The RISD Corporation appointed a Fiftieth Anniversary Committee in 1928 chaired by Theodore Green. The Committee was authorized to prepare a history of RISD as a permanent memorial to the anniversary. Though the authorization for Elsie S. Bronson's employment and work has not been found, she sent her manuscript to Green in 1932 referring to "you [Green] and your committee." Bronson lived in Providence and was married to Brown University English Professor Walter C. Bronson.
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.
Elsie Bronson papers, Rhode Island School of Design Archives.
The papers include one draft manuscript with corrections, two final manuscripts and one letter from Bronson to Theodore Green, RISD Trustee and Chair of the 1928 Fiftieth Anniversary Committee, dated August 23, 1932 accompanying the draft manuscript of "RISD: A Half-Century Record, 1878-1928." Bronson's history provides a detailed chronological narrative of RISD's first fifty years based upon corporate records, yearbooks, catalogues, correspondence and other original sources located in the Museum of Art Archives at that time. Many of the documents referred to by Bronson have been moved to the RISD Archives.
Bronson's history was published in 2008 as part of 'Infinite Radius': Founding Rhode Island School of Design (Providence: Rhode Island School of Design, 2008).
The materials are arranged by manuscript.
The papers were transferred from the RISD Library.