Philip Hanson Hiss
Philip Hanson Hiss III (1910-1988) was an American real estate developer, who supervised the redesign of schools in Sarasota, Florida and helped found New College of Florida. Hiss was also a photographer and his collection is held at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the American Museum of Natural History.
Also recorded as P.H. Hiss · Philip Hiss · Philip Hanson Hiss III
Philip Hanson Hiss
- Born
- 1910 · Chicago.
- Died
- 1988
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- photographer · real estate developer
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Philip Hanson Hiss III (1910-1988) was an American real estate developer, who supervised the redesign of schools in Sarasota, Florida and helped found New College of Florida. Hiss was also a photographer and his collection is held at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the American Museum of Natural History.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Philip Hanson Hiss. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- unresolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q82571745 · wikipedia · Philip Hanson Hiss III
In this article
Background
Background
Hiss was born on February 2, 1910, in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a professor of Bacteriology at Columbia University. He attended several prep schools, graduated from Choate, and then decided not to attend college, after inheriting a considerable fortune from the Low side of his family.
Career
Career
• Illustration — Hiss commissioned the Hiss Residence AKA "Umbrella House" to architect, Paul Rudolph. Hiss traveled to Bali, where he met Margaret Mead. During World War II, Hiss served as regional director of the United States Information Agency (then the Office of War Information) in the Netherlands. He was also a member of the Office of Strategic Services (precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency). In 1948, Hiss had a 48-foot yacht built for himself and left New York City for Sarasota, Florida. There, he established Philip Hiss Associates, Inc., for real estate development. In 1952, he commissioned architects Paul Rudolph and Tim Seibert to build the Hiss Residence, also known as the "Umbrella House." Although a Republican in a largely Democratic town, Hiss won a seat on the Sarasota Board of Public Instruction (school board) and between 1953 and 1960 oversaw the building of nine new schools in Sarasota. Hiss served as chairman and trustee of New College in Sarasota, Florida, founded with the help of the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and the Congregational Church. He oversaw an architectural competition for New College's design, which went to architect I.M. Pei. • Illustration — The Solar Umbrella house in Venice, California, drew from Paul Rudolph’s 1953 Hiss Residence (Umbrella House) After a dispute with the board and having completed his second term, Hiss worked briefly for the Tampa Tribune newspapers and then left Sarasota, first for London, then to Carmel and finally Monterey, California.
Personal details and death
Personal details and death
Hiss married and divorced twice Diane Hiss, with whom he had two children. He married Shirley Holt, with whom he had three children. Hiss was related distantly to Alger Hiss and closely to Seth Low, a mayor of New York City and president of Columbia University. His friends included architect Paul Rudolph. Hiss died age 78 on October 24, 1988, in Monterey, California.
Works
Works
Hiss published two photographic histories, to which he contributed: • Bali (1941) • Netherlands America (1943) • A Selective Guide to the English Literature on the Netherlands West Indies (1943)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1910
Philip Hanson Hiss born at Chicago.
1988
Philip Hanson Hiss died.
Legacy
Since 2003, a photographic collection from Hiss resides in the archives of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The American Museum of Natural History also holds a photographic collection from Hiss. In June 2021, SRQ magazine called Hiss "the primary catalyst of the modern architecture movement in Sarasota, as well as the Sarasota School of Architecture. On November 13, 2021, Architecture Sarasota inaugurated its first Philip Hanson Hiss Award, concurrent with an exhibit "The Vision of Philip Hiss" (November 2021-April 2022).
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Philip Hanson Hiss III”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q82571745: Philip Hanson Hiss
Unverified · Wikidata
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedauthority record
Unverified
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Philip Hanson Hiss is recorded with the occupation photographer. Recorded as photographer and real estate developer.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Photography
11,392 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Philip Adolphe KlierPhotographer
- Philip Crosbie MorrisonPhotographer
- Philip Dennis HawkinsPhotographer
- Philip GreenspunPhotographer
- Philip HenderickxPhotographer
- Philip HydePhotographer
- Philip Jones GriffithsPhotographer
- Philip KaminPhotographer
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Philip Hanson Hiss?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.