Nancy Elizabeth Prophet was born in Arctic Center, Rhode Island, to parents of Narragansett and African American ancestry. Between 1918 and 1922, she changed the spelling of her surname, Proffit, to its now common form, Prophet. In 1918, she graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, and in 1922, she moved to Paris, where she attended L’Ecole de Beaux-Arts and worked in a small studio. In 1929, Prophet received a Harmon Foundation Prize for best sculpture. She returned to the United States in 1934 to teach at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. Prophet returned to Providence in 1944, where she lived until her death in 1960.
The collection features artwork by Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, including a bronze casting of the marble sculpture, “Silence”, a Terra Cotta mask, pencil sketches, and watercolor and chalk drawings; photographs and slides of sculptures, personal photographs of Prophet and her father; and collected exhibit catalogs, newspaper clippings, and articles about Prophet. The collection also includes Prophet’s Master’s cap and gown from Spelman College.
Researchers are advised that express permission to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise publish material from this collection must be obtained from Rhode Island College Special Collections. Although Rhode Island College has physical ownership of the collection, it does not necessarily hold literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them. In a condition set by Prophet’s family, if researchers wish to mention Prophet’s cultural heritage, they must also include her Narragansett Indian ancestry.
The collection is open for research.
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet collection, MSS-0028, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
The collection has been arranged into the following series and subseries:
A majority of the collection was donated by James N. Williams in 1977. A deed of gift was signed by Williams at that time. The slides were created by the audiovisual department at Rhode Island College in May 1986 for classroom use, and were subsequently added to the collection. Additional clippings and articles about Prophet have been added to the collection’s subject file by Special Collections staff over time, however this practice ceased as of 2022.
The collection was initially described in 1977 by Special Collections staff. The finding aid was updated in 2019 by Special Collections assistant, Patricia McIvor, and then Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, Molly Bruce Patterson. The collection was rehoused and the finding aid updated again by Special Collections intern, Melissa Moniz, under the supervision of Veronica Denison, Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, in 2023. The finding aid was updated by Denison in 2026.
Works used in preparation of inventory: Various materials in the collection were used to write the biographical history.
Works by Prophet are held in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. The John Hay Library at Brown University also has a diary Prophet kept while she was in Paris: Nancy Elizabeth Prophet Diary, Ms. 90.8.
Select items have been digitized and are available on
This subseries contains photographs of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet’s sculptures. Many of the artwork shown in these images is believed to have been destroyed, therefore only photographs remain.
Original piece located at the Whitney Museum
Original piece located at RISD Museum
Original piece located at Rhode Island College
Original piece located at RISD Museum
Original piece located at RISD Museum.
The personal photographs in this subseries feature portraits of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet in Paris, Newport, and Atlanta, as well as portraits of her father, William H. [Proffit] Prophet.
The slides in this subseries are copies of original photographs in subseries 1a and 1b. The slides were created in 1986 for class instruction purposes.
This series contains pencil sketches of cows, people, and a fountain; watercolor and chalk sketches of landscapes and cityscapes; and two sculpted heads of women.
This series contains biographical articles on Nancy Elizabeth Prophet’s life. Exhibit catalogs detail where her artwork was displayed. The Advertisement for Lehmann Heredity Chart was likely owned by Prophet.
Xerographic copies of articles
Xerographic copies of originals from 1932
The Master’s cap and gown in this series was likely worn by Nancy Elizabeth Prophet during Spelman College’s graduation ceremonies.