Queer Places:
Northwestern University, 633 Clark St, Evanston, IL 60208, United States
Johns Hopkins University, 733 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205
University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3PA
Tuscola Township Cemetery, 654 S Prairie St, Tuscola, IL 61953, USA

James Taft Hatfield (June 15, 1862 – October 3, 1945) was born on June 15, 1862, in Brooklyn, New York, to the Reverend Robert Miller Hatfield and Elizabeth Ann Taft Hatfield, growing up alongside siblings Elizabeth, Robert, Marcus, Anna, Mary, William, Emily, and Henry. His extensive educational journey included graduating from Northwestern University, earning his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University, and pursuing further studies in Japan, China, India, Egypt, Berlin, Tübingen, and Oxford. Early in his career, he served as the principal of the McCormick School in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, and as a professor of classical languages at Rust University in Holly Springs, Mississippi.

He joined the faculty at Northwestern University in 1890 as a professor of the German Language and Literature, a position he held for decades until his retirement. A prolific scholar and author, his works included Goethe's Egmont and New Light on Longfellow, alongside contributions to international publications in England, Germany, and the United States, and serving as a contributing editor for American Germanica. Beyond his academic pursuits, he traveled as a war correspondent and seaman during the Spanish-American War and later led the Modern Language Association.

Hatfield married twice. His first marriage was to Maude Hollingsworth Wilson of Baltimore on March 13, 1890, with whom he had three children: Margaret, Henry Wilson, and Theodore Merriman. Following Maude's passing, he married Ann Estelle Caraway, with whom he had additional children, including Elizabeth, Henry Caraway, Ann, and others.

In addition to his family life and academic career, Hatfield was part of prominent literary and social circles, notably participating in "The Little Room," a celebrated mixed-gender social club that gathered in Chicago's Fine Arts Building. This creative hub brought together various novelists, reformers, and artists, including figures such as Jane Addams, Lorado Taft, and prominent gay artists like J.C. Leyendecker and his brother Frank Xavier Leyendecker.

Hatfield passed away on October 3, 1945, at the age of 83 in Glencoe, Illinois, following a heart attack while traveling from Chicago. He is laid to rest at the Tuscola Township Cemetery in Tuscola, Illinois.

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