
1881 - June 1, 1948), elected in 1945 and resigned in 1947
Heathcote Muirson Woolsey (June 5, 1884 - February 7, 1957),
elected in 1954
Henry Francis du
Pont (May 27, 1880 – April 11, 1969), elected in 1932
Henry Morrison
Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913)
Henry Needham Flynt (July 2, 1893 -
August 10, 1970), elected in 1951
Henry Schofield Streeter (May
2, 1920 - May 4, 2001),
elected in 1974
Henry Watson
Kent (September 28, 1866 – August 28, 1948) founding member, secretary
from 1910 to 1911, and from 1915 to 1923, elected in 1910
Henry Wood Erving (1851-1941), elected 1910/died 1941
Herbert Augustine Claiborne
(February 20, 1886 - April 30, 1957), elected in 1947
Herbert
Augustine Claiborne, Jr. (August 12, 1923 - February 16, 2020), elected
in 1975
Herbert
L. Pratt (November 21, 1871 – February 3, 1945), elected in 1918
Hezekiah Eugene Bolles (6 Jan 1853 - 28 Oct 1910), founding member, elected
1910/died 1910
Hollis French (June 26,
1868 - November 21, 1940), elected in 1910
Irving S. Olds (January 22, 1887 – March
4, 1963), elected in 1952
J.
Frederick Kelly (June 20, 1888 – September 1, 1947), elected in 1935
J. Gilman D’Arcy Paul (January
31, 1887 - January 12, 1972), elected in 1945, honorary member in 1969
Jacob Hall Pleasants (September
12, 1873 - August 24, 1957), elected in 1938
Jaquelin T.
Robertson (March 20, 1933 - May 9, 2020), elected in 1985, resigned 1991
Jared
Ingersoll Edwards (born 1938), elected 1985
John Andrew Herdeg, elected
1974
John Carter Brown III (October
8, 1934 – June 17, 2002), elected in 1992
John Cotton Dana (August 19, 1856 – July 21, 1929), elected
1910/resigned 1911/died 1929
John H. Bryan (born October 5, 1936), elected
2009
John Hill Morgan (June 30,
1870 - July 15, 1945), elected in 1919
John M.
Woolsey (January 3, 1877 – May 4, 1945)
John
Marshall Philips (January 2, 1905 - May 7, 1953), elected in 1941
John Nicholas Brown
II (February 21, 1900 – October 10, 1979), elected in 1954
John
William Middendorf II (born September 22, 1924), elected in 1958
John
Wilmerding (born April 28, 1938), elected 1967
Jonathan Leo Fairbanks
(born February 19, 1933), elected in 1983
Joseph Paul Gromacki (born 1965),
elected 2012
Joseph Peter Pellegrino II (August
3, 1914 - November 8, 2011), elected
in 2006
Joseph Peter Spang III (May
11, 1934 - May 6, 2020), elected
1983
Jules Prown (born March 14, 1930), elected
in 1985
Julian Ganz, Jr., elected
1987/inactive 2013
Lammot du Pont Copeland (May 19, 1905 – July 1, 1983),
elected in 1956
Lawrence
C. Wroth (January 14, 1884 – December 25, 1970), elected in 1935,
honorary member in 1964
Luke Vincent Lockwood (February 1, 1872 - January
23, 1951), founding member, elected in 1910
Macgill James (August 2, 1897 -
August 29, 1982), elected in 1943, honorary member in 1969
Mantle Fielding
(September 30, 1865 – March 27, 1941), elected 1926/honorary member 1939/died
1941
Mark John Kington, elected 2010
Marsden Jasiel Perry (1850-1935),
elected 1912/died 1935
Marshall Field V (born 1941), elected 2000/resigned
2008
Max Nathan Berry (born December 29, 1935), elected 2011
Mills Bee
Lane IV (22 Aug 1942 - 22 Oct 2001), elected 1973/resigned 1990/died 2001
Morgan B. Brainard (January 8, 1879 - August 28, 1957), elected
in 1927
Morrison Harris Heckscher (born December 12, 1940), elected 1980
