Robert Allerton

{{short description|Philanthropist}} {{About||the Canon of Windso|Robert Allerton (priest)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}

{{Infobox person | name = Robert Allerton | image = The Man in Black 1913.jpg | alt =  | caption = The Man in Black (Robert Henry Allerton), 1913, by Glyn Philpot | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{Birth date|1873|03|20}} | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois | death_date = {{Death date and age|1964|12|22|1873|03|20}} | death_place = | nationality =  | other_names = | occupation = Philanthropist | years_active = | known_for = Donating thousands of artworks, trustee for Honolulu Academy of Art | notable_works = | mother = Pamilla Thompson Allerton | father = Samuel Waters Allerton }}

'''Robert Henry Allerton''' (March 20, 1873 – December 22, 1964), born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, was the son and heir of First National Bank of Chicago co-founder Samuel Allerton.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/03/17/101754826.pdf|title=ALLERTON LEFT $20,000,000.; Chicago Banker Bequeathed Fortune to Family and Gift to Servant.|publisher=}}</ref> He was a philanthropist who served as a trustee and honorary president for the Art Institute of Chicago, becoming one of its benefactors by donating thousands of artworks.<ref name=ARPC>{{cite web|title=About Robert Allerton|website=Allerton Retreat and Park Center|url=https://allerton.illinois.edu/about-robert-allerton/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607162821/https://allerton.illinois.edu/about-robert-allerton/|archive-date=7 June 2023}}</ref> He also became a trustee for the Honolulu Academy of Art, leaving a trust that funds the Academy to this day.<ref name=Syrett2013>{{cite journal |last1=Syrett |first1=Nicholas L. |title=“Lord of a Hawaiian Island”: Robert and John Gregg Allerton, Queerness, and the Erasure of Colonization in Kaua'i: Robert and John Gregg Allerton, Queerness, and the Erasure of Colonization in Kaua'i |journal=Pacific Historical Review |date=2013 |volume=82 |issue=3 |pages=396–427 |doi=10.1525/phr.2013.82.3.396 |jstor=10.1525/phr.2013.82.3.396 |issn=0030-8684}}</ref>{{rp|398}}

Robert Allerton traveled around the world buying statues and other works of art. Many were placed on his estate ″The Farms″ in Piatt County, Illinois. In 1946, Allerton donated the estate, which was renamed the Robert Allerton Park to the University of Illinois. More than 100 statues as well as many other artworks can be found there. He was instrumental in the founding of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, which now includes Allerton Garden, his former property on the island of Kaua{{okina}}i in the state of Hawaii.<ref name=NTBC>{{cite web|title=Allerton Garden History|website=National Tropical Botanical Garden|url=https://ntbg.org/gardens/allerton/allerton-garden-history/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324122729/https://ntbg.org/gardens/allerton/allerton-garden-history/|archive-date=24 March 2023}}</ref>

==Early life== Robert Henry Allerton was born on March 20, 1873, as the second child and only son to Samuel Waters Allerton (1828–1914) and Pamilla Thompson Allerton (1840–1880). Through an entirely paternal line, Robert Henry Allerton was descended from Isaac Allerton, an English Puritan who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620.<ref>Robert Allerton: The Private Man & the Public Gifts by Martha Burgin and Maureen Holtz, September 2009. pg. 3</ref> His father was a self-made man who made his millions in land, livestock, banking, and other commercial enterprises. Robert’s mother died in 1880, five days before his seventh birthday. Two years later, his father married Agnes Thompson, his mother’s younger sister. Agnes Thompson Allerton (1858–1924) became a mother, friend, and cultural mentor for her stepson/nephew. She kindled his interests in literature, music, gardening, and above all, visual arts.

The Allertons lived on Prairie Avenue in Chicago, which was the most fashionable residential street in that city in the late 1800s. The Allertons were neighbors of Marshall Field, the Pullmans, Kimballs, and Armours. Robert attended Allen Academy and Harvard School in Chicago, after which he and friend Frederic Clay Bartlett (1873−1953), were sent east to St. Paul's School, a prestigious college prep school in Concord, New Hampshire. The young Chicagoans decided not to go on to college, but rather to study art in Europe.

