Charles Lawrence
(1854-1924)
Charles Lawrence Hutchinson was born in
setts, on March 7,1854, the
oldest of five children. Following
business reverses in
and then came to
settled permanently in
came a grain dealer and later extended his business activities to
meat packing and banking, becoming one of the richest men in the
city.
the only high school in the city. During his high school years, he
devoted considerable time to assisting his father in his business ac-
tivities, and following graduation, his father
prevailed upon him to
forego college and join him as a business partner.
principal business interest was banking, and in 1886 he became
president of the Corn Exchange Bank, one of the leading banking
institutions in the city at the time. Two years later, in 1888, when
he was only thirty-four years of age, he was elected president of the
Chicago Board of Trade.
Though successful in business,
principally for his civic and humanitarian endeavors. One of the
original founders of the Art Institute of Chicago, he became its
president in 1882, at the age of twenty-eight, and held that posi-
tion for the remainder of his life, a total of
forty-two years. He
played a significant role in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposi-
tion and was later instrumental in the founding of
the
of
indication of the incredible scope of his commitment to the ad-
vancement of human welfare, he was actively involved
in more
than one hundred civic and charitable organizations. Of these or-
ganizations, he was, at one time or another, the
president of six,
the treasurer of twenty or more, and a director or trustee of forty.
1884 until his death on October 7, 1924. He was president of the
Club in 1907-08. During his forty years as a member, he pre-
sented seventeen papers, many of them (if their
titles are a true in-
dication) on the subject of art.
Read before the Club: February I, 1999