Guide to the Douglas family photographs , ca. 1925-1942
The Preservation Society of Newport County
424 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: 401-847-1000
museumaffairs@newportmansions.org
Published in 2024
Collection Overview
| Title: | Douglas family photographs |
| Date range: | ca. 1925-1942 |
| Creator: | |
| Extent: | 5 items |
| Abstract: | Photographs of the J. Gordon Douglas family, mostly taken outside at country and golf clubs in Newport, RI or Palm Beach, FL. |
| Language of materials: | English |
| Repository: | The Preservation Society of Newport County |
| Collection number: | PSNCA.H.038 |
Scope & content
Five photographs comprise the collection, depicting members of the J. Gordon Douglas family in social settings ca. 1925-1942. Edward, Duke of Windsor and Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor, each appear in one of the photographs.Access Points
Subject Names- Windsor, Wallis Warfield, Duchess of, 1896-1986
- Windsor, Edward, Duke of, 1894-1972
- Douglas, James Gordon, 1882-1960
- Douglas, James Gordon, Jr., 1908-1990
- Douglas, Barclay Kountze, 1911-1991
- Douglas, Shirley Crossan
Arrangement
Photographs are arranged in one series as found and inventoried at the item level.
Biographical and Historical Information
James Gordon Douglas (1882-1960), a stock broker and sportsman, was born in Douglaston, Queens, New York, son of William Proctor Douglas (1843-1919) and Adelaide Louisa Townsend (1853-1935).An avid golfer, Douglas won the Count de Turin Cup at the Newport Country Club in 1910. In 1916, Douglas served with Robert W. Goelet as the Green Committee of the club, and served as its governor, 1916-1917. He was also an accomplished polo and tennis player. When he and his family resided in Newport in the summer, they stayed at the Whitney Warren Villa at Parker Avenue and Clay Street. Douglas worked with the New York brokerage firms Watson & Hollins and E.F. Hutton & Co. His New York home was at 392 Madison Avenue.
Douglas married three times. With his wife, amateur tennis player Anne Ward Kountze (1888-1952), whom he married in 1907, Douglas had two sons, James Gordon Douglas, Jr. (1908-1990) and Barclay Kountze Douglas (1911-1991). Both sons served in the U.S. Army. In 1927, he married Mai Duncan Watson (1896-1958), and in 1943 he married Shirley Crossan (1896-1981). He remained married to his last wife until his death in 1960.
J. Gordon Douglas, Jr. married Margaret “Peggie” Phipps in 1930. They had one daughter, Margarita “Dita” Douglas. He went on to marry three more times: to Margaret Moffett (later Altemus) in 1948, to her sister Adelaide McMichael Moffett in 1954, and to Mary Wadsworth Lummis in 1966. Barclay Kountze Douglas married Jane Elizabeth Foster in 1930; their daughter was Diane Marie Gordon Douglas Lamborn (1933-2015). He later married Marie Josephine O’Donnell Hartford (later Bryce, 1903-1992) in 1936 or 1937.
Donald Bell, the donor of the photographs, was a former Newport employee of J. Gordon Douglas, Jr.
Access & Use
| Access to the collection: | The collection is open to the public, and there are no restrictions on access. However, the collection can only be seen by scheduled appointment. |
| Use of the materials: | All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the PSNC Archives and Special Collections are requested to contact the archivist, prior to reproducting, quoting, or otherwise publishing any portion or extract from this collection. Although the Preservation Society has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim copyright ownership. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the copyright and to obtain any necessary permission from them. |
| Preferred citation: | "Courtesy of the Preservation Society of Newport County." |
| Contact information: | The Preservation Society of Newport County 424 Bellevue Avenue Newport, RI 02840 Tel: 401-847-1000 museumaffairs@newportmansions.org |
Administrative Information
| ABOUT THE COLLECTION | |
| Accruals: | |
| Processing information: | |
| ABOUT THE FINDING AID | |
| Encoding: | Finding aid encoded by Genna Duplisea, Archivist,2024. |
| Descriptive rules: | Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) |
Additional Information
| Related material: | The Preservation Society holds as loans several photo albums of the Douglas family. (L.750.1-.18)A portrait of Anne Kountze Douglas painted by Howard G. Cushing is in the collection and hangs in the salon at Rosecliff. (PSNC.1485) |
| Bibliography: |
28 August 1930 , p. 22. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/08/28/issue.html2 December 1930 , p. 33. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/12/02/102195901.html?pageNumber=33h1913 . https://issuu.com/lhasak/docs/ncc_issuJuly 21, 1960 . |
Inventory
| Box 1, Folder 1 | J. Gordon Douglas congratulating his sons Barclay Douglas and J. Gordon Douglas, Jr. on the links of Newport Country Club |
ca. 1935 |
| Box 1, Folder 2 | J. Gordon Douglas, Sr. flanked by his two sons in U.S. Army uniforms, J. Gordon Douglas, Jr. (left) and Barclay Douglas (right) |
1942 |
| Box 1, Folder 3 | Group of people on the links of the Gulf Stream Golf Club in Palm Beach, depicting (left to right): the Duke of Windsor, J. Gordon Douglas, Sr., and two unidentified men |
undated |
| Box 1, Folder 4 | Shirley Douglas, an unidentified woman, and the Duchess of Windsor on Via Mizner, near the Everglades Club |
undated |
| Box 1, Folder 5 | J. Gordon Douglas with his teenage son Barclay Douglas at Bailey's Beach, Newport; the father and his son captured crossing the parking lot to enter Bailey's Beach; the father wearing straw boater and overcoat, Barclay Douglas wearing summer suit and straw boater and carrying suitcase |
ca. 1925 |