A graduate of Harvard College, '36, Talbot Rantoul served as RISD President, 1969-1975. He came to RISD from the Harvard Business School where he specialized in educational development and fund-raising, 1967-1969. Previously he worked as Director of Design, Merchandising and Sales, Roxbury Carpet Co, Saxonville, MA, Vice-President for Towle Silversmiths, Newburyport, MA, and the Director of Design for C. H. Masland Carpet Co., Carlisle, PA and Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Co., NY. In 1955 Rantoul received the American Institute of Decorators' First Prize for Carpet Design.
As President, Rantoul led the movement to restore the Woods-Gerry House (1969-1971) for use as a gallery and administrative offices. He hired the first African-American administrative officer, John Torres, who was responsible for recruiting and counseling minority students. Working with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Rantoul oversaw RISD's affiliation with the Institute for American Indian Arts, a project that led to the Institute's accreditation in 1975. Rantoul expanded RISD's involvement in local affairs through Project Interface, an urban design proposal for downtown Providence, and an ecological study of Block Island. During his tenure, the faculty voted against affiliation with the American Federation of Teachers. The Centennial Campaign, a capital fund drive, resulted in the opening the Bayard Ewing Building and renovation of the Museum of Art.
Andrews, Jacques and Rantoul, his father's architectural firm, designed the President's House, 132 Bowen Street, formerly owned by RISD Treasurer Stephen O. Metcalf.
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Talbot Rantoul records, Rhode Island School of Design Archives.
Maintained as notebook logs by the President's staff, the series contains primarily carbon copies and photocopies of President Talbot Rantoul's letters and memorandums arranged chronologically. The series contains few records received by his office. See President's General Correspondence, 2.2.1.1, for such records. The series documents Rantoul's communications with trustees, alumni, faculty, staff, students, visiting committees, and professional organizations. Letters may be found in the Memorandums subseries and vice versa. Internal communications are found primarily in the Memorandums subseries.
Subjects documented by the records may include routine administrative matters, fundraising and the Centennial Campaign, the faculty and unionization attempts, the Woods-Gerry restoration, academic reforms, relations with trustees and committees, and the Institute for American Indian Arts. Personal communications to and from students, parents, faculty, and staff have been pulled and placed in separate folders.
The materials in this collection are arranged in two series:
Transfered from the President's Office.