{{short description|American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = William A. Slater | image = William Albert Slater.png | alt = | caption = | birth_name = William Albert Slater | birth_date = {{Birth date|1857|12|25}} | birth_place = Norwich, Connecticut | death_date = {{Death date and age|1919|02|25|1857|12|25}} | death_place = Washington, D.C. | resting_place = | other_names = | occupation = Businessman | spouse = {{Marriage|Ellen Burdett Peck|June 11, 1885}} | children = 2 | awards = | education = {{Plainlist| * Norwich Free Academy * Harvard College }} | signature = Signature of William Albert Slater.png | party = }} '''William Albert Slater''' (1857–1919), was an American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist from Connecticut who was a member of the prominent Slater family.

==Early life == [[File:John Fox Slater House, 352 East Main Street, Norwich (New London County, Connecticut).jpg|right|thumb|150px|John Fox Slater House where William Slater grew up]]

Slater was born in Norwich, Connecticut, on December 25, 1857. He was the son of John Fox Slater and grandson of John Slater (Samuel Slater's brother and partner).<ref name=Cyclopaedia>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vPEpAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA220-IA5 |title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography |volume=XVIII |publisher=James T. White & Company |page=220 |year=1922 |access-date=2020-12-29 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

He was educated at Norwich Free Academy,<ref name="Mason">{{cite news |last=Mason |first=Marsha Levinson |date=20 March 2021 |title=Trip to Norwich is a day of art, history |url=https://www.journalinquirer.com/living/adventures-during-covid-trip-to-norwich-is-a-day-of-art-history/article_c63e1302-89b5-11eb-a03a-135a55634b44.html |work=The Journal Inquirer |location=Manchester, Connecticut |access-date=8 November 2021}}</ref> then studied abroad, and later graduated from Harvard College in 1881. He studied art history under Charles Eliot Norton, and after graduating, Slater went on to acquire a notable art collection, including works by Rembrandt, and eventually began lending his paintings to the Slater Museum.<ref name=Round>[https://connecticuthistory.org/the-slaters-go-round-the-world/ "The Slaters Go Round the World"]</ref>

==Career== Slater worked in the family's textile business, the Slatersville Mills and Jewett City Mills.

He also served as a trustee of the Slater Fund. In 1886, Slater presented the Slater Memorial Museum to Norwich Free Academy in memory of his father.<ref name="Mason" /> He also constructed Norwich's "Broadway Theater" and sponsored various shows there.

==Personal life== On June 11, 1885, Slater married Ellen Burdett Peck (1858–1941), a daughter of Frederic Mathew Peck and Ellen Louise ({{nee}} Young) Peck.<ref name=Cyclopaedia/> Together, they were the parents of two children:

* Eleanor Halsey Slater (1888–1928), who married Baron Boris de Struve, an attaché of the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C. and son of Baron Karl de Struve, in 1909.<ref name="1909Wedding">{{cite news |title=AMERICAN WEDS RUSSIAN; Miss Eleanor Slater the Bride of Boris de Struve in Paris. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/11/28/archives/american-weds-russian-miss-eleanor-slater-the-bride-of-boris-de.html |access-date=5 September 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=November 28, 1909}}</ref> After his death in 1912, she married A. Halsey Malone in 1914.<ref name="1914Wedding">{{cite news |title=BARONESS DE STRUVE WEDS; Widow of Russian Diplomat Marries A.H. Malone in Cathedral. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1914/05/29/archives/baroness-de-struve-weds-widow-of-russian-diplomat-marries-ah-malone.html |access-date=5 September 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=May 29, 1914}}</ref> * William Albert Slater, Jr. (1890–1962), who married Madeleine Allen of New York. They divorced in 1920,<ref name="1920Divorce">{{cite news |title=Mrs. Wm. A. Slater, Jr., in Reno. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/03/23/archives/marriage-announcement-1-no-title.html?searchResultPosition=1 |access-date=5 September 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=March 23, 1920 |page=9}}</ref> and he married Frances Worthington Ames, a daughter of architect Worthington Ames of Ames & Dodge, in 1929.

In 1894, the Slaters and their two young children, William and Eleanor, travelled around the world in their 232-foot yacht, the ''Eleanor'', named after their daughter.<ref name=Round/> It had been constructed at Bath Iron Works in 1893–1894.<ref name=Round/> Slater had an office in Boston, Massachusetts, and was a member of the Somerset Club and Tavern Club.<ref>''America's Textile Reporter: For the Combined Textile Industries'', Volume 33, March 13, 1919, p. (69)909</ref> In 1900 Slater sold the village of Slatersville, Rhode Island and the mill within it to James Hooper.<ref name="Landscape 56-57">''Landscape of Industry: An Industrial History of the Blackstone Valley'' by Worcester Historical Museum, pp. 56-57</ref>

Slater died in Washington, D.C., on February 25, 1919.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60140184/obituary-for-william-a-slater/ |title=William A. Slater, Once Boston Clubman, Dead |newspaper=The Boston Globe |location=Washington |page=2 |date=1919-02-26 |access-date=2020-12-29 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He was survived by his wife Ellen and two children.<ref name="frick">{{cite web|url=http://research.frick.org/directoryweb/browserecord.php?-action=browse&-recid=6845|publisher=research.frick.org|title=Slater, William Albert, 1857-1919 &#124; Archives Directory for the History of Collecting|access-date=2017-07-29}}</ref> After his death, Slater's family sold the remaining Jewett City Mills.<ref name="Landscape 56-57"/>

==See also== *John Slater (industrialist)

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== *[https://www.slatermuseum.org Official museum website]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, William A.}} Category:1857 births Category:1919 deaths Category:People from Windham County, Connecticut Category:American Congregationalists Category:People from Jewett City, Connecticut Category:Harvard University alumni Category:19th-century American philanthropists