Sanders, William B. (1854-1929)
Dates
- Existence: 1854 - 1929
Biography
William Brownell Sanders, noted Cleveland attorney and judge, was largely responsible for successfully carrying out the difficult negotiations which resulted in Cleveland having one art museum instead of three small, individual ones under three separate wills by John Huntington, Horace Kelly and H. B. Hurlburt. Sanders is credited with making the CMA building possible and a considerable portion of the income from the John Huntington Estate and the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust available for its operation. He prepared the articles of incorporation, was one of the incorporators of the museum and its first president. Sanders served effectively as president of the Board of Trustees during the CMA’s first seven years, from 1913 to 1920, which were full of difficulties and adjustments among the various cooperating interests. He was an active member of the Building Committee.
Sanders was born in Cleveland and raised in Jacksonville, Illinois. His father became a professor of rhetoric at Illinois College; Sanders earned his degree there. He studied law at Albany College, then moved to Cleveland to begin his career in law. After a junior partnership in a firm, Sanders secured an appointment to the bench as a Cuyahoga County common pleas court judge in 1888. He resigned in 1890 to form Squire, Sanders and Dempsey as a founding partner.
For seven years Sanders was the director of legal opposition to Cleveland Mayor Tom L. Johnson, who wanted control of the street railroads and the 3-cent fare to protect the interests of the train system’s ridership. The outcome by popular vote in 1910 was a compromise in the form of the Tayler Grant, the details of which were largely worked out by Sanders. The landmark battle and settlement were of great interest to other municipalities and railway companies.
The long legal fight exhausted both Sanders and Johnson; thereafter Sanders spent more time at his summer homes in Woodstock and Kennebunkport and travelled abroad. In 1920 he withdrew from the CMA presidency to secure the election of Jeptha H. Wade as the museum’s second president, who was successful in carrying it through its second stage of development.
At his sudden death in Boston in 1929, William Sanders was a trustee and a member of the Executive Committee of the CMA; trustee of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust; and trustee of the Horace Kelley Art Foundation. In addition to his ongoing service to the CMA, he was a trustee of the Society for Savings bank, a director and member of the board of the Guardian Trust Company, and a director of the Kelley Island Lime and Transport Company. He bequeathed $25,000 to the CMA.
-Biography by Anne Cuyler Salsich, 2025