From 1894 to 1896 they studied at the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste (Royal Bavarian Academy of Art) in Munich, Germany and the Académie Julian in Paris. After several years of study in Europe Allerton became dissatisfied with his abilities as an artist, burned his paintings and returned home to Illinois. Frederic Bartlett went on to become a professional artist.

In 1922 Allerton met John Gregg (1899–1986), an orphan and aspiring architect who worked for the society architect David Adler in Chicago during the 1920s. After the stock market crash of 1929 Adler′s work diminished and Gregg came to live at Allerton′s estate as landscape architect and business manager, a salaried position. Allerton and Gregg became lifelong companions. After a change in Illinois law in 1959, Allerton legally adopted Gregg as his son although Gregg didn′t adopt the Allerton surname until after Robert′s death in 1964.<ref name=syrett>{{cite web |last1=Syrett |first1=Nicholas L. |title=Queering Couplehood: Robert & John Allerton and Historical Perspectives on Kinship |url=https://www.colorado.edu/gendersarchive1998-2013/2012/01/03/queering-couplehood-robert-john-allerton-and-historical-perspectives-kinship |website=Genders 1998-2013 |publisher=University of Colorado Boulder |accessdate=27 May 2020 |language=en |date=3 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Beck |first1=Koa |title=How Marriage Inequality Prompts Gay Partners to Adopt One Another |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/11/how-marriage-inequality-prompts-gay-partners-to-adopt-one-another/281546/ |website=The Atlantic |accessdate=27 May 2020 |date=27 November 2013}}</ref> Following Robert Allerton′s death on December 22, 1964, according to his wishes John scattered his ashes on Lawai Bay, Kauai, Hawaii. When John died on May 1, 1986 his ashes were also scattered on the bay. It is believed that Allerton and Gregg were involved in a same-sex relationship. During their lifetimes, the United States practiced social and legal discrimination against homosexuals, and many homosexuals remained closeted (as it is believed Allerton and Gregg were).<ref name=syrett/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Fleeson |first1=Lucinda |title=Robert Allerton: Living well is the best revenge - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News Archive - Windy City Times |url=http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?aid=23093 |website=www.windycitymediagroup.com |publisher=Windy City Media Group |accessdate=27 May 2020 |date=7 October 2009}}</ref><ref name=Syrett2013/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Fleeson |first1=Lucinda |title=The Gay '30s |url=https://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/November-2005/The-Gay-30S/ |website=Chicago magazine |accessdate=27 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Same-sex adult adoption had been used a method of legally establishing relationships by homosexual couples prior the legalization of same-sex marriages and unions.

=="The Farms"== His estate began in 1897 when Allerton decided to become a farmer. By 1914 his "farm" had grown to over {{convert|12,000 |acres}} and became known as "The Farms".<ref name=ARPC/> Now called Robert Allerton Park, it is owned and operated by the University of Illinois near Monticello, Illinois. The botanical journal ''Allertonia'' and the two estate parks are named after Robert Allerton. The main building of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he served as the honorary president and trustee, was renamed the Allerton Building in his honor in 1968.

==Hawai{{okina}}i== The former Hawaiian Royal tropical estate, located on the island of Kaua{{okina}}i in Hawai{{okina}}i, is now called the Allerton Garden. After John Gregg Allerton's death it became part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, with public tours.

==See also== * Robert Allerton Park ("The Farms," Illinois) * Allerton Garden (Kaua'i, Hawaii)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * Nicholas L. Syrett: ''An open secret : the family story of Robert & John Gregg Allerton'', Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2021, ISBN {{ISBN | 978-0-226-76155-8}} ==External links== * Bruce Shenitz. 2007. The Garden of Eden. Minus Eve. ''Out'' September 2007: 84-90. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150217045848/http://ntbg.org/gardens/allerton.php Allerton Garden] * [http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/uis/id/883 John Gregg Allerton Memoir]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allerton, Robert}} Category:American landscape and garden designers Category:Philanthropists from Illinois Category:American art collectors Category:American gardeners Category:1873 births Category:1964 deaths Category:Businesspeople from Chicago Category:People from Kauai County, Hawaii Category:People from Monticello, Illinois Category:LGBTQ people from Illinois Category:LGBTQ people from Hawaii