The Board of Trustees Treasurer was responsible for the financial affairs of Rhode Island School of Design from 1877 until 2009 when the position was replaced by an officer of the college, the Executive Vice-President for Administration and Finance.
Article IV of the Rhode Island School of Design Association constitution, adopted April 30, 1877, created the office of the Treasurer and other offices. The President, Vice-President, and the Board of Directors elected the Treasurer from among Association members. The 1893 constitution specified election by the Directors, but repealed the Association member requirement. The Treasurer served as an ex-officio Trustee 1907-1947 and 1987-1995 and served as a Vice-President from 1977 to 1980. The 1980 By-Law required that the Secretary serve no more than nine successive terms. The Board of Trustees abolished the term limit in 1987, but instituted the four-term limit in 1996. The 2009 May by-law revisions removed the position from the Board of Trustees.
The Treasurer received and disbursed funds of the association subject to the orders of the Board and served on the Finance Committee, ex-officio (1877-1907) and its successor the Investment Committee (1959-1977). Article IV of the 1877 by-laws required the Treasurer to submit an annual report to the RISD Association and an 1878 amendment required a report at the quarterly meetings of the Board of Directors (abolished 1947). The 1893 Constitution required the Treasurer to serve on the Membership Committee (1893-1907).
The 1907 By-Laws required the Treasurer to keep the accounts of the corporation and open the accounts to any Trustee. Annual Reports were to be given to the Board of Trustees as were Quarterly Reports, if required. The annual report was to be audited by a Trustee committee before presentation at the annual meeting.
The Treasurer served as the Corporate and administrative financial officer for RISD, 1952-1977. November 1977 amendments separated the corporate/administrative duties. All administrative duties formerly held by the Treasurer were placed with the Vice-President for Financial Affairs (1977) and the Vice-President for Budget and Control (1978) who were responsible to the President. Treasurer Murray S. Danforth, Jr., 1952-1990, served as Vice-President for Financial Affairs, 1977-1985.
The 1987 May by-laws revisions no longer required an annual report from the Treasurer.
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.
Rhode Island School of Design. Office of the Treasurer records, Rhode Island School of Design Archives.
The records document the activities of the Treasurer, 1877-1991, including annual reports, real estate transactions, investments, and expenditures. Records include deeds and other title records, gift letters and deeds, contracts and agreements, correspondence, and insurance records. Financial records for the period 1937-1947 are found in the Comptroller records.
The materials in this collection are organized into four series:
The materials in this collection were transferred from the College Building safe and the Woods-Gerry building.
The records document the activities of the Treasurer and other officers, 1879-1991. The bulk of the records document the acquisition of real estate by RISD including the main block area, the auditorium, the dormitory/refectory complex, and individual outlying properties. Records include deeds, title abstracts, attorney/client correspondence, property boundaries, leases, and title insurance policies. Records are organized by area and arranged by property location. Main block records are arranged by assessor's plat lot number. Street numbers are in parentheses. Records for main block properties may include deeds, abstracts, or plot plans created 1795-1890 and collected by the Treasurer's office. See Carr House, Braxton Court and the corner of College and Benefit Streets. Lists of records held by Stephen O. Metcalf and transferred first to the Rhode Island Hospital Trust then Murray S. Danforth, Jr. are included.
Series 5.1.2-5.1.4 are artificial series created during processing in order to facilitate the records use. Contracts/Agreements include records for Royal Bailey Farnum, 1929-1946, Museum Directors Alexander Dorner, 1938-1941, and Gordon Washburn, 1942-1949, Brown University/RISD agreements of 1902 and 1918, and construction records for the Radeke Garden.
Gift records document the contributions of the Metcalf family, 1893-1924, and the proposed contribution of the John Brown House by Marsden J. Perry, 1929. Gifts to the Museum include those of Lucy T. Aldrich, 1934-1936.
Subject files include the contents of Stephen O. Metcalf's safe, circa 1918, records regarding the Hurricane of '38 paintings by John R. Frazier and others, insurance records, a copyright certificate, steam plant modification documents, 1956-1957, and immigrant student records, 1927.
The materials in this series are organized into four subseries:
Within the Real Estate series are five further subseries: Main Block, 1892-1953, Auditorium, 1938-1972, New Dorm Site, 1941-1959, Outlying Properties, 1937-1991, and Properties Sold, 1911-1972.
Prepared for presentation to the Board of Directors/Trustees, the reports were created by or for the Treasurer. The reports for 1878-1917 were prepared by the Treasurer for June and October meetings. The reports, handwritten through 1898, documented receipts, expenditures, gifts and contributions, and provided detailed accountings of investment funds. The $2 million Lyra Brown Nickerson bequest in 1917 led the Board to transfer responsibility for the reports to the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Co. in 1918. The RIHT provided reports in May and June, 1918-1943, and in June, 1944-1947.
In September 1936, the RISD Comptroller began making quarterly expense and expenditure reports to the Executive Committee. As result, the RIHT provided only detailed reports on investment funds. The Comptroller provided detailed expense and expenditure reports filed with the RIHT reports, 1941-1947. The Comptroller's report replaced the RIHT report with a general summary of investment accounts in 1948. (See Office of the Comptroller reports, 1938-1954; 06.1.2)
In 1953 the new RISD Treasurer assumed responsibility for the reports. Created in December, March, and June through 1975, the reports included a narrative section. The reports became annual in 1976. Endowment funds are listed by name showing investment totals, income, and expenditures. Beginning in 1965, the reports may include Investment Committee reports and Budget Presentation reports. The Treasurer's reports were published in booklets, 1954-1978, which include the auditor's annual narrative report.
In 1979, the Treasurer's report became part of the Annual Report and Financial Statements and its successors. (See Office of Institutional Advancement, Donor reports, FY 1979-[ongoing]; 18.1).
These materials in this series are arranged chronologically.
Collected and organized by Comptroller Arthur Frey, 1947-1953, and maintained by the Treasurer's Office, the records consist of files and record books documenting bequests, gifts, and funds donated to RISD. Arranged by donor, the files contain records from 1914 to 1958 including copies of wills, deeds and correspondence, first and final accounts of trusts, legal correspondence to and from RISD corporate officers, lawyers for estates and RISD, the Business Office, and Treasurer's Office. Particular files include the Rayon Foundation Trust, Tillinghast Place, scholarship funds, and Metcalf family gifts.
The Bequests and Wills books (1947-1978) contain typed copies of gift letters, wills or particular clauses of wills, and bequests. Organized alphabetically by donor, the books are a continuation of the Charter, Acts, Contracts, Bequests and Deeds Record Book maintained by Registrar Lena Danforth, [19--?]-1937 (5.4). The bulk of the records cover the period 1914-1957 including duplication of bequests transcribed by Danforth.
The Restricted Invested Funds file, created 1949-1952, includes forms that document the name of the fund, date, the dollar amount as of that date, and the purpose of the fund. In addition, the file contains typed copies of records found in the Bequests and Wills books.
The materials in this series are organized into three subseries:
The record book contains handwritten transcripts of RISD's charter and legislative acts regarding the school (1877-1917), state appropriations (1882-1913), a contract with the City of Providence for scholarships (1901), bequests (1886-1937), and deeds (1892-1917). The handwriting appears to be that of Lena Danforth, Registrar (1901-1939). The date of creation is not known. The bequests are continued in series 5.3, Bequest and Gift records, 1948-1978.
Organized by subject, then chronologically.
Filed with series 5.3, Bequest and Gift records, 1948-1978; box 2, folder 3.