US-RPD-02.10 Guide to the Lee Hall records1975-1983 Finding aid prepared by Douglas Doe. Rhode Island School of Design Archives 2009 April 17
2 College Street Providence, RI 02912 Tel: 401-709-5922 Fax: 401-709-5932 email: risdarchives@risd.edu
Finding aid encoded by Jessica Bitely 2009 April 17 English Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) 2017 May 11 Revised by Douglas Doe 2021 September 13 Revised by Douglas Doe English Rhode Island School of Design Archives
2 College Street Providence, RI 02912 Tel: 401-709-5922 Fax: 401-709-5932 email: risdarchives@risd.edu
Hall, Lee Lee Hall records 1975-1983 Hall (Lee) records 3.75 linear feet Maintained primarily as notebook logs by the President's staff, the series contains photocopies of President Lee Hall's letters, memorandums, speeches, lectures and writings. Fourteen videotaped interviews with recipients of an Honorary Degree or Athena Award have been transferred from the Library. 2.10 Biographical note

Artist, teacher, and author, Lee Hall served as RISD President from 1975 to 1983. Born in Lexington, KY in 1934, she received a BFA from the University of North Carolina in 1955 and her MA (1959) and Ph.D. (1965) from New York University. Hall taught at SUNY (Potsdam, NY), 1958-1960, and served as Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Art at Keuka College (Keuka Park, NY), 1960-1962. From 1962 to 1965, she taught at Winthrop College (Rock Hill, SC) and then served as Chair of the Department of Art, Drew University (Madison, NJ), 1965-1974. She held the position of Dean of Visual Arts at SUNY (Purchase, NY) when she received the appointment to RISD. In addition, she worked for the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1972-1979, as a panelist, site visitor, and consultant.

A period of conflict and reform, Hall's tenure included a restructuring of financial administration, the introduction of computer systems for administration and planning, the attempted revision of the Faculty Manual, and the unionization of the Faculty. The Administration and the Faculty negotiated the first contract in 1979. A two-week Faculty strike in April 1982 preceded the second contract. Years of budget deficits came to an end during Hall's presidency.

Lee Hall maintained a painting studio at her farm in Lyme, CT. Her friendships with artists Betty Parsons, Elaine de Kooning, and others brought her frequently to New York, where she exhibited her paintings at the Betty Parsons Gallery (NY) beginning in 1974. She instituted the President's Fellows Awards (1978) and opened RISD:NY (1979), in part, to draw RISD closer to New York City.

Hall resigned her office effective June 30, 1983 in order to become a partner in the Betty Parsons Gallery. She joined the Academy for Educational Development (NY) in 1984 as a Senior Vice-President and Director of the Office of Arts and Communication. She wrote numerous books after 1983 including Betty Parsons: Artist, Dealer, Collector (1991) and Elaine and Bill, Portrait of a Marriage: The Lives of Willem and Elaine de Kooning (1993).

Hall moved to South Hadley, MA during the early 1990s where she continued to paint. She became an advisor and supporter of the new Bechtler Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC donating all of her works of art to assist in the development of the museum. Lee Hall died in Northampton, MA 2017 April 17.

 Collection information

The use of certain documents and collections may be restricted. Please consult the Archives staff for further details.

Permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from archival materials must be obtained in writing from the Archives. The researcher assumes full responsibility for use of material and for conformity to all applicable laws, including copyright.

Lee Hall records, Rhode Island School of Design Archives.

Maintained primarily as notebook logs by the President's staff, the series contains photocopies of President Lee Hall's letters, memorandums, speeches, lectures and writings arranged chronologically. The series contains few records received by her office. See President's General Correspondence, 02.02.1.2, for such records. The series documents Hall's communications with trustees, alumni, faculty, staff, students, visiting committees, friends, and professional organizations. Internal communications are found primarily in the Memorandum and Correspondence-Confidential subseries.

Subjects documented by the records include routine administrative matters, the faculty, unionization, and contracts, her friendships with Betty Parsons and other artists, her farm in Lyme, CT, academic and financial reforms, relations with trustees, committees, and Museum of Art Directors Stephen Ostrow and Franklin Robinson.

