Platt, Dan Fellows
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Title
Platt, Dan Fellows
Description
Dan Fellows Platt (June 10, 1873 – December 16, 1937) was an archaeologist, author, art collector, and civic leader who played a notable role in the cultural and political life of Englewood, New Jersey. Born in 1873, Platt moved to Englewood with his family as an infant and remained closely tied to the city throughout his life. He was a gifted student, graduating from Princeton University in 1895 as the English salutatorian of his class, before continuing his studies at the American School of Classical Studies in Rome. He later earned a law degree from New York Law School and a master’s degree from Princeton.
Although trained as a lawyer, Platt left legal practice in 1900 to pursue his interests in art history and Renaissance studies. That same year he married Ethel Bliss, later a U.S. tennis champion, and together they built Ambercroft, an Italian palazzo-style home in Englewood that reflected their deep engagement with European art and culture. Platt traveled frequently to Europe and also invested heavily in Hot Springs, Arkansas, becoming a part owner of both the Arlington Hotel and the Eastman Hotel.
Platt entered public life through local activism, gaining attention in 1900 when he led opposition to the placement of electric light poles in Englewood, famously chopping down those installed in front of his property. He was elected to the city council in 1901 and went on to serve as mayor of Englewood from 1904 to 1905 after winning a closely contested election. Declining to seek reelection, he spent the final weeks of his term traveling in Europe. He remained active in Democratic Party politics, serving on the New Jersey Democratic State Committee and acting as a delegate to the 1912 Democratic National Convention in support of Woodrow Wilson.
Throughout his adult life, Platt was a serious and influential art collector. His early interests centered on Roman antiquities, but he later assembled a distinguished collection of Italian Renaissance paintings, particularly from Siena and Umbria, inspired by Princeton art historian Allan Marquand. After World War I, his collecting broadened to include drawings and works by artists such as Guercino, Luca Cambiasi, Théophile Steinlen, Alphonse Legros, John Flaxman, George Romney, and Amedeo Modigliani. Widely respected as an authority on Italian Renaissance art, Platt lectured nationally and served as chair of the Visiting Committee of Princeton’s Department of Art and Archaeology. At the time of his death, he was said to own one of the largest private photograph archives of artworks in the United States.
Platt died in Englewood in 1937. Following his wishes, his art collection passed to his wife for her lifetime and was later donated to Princeton University, where it became an important foundation for the university’s art holdings and public exhibitions.
In the 1980s, Sylvia Robinson, the founder of Sugar Hill Records, bought the Platt mansion.
Citation:
Partly written by OpenAI. (2026, January, 13). ChatGPT (GPT-5.2.) [Large Language Model] https://chat.openai.com/chat.
Although trained as a lawyer, Platt left legal practice in 1900 to pursue his interests in art history and Renaissance studies. That same year he married Ethel Bliss, later a U.S. tennis champion, and together they built Ambercroft, an Italian palazzo-style home in Englewood that reflected their deep engagement with European art and culture. Platt traveled frequently to Europe and also invested heavily in Hot Springs, Arkansas, becoming a part owner of both the Arlington Hotel and the Eastman Hotel.
Platt entered public life through local activism, gaining attention in 1900 when he led opposition to the placement of electric light poles in Englewood, famously chopping down those installed in front of his property. He was elected to the city council in 1901 and went on to serve as mayor of Englewood from 1904 to 1905 after winning a closely contested election. Declining to seek reelection, he spent the final weeks of his term traveling in Europe. He remained active in Democratic Party politics, serving on the New Jersey Democratic State Committee and acting as a delegate to the 1912 Democratic National Convention in support of Woodrow Wilson.
Throughout his adult life, Platt was a serious and influential art collector. His early interests centered on Roman antiquities, but he later assembled a distinguished collection of Italian Renaissance paintings, particularly from Siena and Umbria, inspired by Princeton art historian Allan Marquand. After World War I, his collecting broadened to include drawings and works by artists such as Guercino, Luca Cambiasi, Théophile Steinlen, Alphonse Legros, John Flaxman, George Romney, and Amedeo Modigliani. Widely respected as an authority on Italian Renaissance art, Platt lectured nationally and served as chair of the Visiting Committee of Princeton’s Department of Art and Archaeology. At the time of his death, he was said to own one of the largest private photograph archives of artworks in the United States.
Platt died in Englewood in 1937. Following his wishes, his art collection passed to his wife for her lifetime and was later donated to Princeton University, where it became an important foundation for the university’s art holdings and public exhibitions.
In the 1980s, Sylvia Robinson, the founder of Sugar Hill Records, bought the Platt mansion.
Citation:
Partly written by OpenAI. (2026, January, 13). ChatGPT (GPT-5.2.) [Large Language Model] https://chat.openai.com/chat.
Source
wikipedia
Citation
“Platt, Dan Fellows,” Englewood Makes History, accessed October 2, 2026, https://archive.englewoodmakeshistory.org/items/show/798.
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