William Hayes Ackland

William Hayes Ackland (born William H. Acklen, September 6, 1855 – February 16, 1940) was an American lawyer, writer, and art collector from Nashville, Tennessee. He lived most of his life away from Tennessee, in Washington, DC, and various social spots, traveling to England annually for its social season. The Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill was begun with his collection.

Early life William Hayes Acklen was born on September 6, 1855, in Nashville, Tennessee. He changed his last name to Ackland by 1892. His maternal grandfather, Oliver Bliss Hayes (1783–1858), was a lawyer and later Presbyterian minister from South Hadley, Massachusetts; he was related to Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893), who served as President of the United States from 1877 to 1881. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill agreed, and the Ackland Art Museum was established on its campus.

Personal life and death Ackland married Laura Crocker (1871–1931) on June 2, 1896, in Cleveland, Ohio.

At the end of his life, Ackland resided in Ormond, Florida, where he died on February 16, 1940. He was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery,

Works William Hayes Ackland, Sterope: The Veiled Pleiad (Washington, D.C., 1892).