Slater, Horatio Nelson (1808-1880)
Role: benefactor of Slater HallDates:
Portrait Location: Library Annex
Artist: Fagnani, Joseph (1819-1873)
Portrait Date: 1870
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 24 1/2
Framed Dimensions: 38 1/8
Brown Portrait Number: 45
Brown Historical Property Number: 1206
Horatio Nelson Slater was the son of Samuel Slater, the textile manufacturing genius and founder of Slater Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and the owner of a huge mill enterprise that existed under the name Samuel Slater and Sons. (For detailed information on Samuel Slater, please see his portrait, BP 10.) The elder Slater died in 1835, and his sons George B. Slater and Horatio Nelson Slater shared control of the company he founded, until George Slater's death in 1843. After his brother's death, Horatio Nelson Slater assumed full control of the Slater family enterprise. He proved himself to have the family business acumen, and among other clever decisions, increased Slater and Sons' share of the woolens market in time to capitalize on the increased demand for this fabric brought about by the military's need for troop uniforms that of course greatly increased during the Civil War. Slater also believed in cutting company costs by adopting a strategy of direct sales, and he slashed transportation expenses by operating a railroad that served the company. He maintained control of the Slater manufacturing empire for over forty-five years.
Slater was as shrewd in his philanthropy as he was in his business dealings. He gave Brown University a $25,000 gift to build Slater Hall, one of the school's residence halls. However, this gift was not without its price: a condition of the donation was that the extremely reluctant Ezekiel Gilman Robinson had to accept the presidency of the university. Robinson became the seventh president of Brown University (and by all accounts his tenure resulted in significant gains for the school), and one of Brown's most popular dorms was built.
This portrait of Slater was painted by Joseph Fagnani (1819-1873), who boldly signed and dated the painting in 1870. It was presented to the university by the Brown Alumni Association in 1882. Born Giuseppe Fagnani in Naples, the artist Anglicized his first name when he emigrated to the US in 1849. Here he is known for portraits painted in the third quarter of the nineteenth century, including likenesses of Henry Clay Webster and President Millard Fillmore.