Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Horace C. Henry papers, 1890-1959
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Henry, Horace C
- Title
- Horace C. Henry papers
- Dates
- 1890-1959 (inclusive)18901959
- Quantity
- 36.42 cubic feet (including 2 tubes)
- Collection Number
- 1420
- Summary
- Papers of a businessman and railroad contractor; art collector and founder of the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington
- Repository
-
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Consult the access restrictions information for each of the accessions listed below.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Horace Chapin Henry (October 6, 1844–June 28, 1928) was an early Seattle businessman and founder of the Henry Art Gallery and Firland Tuberculosis Hospital.
He was born at the Henry House in Bennington, Vermont in October, 1844.
He left Norwich Military School (better known as Norwich University) at age 18, serving as a First Sergeant, 14th Vermont Infantry in the Second Vermont Brigade which was in the center of the line repulsing Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War.
After the war he was a partner in Henry & Balch working on railroad construction in the Midwest. He moved to Seattle in 1890 to work on the Northern Pacific Railroad's belt line around Lake Washington, and later the Great Northern Railway's route from Stevens Pass in the Cascade Mountains to Everett on Puget Sound. In 1906 he won a $20 million contract to build 450 miles of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul line from the Montana-Idaho border across Snoqualmie Pass to Seattle, which was completed in 1909.
Henry's 1901 home in the Harvard-Belmont District on Seattle's Capitol Hill was the first of many Victorian, Neo-classical, Colonial Revival, and Tudor Revival houses built in the early part of the century. It is noteworthy for having been built with a five-car garage at a time when automobiles were a novelty in Seattle.
He was president of the Metropolitan Bank and National Bank of Commerce in Seattle, and formed Pacific Creosoting Company on Bainbridge Island in 1906. A tanker which supplied creosote from Europe to this plant was named the H.C. Henry and was sunk by a German submarine in World War I on September 28, 1915.
In 1911, after the death of a son to tuberculosis, he donated land and funds to open Henry Sanatorium in Seattle, later renamed Firland Tuberculosis Hospital.
He was an investor in, and vice president of, the Metropolitan Building Company, which developed the Metropolitan Tract in Seattle. The 11-story Henry Building there was named for him.
For his personal contributions and efforts to collect funds for the Fatherless Children of France, a charity for wartime orphans, he was awarded the Legion of Honor medal in 1920.
He donated his art collection, which he formerly kept at his home and opened to the public for display, to the University of Washington in 1926 and donated the funds to buila new gallery to house the collection, which was to be the Henry Art Gallery.
Henry died in his sleep in his Seattle home on June 28, 1928 and is buried at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle.
Source: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Chapin_Henry
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Consult the scope and content information for each of the accessions listed below.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
Consult the restrictions governing reproduction and use for each of the accessions listed below.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
Organized into 2 accessions.
- Accession No. 1420-001, Horace C. Henry papers, 1890-1959
- Accession No. 1420-002, Horace C. Henry papers, circa 1909-1950
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Accession No. 1420-001: Horace C. Henry papers, 1890-1959Return to Top
Scope and Content: Financial records, minutes, correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, lists, timber cruise reports, abstracts of titles, stock books, maps, reports relating primarily to H.C. Henry's timber and construction businesses. Personal papers include correspondence regarding his art collection and family letters.
Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.
Restrictions on Use: Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Acquisition Info: Donated by H.C. Henry Investment Company, 7/31/1970.
| Description |
|---|
Horace C. Henry papers |
Accession No. 1420-002: Horace C. Henry papers, circa 1909-1950 (bulk circa 1909-1940)Return to Top
Scope and Content: Correspondence, financial records, art provenance records, lists. Documents family investments ca. 1909-1920 in local firms and enterprises. Also documents purchase of paintings by Horace C. Henry for his collection, which became the nucleus of the University of Washington's Henry Art Gallery.
Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.
Restrictions on Use: Creator's literary rights not transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Acquisition Info: Purchased 1/1/1993.
| Description |
|---|
Horace C. Henry papers |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Art museums--Washington (State)
- Art--Collectors and collecting--Washington (State)
- Construction industry--Washington (State)
- Creosote
- Government contractors--United States
- Lumber trade--Washington (State)
- Real estate business--Washington (State)
- Wood--Preservation
Personal Names
- Henry, Horace C.--Archives
Corporate Names
- Henry Art Gallery
- Henry and Larson Lumber Company (Seattle, Wash.)
- Henry and McFee Contracting Company (Seattle, Wash.)
- Pacific Creosoting Company (Seattle, Wash.)
- Russeltown Timber Company (Seattle, Wash.)
- University of Washington--Museums
- White Bluffs Investment Co. (Seattle, Wash.)
Form or Genre Terms
- Diaries
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