The collection includes fourteen VHS tapes of interviews of artists, designers, and others conducted by Hall, circa 1981. Hall conducted the interviews at the New York offices of Needham, Harper and Steers, Inc. as part of a project for the proposed non-profit RISD Athena Productions. Organized in 1981 November and dissolved in 1984, the non-profit's purpose was to design and produce film, video, and other materials related to the educational mission of RISD. Most of the interviewees were recipients of an Honorary Degree or an Athena Award, 1977-1982. Paul C. Harper, Jr., Chair of NHS, served on the RISD Board of Trustees.

The materials in this collection are arranged into five series: I. Correspondence, 1975-1983 II. Correspondence-Confidential, 1975-1982 III. Memorandums, 1975-1983 IV. Speeches and Lectures, 1975-1983 V. Writings, 1980-1983 VI. Interview videotapes, circa 1981

Administrative information

Series I-V were transferred from the Woods-Gerry attic. Videotapes were transferred from the Fleet Library at RISD.

 Names Hall, Lee, 1934-2017 Subjects Rhode Island School of Design. Office of the President Ostrow, Stephen E. Robinson, Franklin Westcott Faculty--Labor unions--Organizing Rhode Island School of Design--Administration Rhode Island School of Design--History Rhode Island School of Design--Presidents Rhode Island School of Design--Presidents--Correspondence Neeham, Harper, and Steers Advertising RISD Athena Productions RIAMCO Browsing Terms Education Titles

Types of materials Speeches Memorandums Writings (document genre) Letters (correspondence) Occupations

Functions

Additional information

The VHS tapes are available as mp4 files on the Fleet Library at RISD's Digital Commons website.

