Descriptive Summary
	Creator:	Hamilton, Alexander Morgan,1903-1970
	Title:	The Alexander MorganHamilton Family Photograph Collection
	Date Span	[1895]-1948, undated (Bulk 1905-1948)
	Abstract:	Collection of photographic prints, albums,scrapbooks, and certificates documenting the social, private, and political activities of the familyof Alexander Morgan Hamilton (1903-1970). Materials relating to Elizabeth Hamilton's formerhusbands, John Wanamaker, Jr. and C. Egerton Warburton, are also included.
	Quantity:	17.01 linear feet (16 boxes).
	Call Phrase:	PR103

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Biographical Note

Alexander Morgan Hamilton, grandson of financier John Pierpont Morgan and great-great-grandson of the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, was active in New York City government, the New York Republican Party and a variety of civic and social clubs. Born in New York City in 1903, he graduated from St. Paul's School in 1921 and Harvard in 1924. He served as President of the New York Young Republicans Club and made an unsuccessful run for the state senate in 1930. Hamilton was appointed as Deputy Commissioner in Charge of Weights and Measures in New York City's Department of Markets in 1934; he was referred to as "one-dollar Hamilton" after requesting only a symbolic salary of one dollar per year for the position. A rift with Mayor LaGuardia prompted him to resign from the position in 1935. Hamilton served in the Marine Corps during World War II, eventually rising to the rank of major. In his later years he took an interest in conservation and preservation work, serving as president of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society and as secretary-treasurer of the American Museum of Immigration at the Statue of Liberty National Monument. He received an award from the United States Department of the Interior for his efforts.

Alexander Hamilton received adivorce from his first wife, Katherine Comly Hamilton, in Reno in 1935, and later that same daymarried Elizabeth Peltz Warburton Wanamaker, the daughter of wealthy Philadelphian GeorgeMifflin Dallas Peltz and widow of department store magnate John Wanamaker, Jr. In 1923, at the age ofseventeen, Elizabeth Peltz was expected to make her debut in society, but instead eloped with C.Egerton Warburton, the son of Major Barclay Warburton, the mayor of Palm Beach, Florida. Shewas active in the Philadelphia social scene, taking part in charity events and drawing theattention of the press. Soon after divorcing Warburton in 1932, she married John Wanamaker, Jr.on the same day his divorce from his first wife was finalized.

Alexander Hamilton'sfamily maintained a high profile in society and politics. Hamilton's older brother, PierpontHamilton, served in the Army Air Corps during World War I and won the Congressional Medalof Honor for his service as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force serving in Africa during WorldWar II. In 1946, Harvard University awarded him an honorary Master of Arts, citing his militaryaccomplishments. Another older brother, Laurens Hamilton, was a New York stateassemblyman. Hamilton also had two sisters. Helen Hamilton Woods married Police ChiefArthur Woods; Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton died tragically at the age of eleven in 1919 as a latevictim of the Flu Pandemic of 1918. Hamilton's parents, William P. Hamilton (1869-1950) andJuliet Morgan Hamilton, daughter of John Pierpont Morgan, were wealthy New Yorkers whoowned and operated Thirlstane Ranch in Salisbury Cove, Maine.

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Scope and Content Note

The AlexanderHamilton Family collection spans the period from ca. 1895-1948 and primarily containsdocuments and photographs relating to the personal life and political career of Alexander M.Hamilton, the family and public life of his second wife, Elizabeth, and to a lesser degree thelives of Hamilton's siblings, Pierpont M. Hamilton, Helen M. Hamilton Woods, and LaurensHamilton and his parents, William P. and Juliet Morgan Hamilton. Also included are somephotographs, clippings and certificates relating to Elizabeth Hamilton's first two husbands, C.Egerton Warburton and John Wanamaker, Jr. The collection is divided into four series:Scrapbooks; Photograph Albums; Loose Photographs; and Certificates.

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Arrangement

Scrapbooks and photograph albums arearranged chronologically. Photographic prints and certificates are arranged alphabetically bysitter or recipient.

Materials have been arranged into seriesbased on format.

		Series I: Scrapbooks
		Series II: Photograph Albums
		Series III: Loose Photographs
		Series IV: Certificates

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Open to qualifiedresearchers.

Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to20 photocopies per day per person. Suitability of the original for photocopying is at thediscretion of the staff. Neither blueprints nor tracings can be copied under any circumstances. Duplication of large-format items will be done by the house photographer. See Print Roomguidelines for details.

Use Restrictions

Permission to reproduce any Print Room holdings through publication must be obtainedfrom

Rights and Reproductions
The New-York Historical Society
Two West 77th Street
New York, NY 10024
Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282
Fax: (212) 579-8794

The copyright law of the UnitedStates governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well aspublished materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted inpublication without permission of the copyright holder.

