William Hayes Ackland

The Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill was begun with his collection.

[1] Acklen was part of a wealthy social class, spending much of his time attending society galas and balls in Washington, and also in Ormond Beach, Florida; Lake Mohonk, and York Harbor, Maine.

[1][2] He corresponded with older writers such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882), Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809–1894), James Russell Lowell (1819–1891), and John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892).

[1][3] To preserve his art collection, he wanted to establish a museum on a Southern university campus.

[3][4][5] The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill agreed, and the Ackland Art Museum was established on its campus.

[8] He was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery,[8] but his body was moved in 1958 to the Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill per his bequest, where it remains today.