Henry G. Lapham was an American investment banker, oilman, philatelist, philanthropist, and sportsman. He was the founding president of the

Boston Garden-Arena Corporation The Boston Garden-Arena Corporation was an American corporation that oversaw the operations of the Boston Garden from 1934 to 1973. It was formed when the Boston Arena Corporation gained control of the Boston Garden from the Madison Square Garden C ...

and a major sports promoter in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

during the 1920s and 1930s.

Early life

Lapham was born in 1875 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to John Jesse and Mary Elizabeth Walker Lapham. His father was a leather merchant and tanner who ultimately merged several companies to create the Central Leather Co. of Pennsylvania, which eventually became part of the United States Leather Company. The family relocated to

, and they continued to financially prosper due to involvement with American-Hawaiian Steam-ship Co. and ownership in Texas and California oil fields. Lapham graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

in 1897 and a year later moved to

. Lapham married to Rebecca Lounsberry, a fellow native of Brooklyn, shortly after graduating from college. They had two children, Raymond and Kathryn.

Business career

Lapham's first position was as a clerk in the offices of the United States Leather Company. He later branched out into banking and brokerage and was involved in a number of businesses, including B. A. Corbin & Sons Co. (as treasurer),

Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway The Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway (Eastern Mass) was a streetcar and later bus company in eastern Massachusetts, serving northern and southern suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. Its precursor company was the Bay State Street Railway, whic ...

Company, the National Rockland Bank, Franklin Shoe Company, and the Boston National League baseball club (as director). He was also a director of the Texas Company, which was founded by family member

Lewis Henry Lapham Lewis Henry Lapham (March 13, 1858 – June 10, 1934) was an American entrepreneur who made a fortune consolidating smaller business in the leather industry. He was also one of the founders of Texaco Oil Company. Biography Lapham was born in ...

. He resigned from the board in 1933.

Sports

BAA

Lapham joined the

Boston Athletic Association The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is a non-profit, running-focused, organized sports association for the Greater Boston area. The B.A.A. hosts such events as the Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K, the B.A.A. Half Marathon, the ...

in 1914. He was the BAA's vice president from 1918 to 1920. Lapham then served as president from 1920 to 1926, when he chose not to continue in that role due to business pressures. He was succeeded by George W. Wightman, husband of

Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman Hazel Virginia Hotchkiss Wightman, CBE (née Hotchkiss; December 20, 1886 – December 5, 1974) was an American tennis player and founder of the Wightman Cup, an annual team competition for British and American women. She dominated American wo ...

Boston Arena and Boston Garden

Lapham played an instrumental role in the construction of the

Boston Arena Matthews Arena (formerly Boston Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the world's oldest multi-purpose athletic building still in use, as well as the oldest arena in use for ice hockey. The arena opened in 1910 on wh ...

. In the late 1920s the arena received competition from the newly constructed

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (la ...

, which was owned by the

Boston & Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the end of 1970 ...

and run by the

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

Corporation. The Boston Garden was unable to make a profit and in 1934 the smaller Boston Arena Corporation, led by Lapham, purchased a controlling interest in the Boston Garden. In 1936, Lapham's group bought out the remaining stock owned by the Madison Square Garden Corporation. Under the management of Lapham and general manager

George V. Brown George Vincent Brown (21 October 1880 – 17 October 1937) of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, was an American sports official. He championed the development of various sports and sporting events in the United States, most notably the Boston Marathon a ...

, the Garden was able to become a prosperous venture.

Other

In 1920, Lapham was elected president of the National Association of Amateur Billiard Players. In 1924 he was elected first vice chairman of the American Olympic Association. He became president of the Olympic Committee following the death of president

William C. Prout William Christopher Prout (December 24, 1886 – August 4, 1927) was an American athlete. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London and was president of the American Olympic Committee. He was also the tenth state deputy of the Massachus ...

. He resigned from the committee in 1927, citing the stress of his business interests. He was succeeded by

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

. In 1924, Lapham donated $350,000 for the construction of an athletic clubhouse on the Yale campus, which was named the Lapham Field House.

Philately

Lapham was known for his collection of

United States postmasters provisional stamps In the Act of March 3, 1845, the United States Congress standardized postal rates throughout the nation at 5¢ for a normal-weight letter transported up to 300 miles and 10¢ for a letter transported between 300 and 3,000 miles, with these rates to ...

. He received a gold medal at the 1926 New York International Philatelic Exhibition for his collection of New York Postmaster's Provisionals, which included more than 700 of the stamps, including six with the rare "RHM" initials, and a complete plate assembled from forty of the stamps. In 1930, his collection of Spanish stamps was chosen as the best show as the

American Philatelic Society The American Philatelic Society (APS) is the largest nonprofit stamp collecting foundation of philately in the world. Both the membership and interests of the society are worldwide. History The organization, originally named the ''American Ph ...

's annual banquet He won a Grand Award at the 1936 Third International Philatelic Exhibition for his collection of U.S. Postmasters' Provisionals. Charles J. Phillips was quoted as saying that, "after the death of Arthur Hind, Henry Lapham ranked as the third greatest stamp collector in the United States."

Threats

In 1924, Salvatore Schiavone, a resident of Boston's North End, was arrested for sending a letter in which he threatened to kill to Lapham if he did not pay him $5,000. Schiavone sent a second letter in 1932, this time asking for $10,800. Schiavone admitted to sending the second letter, stating he felt that Lapham owed him the money as he had been imprisoned unfairly. In 1934, Lapham's daughter-in-law received police protection after she received a phone call that police interpreted as a threat to kidnap her.

Death

Lapham died on December 16, 1939 at his home at 514 Warren Street

Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts Chestnut Hill is an affluent New England village located west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Like all Massachusetts villages, Chestnut Hill is located within one or more incorporated municipal entities. It is located par ...

following two years of poor health. His wife died in April 1940, less than four months after Lapham's death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapham, Henry G. 1875 births 1939 deaths American philatelists Boston Athletic Association Boston Braves owners Boston Garden People from Brookline, Massachusetts People from Brooklyn United States Olympic Committee Yale University alumni Presidents of the United States Olympic Committee