Robert Allerton: His Parks and Legacies

His philanthropies are little known outside of Central Illinois and Kauai, but the Art Institute of Chicago and the Honolulu Academy of Arts benefited from his magnanimous assistance with funding and artwork. Allerton was a quiet man who left his mark in both Illinois and Hawaii. Robert Allerton: His Parks and Legacies includes photographs taken over the last 100 years that document his life and properties. Named one of the Seven Wonders of Illinois, Robert Allerton Park is visited by nearly 100,000 people annually. Allerton, a wealthy Chicago philanthropist and art collector, donated his palatial country estate to the University of Illinois in 1946 with the intent that it should be maintained as a wildlife preserve and an example of landscape gardening. Today Robert Allerton Park is both a National Historic Site and National Natural Landmark.