Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States records

Principally correspondence, business and personal, of Henry B. Hyde and his son, James H. Hyde, vice-president of Equitable from 1899 to 1905. The loose material in this collection consists of 13.5 cu. ft. of files from 1782 to 1919, the bulk of which falls between 1870 and 1905. It includes extensive files on setting up and running a life insurance company across the country and around the world. The aspects covered are financial, medical, managerial and political. It also includes a substantial amount of material on safety deposit companies. In addition there is a good deal of information on the founding, outfitting, and running of proprietary and social clubs with much attention given to material detail. Of particular interest are the Jekyll Island Club, the Lawyers' Club, the Underwriters' Club, the Café Voisin (est. 1887) of Paris, the Café Saverin in New York (a proprietary club of the ELAS), and the French Club (le Cercle) at Harvard. Henry B. Hyde and ELAS invested in real estate and there is considerable information on the subject. Finally, both Henry B. Hyde and his son, James, took exceptional interest in outfitting their houses, consequently, the files are filled with detailed information on renovating and decorating. The collection also includes 66 volumes consisting of letter books, memos, and reports.

Letters from Lucy B. B. Hyde (Henry B. Hyde's sister) written to her father, Henry H. Hyde, in 1869 while she was living in New York City and studying drawing, reveal her independent nature, her dislike of materialism, and her ideas about spirituality. Lucy had traveled to Europe and in her letters tried to convince her father to travel abroad with her.

Letters from Annie Hyde to her husband, Henry B. Hyde, written while he was traveling around the world, describe her daily occupations, including visiting friends, museums, the theater, and church. She considered traveling to England to meet her husband but decided she did not want to leave her children, but also stated that she was "too timid, too much of a baby" to make the trip across the Atlantic alone.