Created by the Board of Trustees on April 14, 1937, the Office of the Executive Vice-President centralized the executive management of the Corporation, previously divided between the Museum and Educational Directors, under the President and the Executive Committee. The Administrative Manual, adopted May 9, 1940, outlined the responsibilities of Executive Vice-President Royal Bailey Farnum including: preparation and supervision of the budget; preparation of the...reports of the Executive Committee; general supervision of all financial and physical operations of the institution; faculty appointments, with Committee approval, and staff hiring; preparation and administration of the educational program; and supervision of publications except for the Museum's. The responsibilities, except for educational program development, transferred to the President in 1947.
The Board of Trustees voted on May 22, 1929 to create the coequal positions of Educational Director and Museum Director. Previously, the Director carried out the duties of the two offices with the assistance of the Dean of the College (1919-1929). Royal Bailey Farnum, appointed Educational Director, served as the administrative head of the institution, except for the Museum, and was responsible to the President and the Executive Committee. As head of the Faculty, Farnum could call and preside over Faculty meetings. He prepared Executive Committee reports and agendas and attended all Committee meetings. The Committee expected Farnum to "take an active interest in the educational policy of the institution and...make such suggestions as he may deem appropriate for the consideration of the President and the Executive Committee." The Board of Trustees created the position of Executive Vice-President after the death of Museum Director L. Earle Rowe.
Royal Bailey Farnum, 1884-1967
Royal Bailey Farnum graduated from the Massachusetts Normal Art School in 1906 and received his master's in education from the Cleveland School of Art in 1929. Brown University bestowed an honorary Art D. in 1935. Farnum taught at the Cleveland School of Art (1906-1909) and the Department of Art at Summer School of the South, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (1909-1911). He lived and worked in New York, 1911-1921, holding positions in the Department of Education; the School of Arts and Crafts (Chautauqua); Bevier School of Art (Director), and Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute (President). From 1921-1929, he served as the Principal of the Massachusetts School of Art, Boston and the State Director of Art Education.
Farnum's numerous professional activities included: Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; American secretary of the International Federation for Art Education, Drawing and Art in Industry; President of the Providence Art Club, 1941-1945; National Association for Art Education, President; U.S. Delegate to the International Art Congress, 1925, 1928, 1935, and 1937; "School Arts Magazine, " 1916-1919; "Education" magazine; National Conference of Schools of Design, Chair, circa 1946-1947; and the Educational Study Committee of the Hoover Commission.
Farnum retired to Fearnhame, Hampton, CT in 1946.
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Royal Bailey Farnum records, Rhode Island School of Design Archives.
The collection contains records of the Director, 1901-1929, Educational Director, 1929-1937, Executive Vice-President, 1937-1946, and Presidents Eliza G. Radeke and Helen Danforth. The bulk of the records document the Royal Bailey Farnum administration, 1929-1946, with emphasis on the development of the educational program and the Business Office, the impact of WW II, construction of the Auditorium and College St. Building, the budget, the Executive Committee, faculty and staff, and the Museum with particular emphasis on Director Alexander Dorner. The records from the Office of the Director, 1901-1929, document World War One, the Jewelry Department, the Library, and scholarships. A collection of Farnum's published writings is included as well as awards given to Farnum.
The records are arranged in four series:
The Royal Bailey Farnum records were found in the basement of the Bank building.
The bulk of the records document the Farnum administration, 1929-1946, with emphasis on the development of the educational program and the Business Office, construction projects, the budget, the Executive Committee, faculty and staff, and the Museum particularly Director Alexander Dorner. The collection contains records from the Office of the Director, 1901-1929, including World War One records, the Jewelry and Textile Departments, the Library, and scholarships (1905-1938).
There are extensive records on educational planning especially for a year long series of faculty meetings exploring art education, 1944-1945. The documents include detailed reports on the faculty discussions. The files on the development of the College Street Building, 1935-1937, and the Auditorium, 1938-1941, provide extensive coverage of the construction process including correspondence with architects Philip D. Creer and F. Ellis Jackson.
The files contain extensive records on Farnum's work for and relationship with the Executive Committee as well as the Faculty. Documents include Evening School Reports, 1934-1943, Faculty radio talks, 1932-1933, personnel files, 1934-1946, World War Two correspondence with faculty and students, and Commencement records, 1931-1947. The appointment and dismissal of Museum Director Alexander Dorner, 1938-1941, is documented in detail.
The records document the period from 1905-1929 with particular emphasis on World War One. The records include comprehensive lists of RISD war volunteers, correspondence, letters from soldiers to Eliza Radeke, and vocational training records (1918-1923). The records include files for individual scholarships granted to RISD students.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
The reports, prepared monthly during the academic year by Royal Bailey Farnum for presentation to the Executive Committee, provide a detailed narrative of Farnum's administration. In addition, the reports document his professional activities outside of RISD including trips to other states and Europe, conferences, speeches, and organizations.
Farnum describes the activities of faculty, staff, the Museum and students with particular emphasis on the development of new educational programs. He covers the development of the degree in teacher training in depth as well as the Freshman Foundation and the creation of the Business Office and Administrative manual. His remarks include discussions of current trends in art education, cooperative ventures with local industry and educational institutions, the impact of W.W.II on the School, and his philosophical musings on various subjects.
The reports may include enrollment and scholarship statistics, correspondence, and notes of Executive Committee deliberations.
Arranged chronologically by month.