 Series I Correspondence 1975-1983 1 1 Correspondence 1975 July-Oct 1 2 Correspondence 1975 Nov-1976 Feb 1 3 Correspondence 1976 March-April 1 4 Correspondence 1976 May-June 1 5 Correspondence 1976 July-Aug 1 6 Correspondence 1976 Sept-Oct 1 7 Correspondence 1976 Nov-Dec 1 8 Correspondence 1977 Jan-Feb 1 9 Correspondence 1977 March-May 2 1 Correspondence 1977 June-July 2 2 Correspondence 1977 Aug-Oct 2 3 Correspondence 1977 Nov-1978 Feb 2 4 Correspondence 1978 March-April 2 5 Correspondence 1978 May-June 2 6 Correspondence 1978 July-Aug 2 7 Correspondence 1978 Sept-Dec 2 8 Correspondence 1979 Jan-Feb 2 9 Correspondence 1979 March-June 2 10 Correspondence 1979 July-Sept 3 1 Correspondence 1979 Oct-1980 Feb 3 2 Correspondence 1980 March-April 3 3 Correspondence 1980 May-Aug 3 4 Correspondence 1980 Sept-Dec 3 5 Correspondence 1981 Jan-May 3 6 Correspondence 1981 June-Aug 3 7 Correspondence 1981 Sept-Nov 3 8 Correspondence 1981 Dec-1982 May 4 1 Correspondence 1982 June-Sept 4 2 Correspondence 1982 Oct-1983 June 4 3 Correspondence: Students and Admissions 1975-1983 4 4 Correspondence: Faculty and Staff 1975-1983 4 5 Correspondence: Congratulations (1) 1975 4 6 Correspondence: Congratulations (2) 1975 Series II Correspondence-Confidential 1975-1982 5 1 Faculty Handbook: Faculty Report 1977-1978 5 2 Faculty Handbook: Handbook 1979, 1982 5 3 Faculty Handbook: Outside Institutions Material (1) 1976-1981 5 4 Faculty Handbook: Outside Institutions Material (2) 1976-1981 5 5 Faculty Handbook: Policy and Procedures Manual undated 5 6 Faculty Handbook: Proposals 1976-1981 5 7 General 1975-1977 5 8 General 1978-1979 5 9 General 1980-1982 5 10 Personnel: Correspondence (Bruce Helander) 1977-1979 5 11 Personnel: Federal Contract Compliance Program 1979 5 12 Personnel: Museum Director - Acting 1978-1980 5 13 Personnel: Problem Clearance Committee 1977-1979 5 14 Personnel: Warren Luther 1977 6 1 Student Unrest 1977 6 2 Union: Clippings 1978-1979 6 3 Union: Contract - Draft 1979 Sept 8 6 4 Union: Contract 1979 Oct 26 6 5 Union: Contract Proposal 1981 6 6 Union: Correspondence 1978-1981 6 7 Union: National Labor Relations Board 1979 6 8 Union: Negotiating Meeting Minutes 1978-1980 6 9 Union: Proposals, Agreements and General 1978 6 10 Union: Proposals, Agreements and General 1979 6 11 Union: Statistics and Research by J. Stevens 1978-1979 6 12 Union: Strike Contingency Plans 1978-1982 6 13 Union: Strike - Parents' Letters 1979 Series III Memorandums 1975-1983 7 1 Memorandums 1975 July-Nov 7 2 Memorandums 1975 Dec-1976 Feb 7 3 Memorandums 1976 March-April 7 4 Memorandums 1976 May-Sept 7 5 Memorandums 1976 Oct-1977 Jan 7 6 Memorandums 1977 Feb-June 7 7 Memorandums 1977 July-Aug 7 8 Memorandums 1977 Sept-Oct 7 9 Memorandums 1977 Nov-1978 Feb 8 1 Memorandums 1978 March-July 8 2 Memorandums 1978 Aug-Nov 8 3 Memorandums 1978 Dec-1979 July 8 4 Memorandums 1979 Aug-1980 Dec 8 5 Memorandums 1981 Jan-Aug 8 6 Memorandums 1981 Sept-1982 April 8 7 Memorandums 1982 June-1983 March 8 8 Memorandums: Students and Admissions 1975-1982 8 9 Memorandums: Faculty and Staff 1975-1983 Series IV Speeches and Lectures 1975-1983 9 1 Speeches and Lectures 1975-1976 9 2 Speeches and Lectures 1976-1977 9 3 Speeches and Lectures 1977-1978 9 4 Speeches and Lectures 1978-1979 9 5 Speeches and Lectures 1979-1980 9 6 Speeches and Lectures 1980-1981 9 7 Speeches and Lectures 1981-1982 9 8 Speeches and Lectures 1982-1983 9 9 Speeches and Lectures undated Series V Writings 1980-1983 10 1 August Merits a Celebration 1980 Aug 13 10 2 Design: Shaping and Knowing circa 1981 10 3 May Entertainments 1981 May 10 4 Weatherspoon Lecture 1981 May 14 10 5 "Antonio Frasconi" 1981 Sept 10 6 Eudaemonia 1981 Nov 10 7 In Sense of Tradition 1981 Dec 8 10 8 Objects of Value 1982 Feb 19 10 9 Betty Parsons 1982 Oct 4 10 10 Praising Winter; A Winter Pleasure 1982 Oct 10 11 "November" circa 1982 Nov 10 12 "Material Pleasures" 1982 Dec 27 10 13 There's No Education without Humanism 1982 Dec 10 14 "Jacquie Rice" 1983 Jan 10 15 "North Carolina Craft Show" 1983 Feb 1 10 16 "Neo-Expressionism" 1983 Feb 10 17 "Tom Cat" 1983 March 10 18 Fairfield Porter 1983 March 10 19 Implements 1983 April 10 20 "Florence Knoll Bassett" 1983 June Series VI Interview videotapes 1981 1 Bill Blass 1981 2 Adelyn Breeskin 1981 3 Ivan Chermayeff 1981 4 Jim Houghton 1981 5 Jim Houston 1981 6 Gyorgy Kepes 1981 7 Mary McFadden 1981 8 Amy Bess Miller 1981 9 Betty Parsons 1981 10 Elsa Peretti 1981 11 Warren Platner 1981 12 Robert Rauschenberg 1981 13 Rose Slivka 1981 14 Diana Vreeland 1981