:Bryan Lathrop

Bryan Lathrop was born on August 6, 1844, to Jedediah Hyde Lathrop and Mariana Lathrop in Alexandria, Virginia.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/charterconstitut191516chic/page/173 |title=Charter, Constitution, By-laws, Membership List, Annual Report |publisher=Chicago Historical Society |pages=173–175 |year=1916 |access-date=2021-12-21 |via=Internet Archive}}

His family was prominent in the state; he descended from John Lothropp and was the grand-nephew of Governor James Barbour. He was grandson of Daniel Bryan{{cite web |title=Bryan001 |url=https://www.elmhursthistory.org/DocumentCenter/View/1921/Bryan001?bidId= |website=www.elmhursthistory.org |publisher=Elmhurst Historical Society |access-date=1 January 2021 |archive-date=May 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528185136/https://www.elmhursthistory.org/DocumentCenter/View/1921/Bryan001?bidId= |url-status=dead }}

Lathrop attended the Dinwiddie School, intending to enroll at the University of Virginia. However, with the outbreak of the American Civil War, Lathrop moved with his pro-Union family to Chicago, Illinois, home of his uncle, Thomas Barbour Bryan. Lathrop's parents sent him to study in Europe under private tutelage during the war. Here, Lathrop gained an appreciation of art and culture. Lathrop returned to Chicago in 1865.{{cite book|last=Funigiello|first=Philip J.|title=Florence Lathrop Page: A Biography|url=https://archive.org/details/florencelathropp0000funi|url-access=registration|year=1994|publisher=University of Virginia Press|place=Charlottesville, VA|isbn=978-0813914893}}

File:Billingsgate LACMA M.84.279.12.jpg drawings collected by Lathrop and bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago{{cite web|title=About This Artwork: Billingsgate, 1859|url=http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/73422?search_no=11&index=15|publisher=Art Institute of Chicago|accessdate=December 20, 2013}}]]

Lathrop engaged in a variety of pursuits once back in Chicago, dealing in real estate and life insurance. He quickly rose to prominence and became an advocate for parks in Chicago. Lathrop led an effort to extend Lincoln Park along the shore of Lake Michigan. His uncle Thomas named him the president of Graceland Cemetery in 1878. Lathrop held this position until his death.{{cite book |last1=Funigiello |first1=Philip J. |title=Florence Lathrop Page: A Biography |year=1994 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0-8139-1489-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=haEp59v_0UIC |access-date=12 May 2021 |page=18 |language=en}} He also co-founded the Chicago Real Estate Board and became president of the Elmhurst Spring Water Company. He was a trustee of the Newberry Library and Art Institute of Chicago from 1894 until his death. He was also a trustee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1894 until 1898, when he was named its vice president. Five years later, he was named its president and served in this role until his death. Under his presidency, the orchestra moved into its current home in Orchestra Hall.

File:Bryan Lathrop House, 120 East Bellevue Place, Chicago (Cook County, Illinois) - correct version.jpg]]

Lathrop's sister was Florence Lathrop, who first married Henry, brother of Marshall Field, and then, after being widowed, married Thomas Nelson Page. Lathrop married Lynde Aldis, the daughter of a Chicago judge, in 1875. His younger brother was Barbour Lathrop, world traveler and patron of plant explorer David Grandison Fairchild. In 1892, Lathrop commissioned Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Mead & White to design his house, Bellevue Place, in Chicago. Lathrop was also an avid collector of art and had one of the largest collections of James Abbott McNeill Whistler in the country. Lathrop was a member of the Caxton Club, Grolier Club, and Chicago Historical Society.

Lathrop died at his home in Chicago on May 13, 1916, and donated most of his property to his philanthropic endeavors, including $700,000 to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He was buried in Graceland Cemetery.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76797621/bryan-lathrop-funeral-held-at-graceland/ |author= |title=Bryan Lathrop Funeral Held at Graceland Chapel |newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune |page=17 |date=May 16, 1916 |access-date=2021-04-30 |via=Newspapers.com}} Edgar Lee Masters wrote a commemorative poem about Lathrop in Poetry magazine in honor of his support of music in Chicago.{{cite web|last=Masters|first=Edgar Lee|author-link=Edgar Lee Masters|title=In Memory of Bryan Lathrop|url=http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/2656|work=Poetry|date=July 1916}} The orchestra established the Bryan Lathrop Memorial scholarship fund in his memory, thanks in part to a $50,000 donation from Florence. Lathrop donated his Whistler collection to the Art Institute.{{cite web|title=Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America: Lathrop, Bryan, 1844–1916|url=http://research.frick.org/directoryweb/browserecord.php?-action=browse&-recid=7242|publisher=Frick Collection|accessdate=December 20, 2013}}

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Category:1844 births

Category:1916 deaths

Category:Businesspeople from Alexandria, Virginia

Category:Businesspeople from Chicago

Category:19th-century American businesspeople

Category:Barbour family