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Access Points
	Subject Names:
		Hamilton family
		Hamilton, Alexander Morgan,1903-1970
		Hamilton, Elizabeth Peltz Warburton Wanamaker
		Hamilton, Juliet Morgan, 1870-1952.
		Hamilton, Laurens
		Hamilton, Pierpont M.
		Hamilton, William Pierson, 1869-1950
		Loy, Myrna, 1905-
		Shearer, Norma, 1900-
		Wanamaker family
		Wanamaker, John, Jr.
		Warburton family
		Warburton, C. Egerton
		Woods, HelenMorgan Hamilton
	Subject Organizations:
		Hasty Pudding Club
	Subject Topics:
		Boats and boating
		Upper class--New York (State)--New York
		Upperclass--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
	Subject Places:
		New York (N.Y.)--Social life andcustoms
		New York(N.Y.)--Politics and government
		Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social life and customs
		Thirlstane Ranch (Me.)
	Document Types:
		Albums
		Certificates
		Clippings
		Correspondence
		Diplomas
		Greeting cards
		Photographic prints
		Scrapbooks
		Telegrams
	OtherNames:
		Core, E.B., d. 1931
		Davis & Sanford
		Kurtz, William, 1833-1904
		MacDonald, Pirie, 1867-1942

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Administrative Information

Provenance

Gift of James Carr in 1979.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: The AlexanderMorgan Hamilton Family Photograph Collection, PR 103, Department of Prints, Photographs,and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.

