Laughlin Phillips

Laughlin Phillips
Personal details
Born	October 20, 1924 Washington, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Died	2010 Washington, Connecticut, U.S.
Nativity	United States
Religion	Protestant
Known for	Director of The Phillips Collection
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	11092463
Rank	Private First Class
Camp Ritchie	Class 17 (11 March – 8 May 1944)
Section	7C
Enlisted	New Haven, Connecticut

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Laughlin Phillips (October 20, 1924 – January 24, 2010), also known as Loc Phillips, was an American museum director from Washington, D.C. The son of wealthy art collectors, he managed The Phillips Collection, a museum founded by his parents. Under his leadership, the museum increased its collection, underwent expansion projects and received substantial financial support.

Biography

Laughlin Phillips (October 20, 1924 – January 24, 2010), also known as Loc Phillips, was an American museum director from Washington, D.C. The son of wealthy art collectors, he managed The Phillips Collection, a museum founded by his parents. Under his leadership, the museum increased its collection, underwent expansion projects and received substantial financial support.

Prior to his career as a museum director, Phillips served during World War II, worked as an analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and co-founded a local magazine. He also co-founded the magazine Washingtonian.

Laughlin Phillips, nicknamed "Loc," was born in Washington, D.C., in 1924, the son of Duncan Phillips, an art collector and critic, and Marjorie Acker Phillips, a painter. He had one sibling, Mary Marjorie, born in 1922, who contracted encephalitis at a young age and was institutionalized. According to Phillips, "she was severely brain damaged and never got beyond being four years old."

Phillips was named after his great-grandfather, James H. Laughlin, co-founder of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company and chair of the Pittsburgh National Bank (a precursor to PNC Financial Services). Three years prior to Phillips' birth, Duncan and Marjorie founded the Phillips Memorial Gallery, the United States' first museum of modern art. The museum was located in the Phillips' home, a Georgian Revival house in Dupont Circle where Laughlin spent his early childhood. In 1930, the family moved to another house, Dunmarlin, a mansion on Foxhall Road NW designed by architect John Russell Pope, to increase the museum's gallery space.

During his childhood, Dunmarlin was a noted meeting place for diplomats, politicians and artists. He was chauffeured each day to St. Albans School, an elite private school where he graduated in 1942.

Following his graduation, Phillips attended Yale University, his father's alma mater, for one year before serving in World War II. Phillips conducted two months of training at Camp Ritchie, Maryland and joined the ranks of the Ritchie Boys for his time there. He was an Army intelligence officer in the Pacific theater and earned a Bronze Star Medal. After the war, Phillips attended the University of Chicago using benefits provided by the G.I. Bill.

Phillips began working for the CIA after earning a Master of Philosophy degree. Around this time Phillips married Elizabeth Hood with whom he had two children, Duncan and Liza. The couple later divorced and he married his second wife, Jennifer Stats Cafritz.While working for the CIA, Phillips was stationed in several locations, including Saigon and Tehran. Following his father's death in 1966, Phillips began serving as board chairman of the museum. His mother was the director of the museum until 1972, when Phillips assumed the role. He sold his stake in the magazine in 1979 to devote all of his time to The Phillips Collection, at the time a "deteriorating jewel box of a museum", calling it "a family responsibility." He "supervised multi-million dollar fundraising campaigns, starting charging admission, established corporate and personal membership programs, and sought arts endowment grants that the museum had seldom if ever pursued."

For his successful efforts at improving the museum, Phillips was named a "Washingtonian of the Year" by Washingtonian magazine. He retired as museum director in 1992, and for the first time in its history, the museum was managed by someone other than a Phillips family member.

Research notes

• Also SC14 OB; ASTP
• OB 260?
• The Phillips Collection (modern art); The Washingtonian magazine
• Portrait and summary from Notable Ritchie Boys slides (source).

Gallery

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Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	86
Nara ASN	11092463
Nara Name	PHILLIPS LAUGHLIN
Nara State	34
Nara County	1
Nara POE	1163
Nara DOE	81242
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Code	0
Branch	Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Nara Term or Enlistment	0
Term of enlistment	Unknown
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	34
Nativity.1	DIST OF COLUMBIA
Nara Year of Birth	24
Nara Race	1
Nara Race Description	White citizen
Nara Education	5
Nara Civilian Occupation	992
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	75
Nara Weight (lbs)	142
Class_ASN	11092463
Class_Name	PHILLIPS, Laughlin
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Sources

• Wikipedia: Laughlin Phillips
• Camp Ritchie class roster (classes 1–31), merged research file
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)