HARTFORD, Conn. — The University of Hartford has quietly sold one of the most extraordinary collections of American political memorabilia ever assembled — a collection one of the city’s insurance titans spent a lifetime assembling and later donated to the school in the hope that it would be preserved and displayed to the public in perpetuity.
The school sold what was known as the J. Doyle Dewitt Americana & Political Collection to Heritage Auctions. Over March 19 and 20, the auctioneer collected $1.8 million for parts of it, mostly from private collectors, during the first of what is expected to be at least two auctions in Dallas.
Neither the school nor Heritage would disclose what the auction house paid for the 70,000 piece collection that included items such as the cuff links George Washington wore at his inaugural. Intact, it was second only to that of the Smithsonian Institution in historical significance. The authoritative Antiques and the Arts Weekly reported that sales at the March auction were $1 million above expectations.