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Container List

The followingsection contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Series I: Scrapbooks
Series I dates from ca.1923 to 1948; it is arranged chronologically. The scrapbooks of Elizabeth and AlexanderHamilton document their social lives and Alexander Hamilton's political career. The twoscrapbooks from ca. 1923 and 1930-1934 predate Elizabeth Hamilton's marriage to AlexanderHamilton in 1935, and contain a variety of clippings which document Elizabeth's earlyelopement with C. Egerton Warburton and later marriage to John Wanamaker, Jr., as well as herparticipation in Philadelphia society and John Wanamaker's boating activities. Later scrapbooksfrom 1935-1936 and 1936-1948 contain clippings related to Alexander Hamilton's divorce fromKatherine Comly Hamilton and immediate marriage to Elizabeth Hamilton. TheHamilton family's movements in society were often followed by the press, and newspaperclippings from the society pages are abundant in these scrapbooks. Also present are personalmementos, such as dried flowers from the couple's wedding, greeting cards, telegrams andpersonal photographs. Several of the scrapbooks, dating from 1934-1948 contain clippingswhich track the political careers of Alexander Hamilton and his brothers, Laurens and PierpontHamilton. One scrapbook dating from 1937-1947 concerns itself almost entirely with theThirlstane Ranch in Maine, the Holsteins that William P. Hamilton raised there, and the elderHamiltons' participation in the community. The clippings and other textual materials from thescrapbooks have been photocopied; the photocopies are located in Box 6. Researchers areencouraged to use these photocopies as surrogates due to the fragile nature of the originals.
Box	Folder		Title	Date
1			Scrapbook:Photographs, telegrams and clippings relating to Elizabeth Peltz's marriage to C.Egerton Warburton and to Philadelphia society	[1923]
See also: Box 6, folder 3
2	1		Scrapbook: Photographsand clippings on Elizabeth P. Warburton's marriage to John Wanamaker, Jr., boat racing andPhiladelphia society	1930-1934
See also: Box6, folder 4
2	2		Scrapbook: Clippings relating to Alexander Hamilton's politicalcareer, Laurens Hamilton and the Republican Party	1934-1935
See also: Box 6, folder 5
3			Scrapbook: Photographs, correspondence and clippingson the wedding of Elizabeth and Alexander Hamilton and Hamilton's political career	1935-1936
See also: Box 6, folder 6
4			Scrapbook: Clippings onElizabeth and Alexander Hamilton, Pierpont Hamilton, and New York society	1936-1948
See also: Box 6, folder 7
5			Scrapbook: Clippings relating toThirlstane Ranch in Salisbury Cove, Maine, owned by William P. Hamilton	1937-1947
See also: Box 6, folder 8
6	3		Photocopies of clippings from Scrapbook in Box 1	[1923]
6	4		Photocopies of clippings from Scrapbook in Box 2, folder 1	1930-1934
6	5		Photocopies of clippings from Scrapbook in Box 2, folder 2	1934-1935
6	6		Photocopies of clippings from Scrapbookin Box 3	1935-1936
6	7		Photocopies of clippingsfrom Scrapbook in Box 4	1936-1948
6	8		Photocopies ofclippings from Scrapbook in Box 5	1937-1947
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Series II: Photograph Albums
Series II documents the social and personal lives of the Hamilton family;the photograph albums date from 1936-1948 and include some undated materials. The albumsare arranged chronologically, with one undated album at the end of the series. Many of thealbums focus on the couple's travels; one album based primarily on the couple's trips to SantaBarbara and Santa Monica, California in 1937, contains photographs of social events and parties,some of which include Hollywood celebrities Myrna Loy and Norma Shearer. Others includephotographs of fishing and boating trips to Florida, Maine, and Europe as well as unidentifieddestinations.
Box	Folder		Title	Date
7			Clambake and fishing in unidentified locations	1936
8			California	1937
9			Hamilton family	1937-1948
10			Florida, fishing	[1938]
11			Fishing, boating in unidentified locations	[1939]
12			Europe, Maine and unidentifiedlocations	undated
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Series III: Loose Photographs
Series IIIconsists mainly of portraits of the Hamilton family from 1895-1931; most are undated andunidentified. Loose photographs are arranged into subseries by size; thereunder, they are filedalphabetically by sitter, and by date, with unidentified individuals at the end. One folder ofoversize portraits of Pierpont Hamilton is located in Box 15. Included are portraits of PierpontHamilton by Pirie MacDonald, portraits of Alexander Hamilton and his siblings as children byE.B. Core, and a variety of unidentified portraits of children and adults who are probablymembers of the Hamilton and Morgan families. Also included is one group portrait of HarvardCollege's Hasty Pudding Club of which Alexander Hamilton was a member.
Small Format
Box	Folder		Title	Date
13	9		Hamilton, AlexanderM.--Childhood portraits, by E.B. Core	[1905-1915]
See also: Box 14, folders 28-29
13	10		Hamilton, Alexander M.--Childhoodportraits, miscellaneous	[1905-1915]
13	11		Hamilton,Alexander M.--Portraits	undated
See also: Box14, folders 28-29
13	12		Hamilton, Elizabeth Peltz Warburton Wanamaker	undated
13	13		Hamilton family--Portraits of children, byE.B. Core	[1895-1915]
See also: Box 14, folder30
13	14		Hamilton family--Portraits of children	[1895-1915]
13	15		Hamilton, Pierpont M.--Childhood portraits	[1895]
See also: Box 14, folders 32-33
13	16		Hamilton, Pierpont M.--Portraits	undated
See also: Box 14, folders 32-33 and Box 16, folder 41
13	17		Morgan, Harry	undated
13	18		Nichols, Jamie	undated
13	19		Olney, Sigourney B.	undated
13	20		Powel family	[1906]-1931
13	21		Woods, Helen Hamilton, with children	undated
See also: Box 14, folder 35
13	22		Unidentifiedchildren	undated
See also: Box 15, folder 36
13	23		Unidentified children	undated
See also: Box 15, folder 36
13	24		Unidentified man withchild	undated
13	25		Unidentified men	1910, undated
See also: Box 15,folder 37
13	26		Unidentified women	undated
See also: Box 15, folder 39
13	27		Unidentified women withchildren	undated
See also: Box 15, folder 40
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Large Format
Box	Folder		Title	Date
14	28		Hamilton, Alexander M.--Hasty Pudding Club of Harvard College	[1924]
14	29		Hamilton, Alexander M. -- Portraits	undated
14	30		Hamilton family--Portraits of children, by E.B. Core	[1895-1910]
14	31		Hamilton, Laurens	undated
14	32		Hamilton, Pierpont Morgan--Childhood portraits	[1910]
See also: Box 16, folder 41
14	33		Hamilton, Pierpont Morgan--Portraits in uniform, some by PirieMacDonald	1917-1918, undated
See also: Box 16, folder 41
14	34		Olney family	1919, undated
14	35		Woods, Helen M.Hamilton	undated
15	36		Unidentified children	undated
15	37		Unidentified men	undated
15	38		Unidentified wedding portraits	undated
15	39		Unidentified women	1923, undated
15	40		Unidentified women with children	undated
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Oversize
Box	Folder		Title	Date
16	41		Hamilton, Pierpont Morgan, some by Pirie MacDonald	undated
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Series IV:Certificates
Series IV consists of four oversizedcertificates and diplomas (1909-1921) issued to Alexander Morgan Hamilton and JohnWanamaker, Jr. by the DeLancey School in Philadelphia, St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and the U.S. Army. The certificates are arranged alphabetically by recipient and thereunder by date.
Box	Folder		Title	Date
16	42		Hamilton, Alexander M. -- St. Paul's School, New Hampshire, graduation	1921
16	43		Wanamaker, John, Jr.--Delancey School,Philadelphia, graduation	1909
16	44		Wanamaker, John,Jr.--Appointment to Captain in the Quartermaster Section of Officers' Reserve Corps of the U.S.Army	1917
16	45		Wanamaker, John, Jr.--Completion ofThird Course at Army General Staff College	1918
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