Newton C. Brainard
(December 26, 1880 – July 16, 1964), elected in 1946
Nicholas Biddle
Wainwright (July 12, 1914 - 1986), elected 1961/honorary member 1982/died 1986
Norman Morrison Isham (1864–1943), elected 1911/died 1943
Paul Mellon
(June 11, 1907 – February 1, 1999), elected 1970, resigned 1970
Peter Manigault (January 13,
1927 - June 14, 2004), elected in 1970, honorary member
in 1998
Peter Michael Kenny, elected 2008
Philip Leffingwell
Spalding (June 27, 1871 - Decemebr 4, 1938), secretary from 1923 to 1938,
elected in 1915
Philip
Martin Zea, elected in 2013
Ralph Emerson Carpenter, Jr. (October 6, 1909 –
February 2, 2009), elected in 1950
Ralph Philip Hanes
(February 22 , 1898 - July 21, 1973), elected in 1965
Ralph Philip "Phil"
Hanes, Jr. (February 25, 1926 – January 16, 2011), elected in 1973, resigned 1983
Reginald Minturn Lewis (November 3, 1896 - July 3, 1960) elected in 1952, honorary member in 1956
Richard Albert Canfield (June 28, 1855 - December 11, 1914), elected
1910/died 1914
Richard Harding Randall, Jr. ((January 31, 1926 — July 3,
1997), elected in 1968
Richard Townley Haines Halsey (1865-1942),
elected 1914/died 1942
Robert L. McNeil, Jr. (July 13, 1915 – May
20, 2010), elected in 1970
Robert McCracken Peck (born December
15, 1952), elected 2003
Russell Hawes Kettell (November 26, 1890 - May 23, 1958), elected in 1937
Samuel Putnam Avery III (7 Oct 1847 - 25 Sep 1920), elected 1910/resigned
1912/died 1920
Samuel William Woodhouse, Jr. (1873
- February 3, 1943), elected
in 1926
Stephen Davies Paine (April 7, 1932 - November 8, 1997),
elected in 1987
Stephen Hyatt Pelham Pell
(February 3, 1874 - June 22, 1950) , elected
in 1937
Theodore Salisbury Woolsey (October 22, 1852 – April 24,
1929), elected 1910/died 1929
Theodore Sizer (March 19, 1892 – June 21, 1967), elected in 1939
Thomas
Alexander Gray, elected in 2008
Thomas Benedict Clarke (1848–1931), elected
1910/died 1931
Thomas Tileston Waterman
(November 24, 1900 - January 20, 1951), elected in 1947
Thomas
Winthrop Streeter Sr. (July 20, 1883 – June 12, 1965), elected in 1945
Vincent Dyckman Andrus (November 5, 1915 - March 9, 1962), elected
in 1955
W. R. Berkley (born 1946), elected 2014
Walter M. Jeffords Sr.
(August 8, 1883 – September 28, 1960), elected in 1948
Ward Alan Minge
(March 20, 1924 - May 6, 2021), elected 1996, resigned 2006
Wendell Garrett (October
9, 1929 - November 14, 2012), elected in 1967
William Alexander
Jackson (July 25, 1905 - October 4, 1964), elected in 1944
William
Bradford Osgood (March 15, 1928 - July 25, 2013), elected in 1957
William
Brownell Goodwin (October 7, 1866 – May 17, 1950), elected 1927/died 1950
William Davis Miller
(November 5, 1887 - July 7, 1959), elected in 1932, honorary member in 1955
William Hutchinson Putnam (February 1, 1878 - March 10, 1958), elected
in 1943
William Kemble du Pont III (born July 22, 1952),
elected 1987/resigned 2006
William Mitchell
Van Winkle (December 5, 1885 - November 14, 1965), elected in 1935
William S. Reese (July 29, 1955 - June 4, 2018), elected 2002
William
Sumner Appleton (May 29, 1874 - November 24, 1947), elected honorary member
in 1943
Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis
(November 14, 1895 – October 7, 1979), elected in 1951
My published books:
