American Academy in Rome records, 1855-[ca.1981], (bulk dates 1894-1946)

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A Finding Aid to the American Academy in Rome Records, 1855-circa 1981 (bulk 1894-1946), in the Archives of American Art, by Catherine S. Gaines

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Table of Contents:

• Historical Note
• Overview of the Collection
• How to Use the Collection
• Detailed Description and Container Inventory
• Appendices

Historical Information

While in Chicago to advise and work on the fine arts section of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, architects Charles F. McKim, Daniel Burnham, and Richard Howland Hunt, painters John La Farge and Frank Millet, and sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and Daniel Chester French, among others, met regularly. From their collaborative experience and discussions came the idea for an American school for artists in Europe. Charles F. McKim was especially enthusiastic. He strongly believed that collaborative experience should be available to future American artists, and perceived a real need for an American school in Europe--preferably in Rome, the very best place to study art, in his opinion.

By March of the following year, McKim was busy devising plans for the school and persuading like-minded architects and artists to assist. He proposed to finance the school by convincing institutions with traveling scholarships in the arts to send those students to Rome. Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, and the Rotch Scholarship fund readily agreed to the scheme, and in ensuing years many others followed suit. In October, 1894, the American School of Architecture in Rome opened temporary quarters in the Palazzo Torlonia. The school consisted of its Director, Austin Lord, three fellows, and a visiting student; its "library" contained but one volume.

A move to the larger, more suitable Villa Aurora occurred in July 1895. Rent from two subtenants (the newly established American School of Classical Studies in Rome and the British and American Archaeological Society Library in Rome), along with a personal contribution from McKim, made this financially feasible.

The American School of Architecture in Rome was incorporated in the State of New York, 1895, and 10 shares of capital stock were issued. Despite substantial fundraising efforts in Chicago, New York, and Boston, severe financial problems continued. The American School of Classical Studies in Rome vacated the Villa Aurora in 1896--and with it went a sizeable portion of the School of Architecture's income. McKim frequently made up the deficit from his own pocket.

Eventually, it was decided that the American School of Architecture in Rome must be reorganized along the lines of the French Academy and that national sponsorship needed to be obtained through an act of Congress. In June of 1897, the American School of Architecture in Rome voted to dissolve itself and create the American Academy in Rome. The new institution would assume all assets and obligations, fellowships in painting and architecture were to be added to the program, and its Board of Trustees would include architects and artists. The Academy is not a school. Its fellows and visiting students, already professionally trained, go to Rome for further development and for collaboration and association with others. In the words of Director Gorham Phillips Stevens: "The object of the American Academy in Rome is not to afford opportunities for a few individuals to perfect themselves for the practice of their chosen professions. The ideal is to create an atmosphere in which a limited number of carefully selected artists and scholars may develop that synthesis of intellectual culture which will make them worthy to preserve and continue the great traditions of the past in order that the standard of art and literature may be handed on from year to year, constantly strengthened and improved."

Beginning in 1901, bills to make the American Academy in Rome a "national institution" were introduced in Congress on several occasions. A hearing was finally scheduled in 1905, and a revised bill that prohibited government funding and specified that U.S. officials may not be Trustees was signed into law. Serious efforts to create an Endowment Fund and secure better quarters were associated with the movement to obtain status as a national institution. The Academy was successful in meeting all of these objectives. In 1904, the Academy moved to the Villa Mirafiore (also known as Villa Mirafiori), which it soon purchased and renovated. The Endowment Fund raised well over a million dollars. Donors of $100,000 to the Endowment Fund, designated "Founders" of the American Academy in Rome, were: The Carnegie Foundation, Henry C. Frick, Harvard College, Charles F. McKim, J. P. Morgan, Sr., J. P. Morgan, Jr., The Rockefeller Foundation, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., William K. Vanderbilt, and Henry Walters. Other categories of donors were "Incorporators" (a new Act of Incorporation was required at the time the American Academy in Rome was chartered as a national institution) and "Life Members."

The American School of Classical Studies in Rome, which had been established by the Archaeological Society in 1895 and during its first year shared the Villa Aurora with the American School of Architecture in Rome, entered into a consolidation agreement with the American Academy in Rome in 1911. Their merger went into effect on the last day of 1912, and ever since, the American Academy in Rome has consisted of the School of Fine Arts and the School of Classical Studies, administered by a common director. The School of Classical Studies is composed of fellows and visiting scholars who are graduate students, secondary teachers, or professors engaged in research in the areas of archaeology, ancient art, philology, and humanistic studies. Women were a part of the School of Classical Studies from its beginning, but were not permitted to participate in the School of Fine Arts until well after World War II. Beginning in 1923, the School of Classical Studies instituted Summer Sessions which appealed to secondary teachers, and attracted an enrollment that was largely female.

Originally, the School of Fine Arts offered fellowships in architecture, painting, and sculpture. Fellowships in landscape architecture were added in 1915; in 1920, a Department of Music was established, and along with it fellowships in musical composition. Fellowships in art history were established in 1947. Unmarried men under age 30 were eligible to compete for the fine arts fellowships awarded annually (except for landscape architecture, awarded every third year); the duration of fellowships ranged from one to three years at various points in the institution's history. In residence along with fellows of the American Academy in Rome, might be holders of various traveling scholarships: the McKim Fellowship, the Columbia Traveling Scholarship, the Perkins Scholarship, the Robinson Traveling Scholarship (Harvard), the Rotch Scholarship, the Julia Appleton Scholarship, the Traveling Scholarship and Stewardson Memorial Scholarship (University of Pennsylvania), the Cresson Scholarship (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts), the Drexel Institute Traveling Scholarship, the Lazarus Scholarship (Metropolitan Museum of Art), the Lowell Scholarship (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and the Rinehart Scholarship (Peabody Institute, Baltimore). Visiting students, who remained for a much briefer period than fellows or recipients of various traveling scholarships, were admitted to all lectures and granted use the library, but resided elsewhere. The Academy opened an Atelier in downtown Rome for visiting students in 1927, which operated until financial considerations forced its discontinuation seven years later.

As the merger was being planned, J. P. Morgan, Sr., who was interested in both the American Academy in Rome and the American School of Classical Studies in Rome, began buying properties on the Janiculum, adjacent to Villa Aureilia. Villa Aurelia, built on the summit of the Janiculum in 1650, had been bequeathed to the American Academy in Rome in 1909 by Clara Jessup Heyland. Complications surrounding the gift of Villa Aurelia--including the will being contested by Mrs. Heyland's brother, and problems with unsettled tax assessments--were overcome in the interest of acquiring the outstanding building and its extensive grounds. Not long before his death in 1913, Morgan donated his neighboring land, and the American Academy in Rome continued to expand its Janiculum holdings through purchases and gifts from others. Morgan also agreed to provide a loan for construction of a new building. This building, designed by McKim, Mead, and White and known as the Main Building or Academy Building, opened in 1915; it served as the fellows' residence and work area, and included room for the library, offices, and space for exhibitions and other public events.

During World War I, the American Academy in Rome managed to remain open, although no new fellows arrived during the war years and the number of resident fellows and staff dwindled considerably. Most who remained were involved in some type of civilian war work, often with the Red Cross. In fact, Villa Aurelia was rented by the Red Cross in Italy for office space, and the Main Building was offered as a convalescent hospital, but the war ended before it could be put to that use.

After Italy declared war on the United States in 1941, the American Academy in Rome closed for the remainder of World War II. Those who had been awarded fellowships in classics just prior to the Academy's closing were given the option of using their stipends for study at home or waiting until conditions permitted travel to Rome. A very reduced staff stayed to care for the property and continue library cataloguing, coping with often severe wartime shortages of food and fuel. In addition, there were financial hardships. When bank accounts of enemy aliens were frozen and it was no longer possible to transfer funds from the United States, the Swiss Legation and Vatican arranged for loans to keep the Academy and its staff afloat. Funds that would have been awarded to new fellows during this period were put to use in other ways. In 1943, the American Academy in Rome made a grant to the Citizen's Committee for the Army and Navy, Inc. for competitions to award commissions to artists and art students throughout the country, funding more than 100 triptychs for chapels, as well as murals, medals, and sculpture. Seniors in American colleges and universities were eligible to compete for several scholarships for graduate work in classical studies awarded by the American Academy in Rome.

In 1945, the Academy was the site of Leave Courses on various aspects of Italian culture offered to servicemen. From the end of the war until the Academy reopened at the start of the 1946/47 academic year, G.I. Fellowships were offered to discharged soldiers wishing to study at the Academy, making the institution eligible to receive surplus equipment and rations. During this time intensive planning was underway for administrative changes and new programs.

Date

Event

1893

While in Chicago to collaborate on the fine arts section for the World's Columbian Exposition, architects Charles F. McKim, Daniel Burnham, Richard Howland Hunt, painters John La Farge, and Sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and Daniel Chester French, among others, met regularly and from their collaborative experience and discussions came the idea for an American school in Europe.

1894

American School of Architecture in Rome opened in temporary quarters at the Palazzo Torlonia with Austin Lord, Director, three fellows, and a visiting student.

1895

Villa Aurora leased with 2 subtenants, the American School of Classical Studies and the British and American Archaeological Society Library in Rome American School of Architecture incorporated and 10 shares of capital stock issued (2 each to McKim and Hunt, and 1 to Burnham, Kendall, Schermerhorn, Boring, Garland, and Dill) McKim visits Rome.

1896

Metropolitan Museum of Art, administrator of Jacob H. Lazarus Scholarship for the study of mural painting, agrees to send the winner to Rome American School of Classical Studies in Rome vacates Villa Aurora.

1897

American School of Architecture in Rome dissolved and reorganized as the American Academy in Rome; the assets (including the lease on Villa Aurora) of the American School of Architecture in Rome were transferred and its program expanded to include fellowships in painting and sculpture Samuel A. B. Abbott appointed first Director Rome Prize discontinued (for 9 years) due to lack of funds.

1898

Incorporated in New York State; trustees begin to focus on raising an endowment.

1904

Move to Villa Mirafiore (also known as Villa Mirafiori); occupied until 1914.

1905

Chartered by the Congress of the United States; a bill signed by President Roosevelt made the American Academy in Rome a national institution (receiving no government funding and barring U.S. officials from acting as Trustees).

1906

Purchase of Villa Mirafiore finalized; renovations begun.

1909

Villa Aurelia bequeathed to the Academy by Clara Jessup Heyland (used until 1932); there were protracted problems surrounding the acquisition of the property including a brother who contested the will and unsettled taxes.

1911

School of Classical Studies in Rome (established by the Archaeological Institute of America in 1895) and the American Academy in Rome announce their consolidation [the merger became effective on the final day of 1912].

1912

Lands on the Janiculum adjacent to Villa Aurelia, recently acquired by J. Pierpont Morgan, Sr., transferred to the American Academy in Rome.

1913

American Academy in Rome now consists of the School of Fine Arts and the School of Classical Studies. New York office moves to the Architect's Building, 101 Park Ave., remaining at this location until 1973. By this date, largely through the generosity of J. Pierpont Morgan, Sr., nearly all of the land bounded by Via Angelo Masina, Via Giacomo Medici, Via Pietro Riselli, and the Aurelian Wall on the Janiculum had been purchased and many improvements made to the properties near the Villa Aurelia. Construction begins on the new Academy building designed by McKim, Mead, and White and situated on the grounds of Villa Aurelia; financed through a loan from J. Pierpont Morgan, Sr. (after Morgan Sr.'s death, his son offered to cancel the loan at an amount equal to funds raised by the Academy for the purpose).

1915

First Fellowship in Landscape Architecture established; opening of new Academy building housing the fellows' residential quarters, work areas, library, offices, and spaces for public programs.

1917

Villa Aurelia rented to the Red Cross for office space, and the new Main building was slated to become a convalescent hospital, but the war ended before it could be put to use.

1919

New York office reorganized by Roscoe Guernsey, executive secretary; sale of Villa Mirafiore; Academic Council established in Rome.

1920

Department of Music and Fellowship in Musical Composition established.

1923

School of Classical Studies establishes summer sessions, largely attended by teachers.

1926

Second Fellowship in Landscape Architecture funded by Garden Club of America (later permanently endowed).

1927

Academy opens an Atelier in downtown Rome, providing studios for visiting students (operated until 1934).

1929

First Thomas Spencer Jerome lecturer appointed.

1941

Academy closes for duration of World War II; a skeletal staff remain behind to care for the property and continue library cataloguing; Italy declares war on the United States.

1942

After transfer of funds from the U.S. proved impossible and enemy aliens were prohibited from withdrawing their own funds from Italian banks, the Swiss Legation and Vatican offered assistance to the Academy by providing loans.

1943

Academy grant to Citizen's Committee for the Army and Navy, Inc., funded hundreds of triptychs; murals, medals, and sculptures also commissioned Academy awards scholarships in classical studies at American colleges and universities.

1945

"Leave courses," held at the Academy, consisting mainly of lectures by distinguished scholars still in Rome, instituted for U.S. servicemen.

1946

Regular program resumes at the start of the academic year.

1947

Fellowship in the History of Art established.

1965

Loan of printed matter for microfilming by the Archives of American Art (reels ITRO 2-3 and 11-13).

1973

New York office moves to American Federation of Arts building, 41 East 65th St. (until 1993).

1982

Gift of New York office records to the Archives of American Art.

1990

Gift of Rome office records to the Archives of American Art.

1993

New York office moves to Metropolitan Club, 7 East 60th St.

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Overview of the Collection

Scope and Contents

Records of the American Academy in Rome constitute 34.1 linear feet on 52 reels of microfilm and date from 1855 to circa 1981, with the bulk of the material dating from 1894 to 1946. The records document the history of the institution from the inception in 1894 as the American School of Architecture in Rome through the end of World War II, and chronicle the contributions it has made to America's cultural and intellectual development. Items predating the 1894 founding of the American School of Architecture in Rome are personal papers and memorabilia of individuals associated with the institution; materials postdating 1946 are official institutional records, but are very sparse and quite incomplete.

Series 1: Predecessor Institutions, is composed of the records of the American School of Architecture in Rome, 1894-1898, and the American School of Classical Studies in Rome, 1895-1913. Records of the American School of Architecture in Rome include records of its Managing Committee, correspondence, financial records, and printed matter. Among the Managing Committee's records are notes and correspondence relative to the founding of the institution, minute books and reports; also, legal documents including records concerning its dissolution prior to being reorganized as the American Academy in Rome. Correspondence is mostly that of Vice President Charles F. McKim who handled administrative matters. Financial records include capital stock certificates, invoices and receipts. Printed matter consists of scholarship competition announcements.

Records of the American School of Classical Studies in Rome include records of its Managing Committee, Committee on Fellowships, publications, printed matter, and treasurers' records. The Managing Committee's records consist of the proposed resolution concerning its merger with the American Academy in Rome. Committee on Fellowship records are comprised of correspondence, reports, and fellowship applications. Publications records include correspondence and invoices. Printed matter includes general information, annual reports of the Managing Committee and Director, annual reports of the Committee on Medieval and Renaissance Studies, fellowship applications and examination questions, and the proposed consolidation agreement. Treasurers' records include the files of Alex. Bell and Willard V. King. Bell's sparse records consist of a budget, receipts for salary payments, an invoice, canceled checks, and correspondence. King's files, while more substantial than those that survive from Bell's tenure, are quite incomplete. They include correspondence, banking records, budgets and financial statements, investment records, invoices, and receipts for salaries and expenses.

Series 2: Board of Trustees Records, is comprised of legal documents, minutes, and reports; records of Trustee committees; records of officers; and records of individual Trustees. Legal documents, 1897-1926 and undated, consist of by-laws and amendments, certificate of incorporation, and constitution and amendments. Minutes and reports of the Board of Trustees, 1897-1947 and 1957, including those of its annual meetings, are carbon copies rather than the official minute books, and are incomplete. Reports of officers are incomplete, as well. Also included are reports of Officers'/Trustees' visits to Rome, and reports of the Director and Secretary in Rome submitted to the Board of Trustees.

Records of Trustee committees, 1905-1946 and undated, consist of reports and/or minutes arranged alphabetically by committee; these, too are incomplete, with many committees represented by a single report. Committees represented are: Building Committee, Carter Memorial Committee, Endowment Committee, Executive Committee, Finance Committee, Library Committee, McKim Memorial Committee, Nominating Committee, Committee on Publications. Committee on the School of Classical Studies records consist of its own minutes and reports, reports of its Advisory Council and the Jury on Classical Fellowships. Committee on the School of Classical Studies also include reports of officers and staff of the School of Classical Studies to the Committee on the School of Classical Studies as follows: Director, Professor in Charge, Annual Professor, Director of the Summer Session, Professor of Archaeology, Curator of the Museum, Editor, Librarian, and Committee on the Welfare of Women Students. Committee on the School of Fine Arts records consist of its own minutes and reports, reports of its Special Committee on the Plan and Expense of a Department of Music in the School of Fine Arts, and report of Fine Arts Program, Triptych Project with the Citizens Committee for the Army and Navy, Inc.; also, reports of officers and staff of the School of Fine Arts to the Committee on the School of Fine Arts as follows: Director, Professor in Charge, Associate in Charge, Annual Professor, Professor in Charge of the Department of Musical Composition. In addition, there are minutes and/or reports of the Committee of Twelve and Subcommittee of Five and the Special Committee on Villa Aurelia.

Records of Officers. 1898-1957 and undated, consist mainly of correspondence files and reports, with large numbers of transcriptions and carbon copies. Included are records of: Presidents Charles F. McKim, William R. Mead, Charles A. Platt, John Russell Pope, and James Kellum Smith; Vice Presidents Theodore N. Ely, George B. McClellan, and Henry James; Secretaries H. Siddons Mowbray (Secretary/Treasurer), Frank D. Millet, C. Grant La Farge, William B. Dinsmoor, and H. Richardson Pratt; and Treasurers William R. Mead, William A. Boring, Leon Fraser, and Lindsay Bradford Office files of President Mead, Secretaries Millet and La Farge, and Treasurer Boring are the most complete; files of other individuals, the Vice Presidents in particular, are often quite sparse.

Records of individual Trustees, 1902-1946 and undated, consist of material relating to official Academy business that was created or maintained by each in his capacity as trustee. (Note: many of these individuals also served as officers or staff of the Academy, and their records documenting those functions will be found in the appropriate series.) Included in this subseries are the records of: Chester H. Aldrich, Gilmore D. Clarke, James C. Egbert, Barry Faulkner, Allan C. Johnson, William M. Kendall, C. Grant La Farge, Edward P. Mellon, Charles Dyer Norton, Charles A. Platt, John Russell Pope, Edward K. Rand, John C. Rolfe, James Kellum Smith, S. Breck Trowbridge, Ferruccio Vitale, John Quincy Adams Ward, Andrew F. West, and William L. Westerman. These records tend to be sparse; files maintained by James C. Egbert, Barry Faulkner, Allan C. Johnson, and Ferruccio Vitale are notable exceptions.

Series 3: New York Office Records, consists of records of staff, rosters, printed matter, photographs, personal papers, Association of Alumni of the American Academy in Rome, and miscellaneous records.

Records of staff, 1919-1950 and undated, include the office files of Executive Secretaries Roscoe Guersney, Meriwether Stuart, and Mary T. Williams; Librarian George K. Boyce; and Endowment Fund Campaign Secretaries Phillilps B. Robinson and Edgar I. Williams.

The rosters, 1895-1939 and undated, are printed forms completed by fellows and students, with occasional attachments (usually correspondence or photographs). Included are the rosters of the School of Fine Arts, School of Classical Studies, and School of Classical Studies Summer Sessions.

Printed matter, 1905-[1981?] and undated, has been classified as Academy produced and produced by others. Items produced by the Academy, 1905-[1981?], include general information including act of incorporation and by-laws, fundraising brochure, constitution, Directory of Fellows and Residents, histories of the institution, newsletter of the Director, and printed items relating to special events. Printed matter specifically relating to the School of Classical Studies includes annual announcements, the consolidation agreement, a directory, fellowship announcements and applications, lecture announcements, newsletters, and brochures about summer sessions. School of Fine Arts printed matter includes annual announcements, concert programs, exhibition checklists and catalogs, fellowship announcements and application forms, history, and newsletters.

Printed matter produced by others, 1905-1940 and undated, consists of three scrapbooks of news clippings and photographs compiled by the American Academy in Rome, extensive clipping files, and articles from miscellaneous publications. All of these items are about the American Academy in Rome, or by or about individuals associated with the institution. Also included is a poster for Leave Courses offered at the Academy for U. S. servicemen.

Photographs, 1891-1941 and undated, are organized into the categories of works of art, people, buildings, places, events, and miscellaneous. Works of art are by visiting students and fellows, Frank D. Millet, collaborative problems, Rome Prize Competitions in Architecture, Rome Prize Competitions in Landscape Architecture, and Prix de Rome Competition exhibitions. Photographs of people are both of individuals and groups; among the groups are summer school students and fellowship winners.

Buildings depicted are American Academy properties. Among them are the "New Building," including interior and exterior construction views; studios; and Villas Aurelia, Mirafiore, and Richardson. Also included is a group of photographs of Academy architecture students measuring buildings in Rome and Florence. Places pictured are views of the Academy property and surrounding areas.

Photographs of events include cricket games, Thanksgiving and Fourth of July dinners, Architectural League exhibition, and inauguration of the Manship Fountain. Miscellaneous photographs are of an architectural drawing for a proposed building.

Personal Papers, Memorabilia, and Ephemera, 1855-1923 an undated, were donated to the American Academy in Rome or otherwise left on its premises. None are official records generated by the institution. Included are: Ernest Lewis' photograph album/scrapbook; Allan Marquand's papers; Charles F. McKim's memorabilia, photographs, printed matter, and artifacts; Charles R. Morey's correspondence; and Elihu Vedder's Bible.

Records of the Association of the Alumni of the American Academy in Rome, 1913-1945 and undated), consist of a small number of scattered records including correspondence, fellows' war/government service information (compiled by Sidney Waugh), membership lists, and a newsletter.

Miscellaneous records, 1899-1926 and undated, are writings and architectural records. Writings consist of published and unpublished manuscript material about the American Academy in Rome and its history, and article by H. Siddons Mowbray advising on ornamentation, and text and illustrations for the Art and Archaeology issue on the Academy. Also included are fragments of unidentified letters. Architectural records [oversize] include property and floor plans of Villas Aurora, Chiaraviglio, Ferrari, and Ludovisi.

Series 4: Rome Office Records, consist of records of staff and personal papers. Records of staff, 1903-1947 and undated, include the office files of Directors H. Siddons Mowbray, George Breck, Jesse Benedict Carter, Gorham Phillips Stevens, James Monroe Hewlett, Chester H. Aldrich, Amey Aldrich [Acting Director, very briefly, perhaps unofficially], Charles R. Morey, and Laurance P. Roberts; and records of two members of the School of Fine Arts faculty, Frank P. Fairbanks, Professor of Fine Arts, and Felix Lamond, Professor of Music. Records of Carter, Stevens, Hewlett, and Aldrich appear to be fairly complete; records of early directors are sparse; those of Morey and Roberts appear to be missing significant portions; and those of Professors Fairbanks and Lamond consist of a few scattered items.

Also surviving are the personal papers of Director Gorham Phillips Stevens, 1912-1931 and undated), consisting of correspondence, financial records, and documentation of professional and charitable activities.

See index for Trustee Biographies.

Arrangement and Series Description

It was obvious that before they came to the Archives of American Art the records had been rearranged more than once, and in such a way that materials from many different departments had been intermingled. In keeping with archival theory and practice, the records were organized to reflect the structure and operation of the institution that created the records, making them more understandable and accessible to a wide variety of researchers.

In general, the records of each officer and staff member are arranged alphabetically, with general correspondence preceding the alphabetical sequence; arrangement within each file is chronological, unless noted otherwise.

Records of the American Academy in Rome are organized into four major series. Each series is divided into several subseries, with the arrangement described in detail in the series descriptions.

• Series 1: Predecessor Institutions, 1894-1913 (box 1; 0.88 linear ft.; Reels 5749-5750)
• Series 2: Board of Trustees Records, 1897-1957, undated (boxes 1-17, 35, 37; 15.25 linear ft.; Reels 5750-5777)
• Series 3: New York Office, 1855-circa 1981, undated (boxes 17-32, 36; 15 linear ft.; 5777-5795)
• Series 4: Rome Office, 1903-1943, undated (boxes 32-34; 3 linear ft.; 5795-5800)

Subjects and Names

Provenance

The academy donated the records of its predecessor institutions (American School of Architecture in Rome and American School of Classical Studies in Rome), selected Board of Trustees records, and New York office files to the Archives of American Art in 1982. An additional gift of Rome office records, including personal papers of director Gorham Phillips Stevens, was received in 1990.

Separated and Related Materials

In 1965 the Archives of American Art borrowed printed matter of the academy, 1911-1964, for microfilming. The material was returned to the donor and only a very small portion was subsequently donated. This material is available on microfilm reels ITRO 2-3 and ITRO 11-13 but is not described further in the Container Listing.

Papers of a number of former fellows, trustees, and other individuals associated with the American Academy in Rome are among the holdings of the Archives of American Art.

Chaloner Prize Foundation records, 1915-1974 (microfilm reels 5664-5669) were received with the American Academy in Rome records. They have been arranged and described as a separate collection.

Valentine, Lucia and Alan Valentine. The American Academy in Rome, 1894-1969. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1973.

How the Collection was Processed

The collection was processed and the finding aid written by Catherine S. Gaines in 2001. The finding aid was revised by Stephanie Ashley in September 2001 prior to EAD conversion. The size of this collection was reduced dramatically after large numbers of carbon copies and other duplicates were weeded and containers packed more tightly to provide adequate physical support for the papers.

How to Use the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.

Ownership & Literary Rights

The American Academy in Rome records are publication restricted. Written authorization to publish must be obtained from the President, American Academy in Rome, 7 East 60th St., New York, N.Y. The donor specifies: "Permission for direct quotations must be obtained from the parties originating the statements, or their literary heirs."

Available Formats

The collection is available on microfilm reels 5749-5800 and for interlibrary loan.

How to Cite this Collection

American Academy in Rome records, 1855-circa 1981, bulk 1894-1946. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

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Detailed Description and Container Inventory

Series 1: Predecessor Institutions, 1894-1913 (box 1; 0.88 linear ft.; Reels 5749-5750)

This series is organized into two subseries.

• 1.1: American School of Architecture in Rome, 1894-1898
• 1.2: American School of Classical Studies in Rome, 1895-1913

1.1: American School of Architecture in Rome, 1894-1898

The idea for a school for American artists in Europe was discussed by a group of architects, painters, and sculptors who met in Chicago while collaborating on the fine arts section of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Its most enthusiastic proponent was architect Charles F. McKim who worked tirelessly to make the concept a reality. He was its main administrator, and often kept the school afloat financially with infusions of cash from his personal account. In 1897 it was decided to reorganize as an academy, and the American School of Architecture in Rome was legally dissolved and replaced by the American Academy in Rome.

This subseries include records of the school's managing committee, correspondence, financial records, and printed matter. Among the managing committee's records are notes and correspondence relative to the founding of the institution; minute books which include a semi-annual report of the executive committee managing committee, copies of printed competition announcements, and an engrossed copy with a transcription of dissolution documents; and legal documents including records concerning the school's dissolution in 1898 prior to being reorganized as the American Academy in Rome, an 1895 certificate of the secretary to the bank, and the 1895 lease for the Villa Aurora. Correspondence is mostly that of Charles F. McKim (Vice President 1894-1895 and President 1895-1896) who handled administrative matters. Capital Stock Certificates, 1895, include an "Original Issues of Shares" list.

1.2: American School of Classical Studies in Rome, 1895-1913

The extant records of the American School of Classical Studies in Rome consist mainly of printed matter and financial records that were transferred to the Secretary of the American Academy in Rome by the Columbia-Knickerbocker Trust Co., New York. Other records related to the early history of the American School of Classical Studies in Rome are located in the archives of the Archaelogical Institute of America, Boston.

This subseries includes records of the school's managing committee and of the committee on fellowships; publications; printed matter; and treasurers' records. The managing committee file consists of the preamble and proposed resolution concerning the school's merger with the American Academy in Rome. Annual reports of the medieval and renaissance studies committee includes extracts from the Bulletin of the Archaeological Institute of America and the Journal of the Archaeological Institute of America, fellowship applications, examination questions, and the proposed consolidation agreement. Treasurers' records include the files of Alex. Bell and Willard V. King. Bell's records are sparse and King's files, while more substantial than those that survive from Bell's tenure, are also incomplete.

Series 2: Board of Trustees Records, 1897-1957, undated (box 1-17; 15.32 linear ft.)

From its earliest days, the American Academy in Rome has included architects, painters, and sculptors among its Trustees. After its merger with the American School of Classical Studies in Rome, classical scholars and archaeologists were added.

Records maintained by the Board of Trustees are arranged into three subseries.

• 2.1: Legal Documents, Minutes and Reports of Trustees, 1897-1946
• 2.2: Board of Trustees Committee Minutes, 1905-1946, undated
• 2.3: Records of Officers, 1897-1957, undated

2.1: Legal Documents, Minutes and Reports of Trustees, 1897-1946

Minutes and reports of the Board of Trustees, including those of its annual meetings, are carbon copies rather than the official minute books, and are incomplete. Reports of officers are also incomplete. Included here are reports of officers' and trustees' visits to Rome, as well as reports of the Director and Secretary in Rome submitted to the Board of Trustees. The 1913 Director's report includes reports of the Director of the School of Fine Arts, the Director of the School of Classical Studies, and the Librarian.

2.2: Board of Trustees Committees, 1905-1946, undated

Records of trustee committees consist of reports and/or minutes which are incomplete, with many committees represented by a single report.

The minutes are arranged alphabetically by committee.

2.3: Records of Officers, 1897-1957, undated

This subseries documents the records of the academy's officers and consists mainly of correspondence files and reports, with large numbers of transcriptions and carbon copies. Overall, the files of president Mead, secretaries Millet and La Farge, and treasurer Boring are the most complete; files of other individuals, the vice presidents in particular, are often quite sparse.

2.3.1: Presidents, 1898-1957, undated

Presidents' records measure 4 linear feet and contain the files of presidents Charles F. McKim, William R. Mead, Charles A. Platt, John Russell Pope, and James Kellum Smith. Files of McKim and Mead are the most complete, though their volume (0.5 linear feet and 2.0 linear feet, respectively) are less than might be expected for the ten years represented.

Records are arranged chronologically by president. Within the file group for each president, general correspondence files are followed by other files arranged alphabetically by subject or by name of the person to whom the file relates.

2.3.2: Vice Presidents, 1905-1943

A paucity of vice presidential records, a total of 31 items for three individuals - Theodore N. Ely, George B. McClellan, and Henry James - suggests that these items probably were attachments to others' letters that somehow became separated.

Records are arranged chronologically by vice president.

2.3.3: Secretaries, 1898-1947, undated

Files of secretaries Frank D. Millet (1.9 linear feet) and his successor C. Grant La Farge (2.0 linear feet) contain no obvious gaps. Millet's files include scattered correspondence of assistant W. R. Wolfe; the content of La Farge's records shifts after 1919, with the advent of an executive secretary in the New York office who tended to the more routine administrative matters (see Series 3). La Farge's files include the correspondence of assistant secretaries W. R. Wolfe and Frank B. Rowell. Records of earlier and later secretaries, H. Siddons Mowbray, William B. Dinsmoor, and H. Richardson Pratt, are very sparse with only a few folders for Mowbray and Pratt and, in Dinsmoor's case, three items.

Records are arranged chronologically by secretary with the names of the secretary at the top of each file group indicated in bold type. Within the file group for each secretary, general correspondence files are followed by other files arranged alphabetically by subject or by name of the person to whom the file relates.

2.3.4: Treasurers, 1904-1947, undated

The Treasurers' records are comprehensive only for William A. Boring (3.25 linear feet), who held the position for nearly three decades. The correspondence and records of Arthur H. Crane, assistant treasurer, and Jerome D. Greene, acting treasurer, are interfiled with Boring's records. Records of other treasurers, William R. Mead, Leon Fraser, and Lindsay Bradford, are scant, measuring a folder or two each. Files of treasurer H. Siddons Mowbray can be found with his secretary's files.

Records are arranged chronologically by treasurer with the names of the treasurer at the top of each file group indicated in bold type. Within the file group for each treasurer, general correspondence files are followed by other files arranged alphabetically by subject or by name of the person to whom the file relates.

2.3.5: Individual Trustees, 1902-1946, undated

Included here are records of individual trustees (2.75 linear feet) created or maintained by each in his capacity as trustee. These vary in size from one folder to 1.25 linear feet. Trustees represented are: Chester H. Aldrich, John Lambert Cadwalader, Gilmore D. Clarke, James C. Egbert, Barry Faulkner, Allan C. Johnson, William M. Kendall, C. Grant La Farge, Edward P. Mellon, Charles Dyer Norton, Charles A. Platt, John Russell Pope, Edward K. Rand, John c. Rolfe, James Kellum Smith, S. Breck Trowbridge, Ferruccio Vitale, John Quincy Adams Ward, Andrew f. West, and William L. Westerman. Several Trustees also served the Academy as officers or staff, and records regarding those activities will be found in the files relating to those appointments. Brief biographical notes for each trustee included here can be found in Appendix B.

Records are arranged alphabetically by name of trustee with the names of the trustee at the top of each file group indicated in bold type. Within the file group for each trustee, general correspondence files are followed by other files arranged alphabetically by subject or by name of the person to whom the file relates.

Series 3: New York Office, 1855-circa 1981, undated (box 17-32; 15 linear ft.)

Since its founding the American Academy in Rome has maintained offices in New York. This office supports the work of the board of trustees and its many committees, and is responsible for administration of fellowship competitions, fundraising, and record keeping.

The series is organized into seven subseries.

• 3.1: Records of Staff, 1919-1950, undated
• 3.2: Rosters, 1895-1939, undated
• 3.3: Printed Matter, 1905-circa 1981
• 3.4: Photographs, 1891-1941, undated
• 3.5: Personal Papers, Memorabilia and Ephemera, 1855-1923, undated
• 3.6: Association of the Alumni of the American Academy in Rome, 1913-1945, undated
• 3.7: Miscellaneous Records, 1899-1926, undated

3.1: Records of Staff, 1919-1950, undated

Records of staff include the office files of executive secretaries Roscoe Guersney, Meriwether Stuart, and Mary T. Williams; librarian George K. Boyce; and endowment fund campaign secretaries Phillilps B. Robinson and Edgar I. Williams.

The executive secretary, based in New York, handled nearly all routine administrative matters. Records of this office (8 linear feet) are mainly those of Roscoe Guernsey (7.33 linear feet), who held the post from 1919 to 1946; they represent the most extensive and comprehensive set of files among all of American Academy in Rome records. Prior to 1919, this type of information is found among the records kept by the Secretary and, to a slightly lesser extent, the president. Records of two later executive secretaries, Meriwether Stuart and Mary T. Williams, are less comprehensive (each 0.33 linear feet).

Other staff records are those of the librarian (2 folders) and endowment fund campaign secretaries (0.25 linear ft.). Although the library and its staff are based in Rome, records of George K. Boyce (former fellow in classical studies who was appointed librarian in 1939) are placed with those of the New York office staff because they are from the period when the academy was closed during the Second World War and all correspondence concerning library matters was addressed to him at the academy's New York office.

Records of the executive secretaries are first in the series, followed by the files of the librarian and the endowment fund campaign secretaries. For each individual correspondence files are followed by files arranged alphabetically by subject or name of the person to whom the file relates.

3.2: Rosters, 1895-1939, undated

This subseries (0.75 linear feet) consists of printed forms filled out by fellows and visiting students indicating biographical information, academic and professional background, and dates in attendance. Many include attachments, usually letters, requesting a recommendation or verification of attendance, with occasional news clippings. The correspondende indicates that these files were maintained simultaneously by the secretary and executive secretary, probably as a reference file. Some forms, especially those from the period when the institution was the American School of Architecture in Rome, are copies made many years later and contain the notation: "Please fill out and return. May 1, 1914."

3.3: Printed Matter, 1905-circa 1981

Printed matter (5.2 linear feet) includes material produced by the academy and material produced by others relating to the academy. Items produced by the academy include that which relates to the academy in general, and that which relates specifically to the School of Classical Studies and the School of Fine Arts. Material relating specifically to the School of Classical Studies includes annual announcements, the consolidation agreement, a directory, fellowship announcements and applications, lecture announcements, newsletters, and brochures about summer sessions. School of Fine Arts printed matter includes annual announcements, concert programs, exhibition checklists and catalogs, fellowship announcements and application forms, a history, and newsletters.

Printed matter produced by others consists of three scrapbooks of news clippings and photographs compiled by the American Academy in Rome, extensive clipping files, and articles from miscellaneous publications. All of these items are about the American Academy in Rome, or are by or about individuals associated with the institution. Also included is a poster for Leave Courses offered at the Academy for U. S. servicemen.

Appendix A: American Academy in Rome Printed Matter, 1911-1964 lists printed matter loaned for microfilming in 1965.

3.4: Photographs, 1891-1941, undated

The photographs are arranged into the following categories: works of art, people, buildings, places, events, and miscellaneous.

3.5: Personal Papers, Memorabilia and Ephemera, 1855-1923, undated

These records (0.66 linear ft.) were donated to the American Academy in Rome from various sources or otherwise left on its premises. None are official records generated by the institution and some predate the institution. Included are: Ernest Lewis' photograph album/scrapbook; Allan Marquand's papers; Charles F. McKim's memorabilia, photographs, printed matter, and artifacts; Charles R. Morey's correspondence; and Elihu Vedder's Bible.

Ernest Lewis, fellow in architecture, was at the American Academy in Rome, circa 1908-1911. Little is known of him other than that he practiced architecture in New York. The Ernest Lewis scrapbook, included in this subseries, includes photographs of Lewis and his fellow students (many identified, most likely at a later date), circa 1908-1911; interior views of Mirafiore and Lewis in Egypt; photographs of architectural renderings and drawings of architectural details (some by Lewis, others unsigned); clippings and printed matter about architecture, including illustrations of a prize-winning work, and articles about French architects Constant Désiré Despradelle and Jean Louis Pascal; photographs and reproductions of architectural renderings of Roman buildings and entries in various architectural competitions; a McKim, Mead & White label [possibly a bookplate]; a reprint from The Technology Review, November 1912, of an article about Constant Désiré Despradelle; "Rome Letter," 1913 and undated, by George S, Koyle, Fellow in Architecture, American Academy in Rome; and an article about Jean Louis Pascal from Journal of the American Institute of Architects, circa 1913.

Allan Marquand (1853-1924) was professor of art history and archaeology at Princeton University, from 1883 until his death in 1924. Between 1896 and 1897 he served as a professor in the School of Classical Studies in Rome. From approximately 1909 to 1923, he chaired the annual meeting of the Committee on Medieval and Renaissance Studies of the Archaeological Institute of America, a committee which originated in the School of Classical Studies. Papers relating to Marquand and included in this subseries were given to the American Academy in Rome by Miss Lucy Shoe, who had received the materials from the Marquand family.

Charles Follen McKim (1847-1909), after studying at Harvard, and the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and working in the offices of H. H. Richardson, in 1879 formed the architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White. After meeting other architects and artists at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and discussing with them the advantages of studying art in Europe, McKim proposed the idea for a school in Europe for American artists. From this plan emerged the American School of Architecture in Rome which eventually became the American Academy in Rome. In addition to being a founder, McKim served as trustee, treasurer, and president; in the early days, McKim's determined service and financial help were responsible for the institution's continued existence. Acquisition documents relating to McKim's files are contained in this subseries and include an itemized list of the gift, labeled as follows: "Documents, property of Mr. McKim, which were brought from Mr. Smith's office by Mr. Dolan (21/8/47) to be left with record in A.A.R. office (in small black case in closet)." Items 10, 11, 12 (case of drawing instruments, 18" ruler, and sketch by unknown artist) were not among the materials received from the American Academy in Rome by the Archives of American Art.

Charles R. Morey (1877-1965) was a professor of art and archaeology at Princeton University, a fellow at the American School of Classical Studies in Rome in 1903, and professor of classical studies at the American Academy in Rome from 1925 to 1926. From 1945 to 1947, Morey served as Acting Director, and later Director of the American Academy in Rome. Morey's correspondence is included in this subseries.

Mural painter Elihu Vedder (1836-1923), a resident of Rome, was affiliated with the firm of McKim, Mead and White during a stay in America from 1897 to 1898. Nothing is known of the circumstances under which the Elihu Vedder Bible, included in this subseries, became the property of the academy.

This subseries is arranged alphabetically by name of individual to whom the material relates, then by subject.

3.6: Association of the Alumni of the American Academy in Rome, 1913-1945, undated

Records of the Association of the Alumni of the American Academy in Rome (1.5 linear inches) consist of a small number of scattered records including correspondence, fellows' war/government service information (compiled by Sidney Waugh), membership lists, and a newsletter.

3.7: Miscellaneous Records, 1899-1926, undated

Miscellaneous records consist of writings and architectural records. Writings consist of published and unpublished manuscript material about the American Academy in Rome and its history. Two files relate to a 1922 issue of Art and Archaeology issue on the American Academy in Rome. The School of Fine Arts Section file consists of an outline indicating it was to feature articles by G. P. Stevens, F. P. Fairbanks, P. H. Manship, and Russell Cowles. The file includes the text of Stevens's article, Rome Preeminently the Center for the Advanced Study of Architecture, with illustrations; photographs of "Diogenes, detail of a composition called `The Philosophers' by Ezra Winter, Fellow in Painting of the American Academy in Rome;" and photographs of Greco-Roman sculpture to illustrate Manship's article. The School of Classical Studies Section file includes The School of Classical Studies manuscript by G. M. Wicher with illustrations, including a portrait of Tracy Peck (1838-1921), Director of the American School of Classical Studies in Rome and the school library at Via Vicenza. It also includes the manuscripts, with illustration of Literature, History and Religion, by Nelson G. McCrea, Archaeology, by A. W. Van Buren, and Publications and Museum, by C. Densmore Curtis (including a view of the Museum of the American Academy in Rome and photographs of individual items in its collections).

Architectural records [oversize] include property and floor plans of the Villas Aurora, Chiaraviglio, Ferrari, and Ludovisi.

Series 4: Rome Office, 1903-1947, undated (boxes 32-34; 2.9 linear ft.)

This series contains records maintained by the Rome office of the American Academy in Rome.

Records are arranged into two subseries.

• 4.1: Records of Staff: Directors and School of Fine Arts Faculty, 1903-1947, undated
• 4.2: Personal Papers of Director Gorham Phillips Stevens, 1912-1931, undated

4.1: Records of Staff: Directors and School of Fine Arts Faculty, 1903-1947, undated

This subseries consists primarily of the office files of the Rome office directors but also contains four folders of records of the School of Fine Arts faculty. The records document the administration of the School of Fine Arts, the School of Classical Studies, and their facilities in Rome. The most extensive and complete files are those of Gorham Phillips Stevens (1.25 linear feet). Records of other directors, H. Siddons Mowbray, George Breck, Jesse Benedict Carter, James Monroe Hewlett, Chester H. Aldrich, Amey Aldrich, Charles R. Morey, and Laurance P. Roberts, are quite incomplete and range in size from 1 folder to 0.5 linear feet.

H. Siddons Mowbray's correspondence includes letters to McKim about the Villa Aurora, expenses, exhibition, and the King and Queen attending the academy opening; a letter from Charles Keck about his studio; and correspondence concerning endowment fundraising.

George Breck's correspondence includes a letter to Secretary Millet about appraisal of the Villa Mirafiore and Madam Loyson's idea of starting a girls' school in Rome that would be a branch of the American Academy in Rome. It also includes letters from Rockefeller's secretary declining to participate in the academy's proposed endowment.

General correspondence of Jesse Benedict Carter concerns competitions, use of the terms "fellowship" and "scholarship," an exhibition, Committee on the School of Classical Studies business, a request for extension of fellowship time, and activities of fellows. Endowment fundraising correspondence concerns Carter's lecturing activities on behalf of the academy's endowment fund and appeals to individuals for contributions. A folder concerning the Villa Mirafiore contains correspondence regarding an agreement to use the Villa Mirafiore as a hospice for mutilated Italian soldiers.

Gorham Phillips Stevens Stevens served as director in 1912. During Carter's tenure as director, from 1913 to 1917, Stevens was director of the School of Fine Arts and served as acting director during Carter's frequent absences. He was acting director following Carter's death in 1917, and in 1919 became the director. His general correspondence includes "Suggestions for the Management of the Academy during the absence of the Director in America;" correspondence about a proposed publication; requests for museum passes; letters of introduction; inquiries about fellowship competitions; travel arrangements; letters concerning shipment of art work, concerns about war conditions, and Daniel Chester French's opinion of the proposed purchase of an enlarging machine for the sculptors; George Breck's comments on prices set by artists for their work; and letters concerning summer school, housing for women, the possibility of McKim's daughter giving his medals and diplomas to the academy, and the trustees decision to inaugurate a new educational policy under a new director.

There is one folder of material relating to Amey Aldrich, sister of Chester H. Aldrich, who acted as an assistant and official hostess during his tenure, and probably served as acting director for a brief time following Mr. Aldrich's death. The folder includes a report on the administrative situation of the academy, ideas about closing the academy during World War II, and evaluation of staff. Material also concerns repairs to buildings, staffing, and receipts for academy funds held by Chester Aldrich and returned after his death.

Records of the directors comprise the bulk of the subseries and are first in the subseries. Records of faculty members Frank P. Fairbanks and Felix Lamond are at the end of the subseries. Director and faculty member names are indicated in bold at the top of each file group.

File groups for each individual begin with any general correspondence and are then arranged alphabetically by subject or name of individual to whom the file relates.

4.2: Personal Papers of Director Gorham Phillips Stevens, 1912-1931, undated

The personal papers of director Gorham Phillips Stevens were also preserved by the Rome office. They consist of correspondence with relatives and friends, financial records, and correspondence and printed matter of various charitable organizations in which Stevens actively participated or had interest. General correspondence includes correspondence regarding personal business, invitations, thank you notes, holiday and get well wishes, letters of introduction, condolences on the death of his mother, honorary degree from Harvard, family news, and congratulations on his book about the Erectheum.

Index: Trustee Biographies

• Chester H. Aldrich: architect; became a trustee of the American Academy in Rome in 1925; member of the Committee on the School of Fine Arts from 1927 until 1935, serving as its chairman from 1933 until 1935; in 1935 he was appointed director in Rome, where he remained until his death in 1940.
• John Lambert Clarke Cadwalader: a New York attorney and former assistant secretary of state; an incorporator of the American Academy in Rome in 1905 and a life member; acted as an advisor for the incorporation process, was influential in endowment fundraising activities, and played an important role in the transfer of Villa Mirafiore; although trustee minutes indicate he attended some meetings, it is unclear whether Cadwalader was actually a trustee.
• Gilmore D. Clarke: member of the Fine Arts Committee and chairman of the Special Committee on Villa Aurelia from 1944 to 1945.
• James C. Egbert: professor of classics at Columbia University; served as the annual professor at the Rome School of Classical Studies in 1903/04; trustee of the American Academy in Rome from 1911 to 1945; became a member of the Committee on the School of Classical Studies in 1914 and served as its chairman between 1927 and 1940; during the 1930s he served on the Committee on Nominations, and from 1940 until 1944 was vice president of the academy.
• Barry Faulkner: a fellow in painting at the American Academy in Rome from 1907 to 1910, and annual professor of fine arts from 1922 to 1923; for many years he was president of the Association of Alumni of the Academy; elected a trustee in 1930, he was appointed a member of the Committee on the School of Fine Arts that same year, and eventually became committee chairman; during World War II, he represented the American Academy in Rome on the Citizens Committee for the Army-Navy Triptych Project; awarded the American Academy in Rome medal for outstanding service in 1960.
• Allan C. Johnson: professor of classics at Princeton University; trustee of the American Academy in Rome between 1929 and 1946; professor of classical studies during the academic year 1933/34, and for many years served as a member of the Committee on the School of Classical Studies, of which he was chairman from 1940 through 1945.
• William M. Kendall: an architect and partner in the firm of McKim, Mead, and White, Kendall; was an incorporator, in 1905, and trustee of the American Academy in Rome from 1905 to 1941; served as a member of the Committee on the School of Fine Arts for many years.
• C. Grant La Farge: a practicing architect who was active in the affairs of the American Institute of Architects; was elected a trustee of the American Academy in Rome in 1909, served on its executive committee, and was secretary to the board of trustees from 1912 to 1938.
• Edward P. Mellon: architect and nephew of Andrew Mellon; became a trustee of the American Academy in Rome and served as acting secretary of the board from 1917 to 1918; served on the Endowment Committee, circa 1919-1923, first as its treasurer and later becoming its chairman.
• Norton, Charles Dyer: a banker who was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and private secretary to President Taft, from 1908 to 1911; elected a trustee of the American Academy in Rome in 1913; a member of the executive and finance committees, and served on the endowment committee from 1913 to 1917.
• Charles A. Platt: became a trustee of the American Academy in Rome in 1919; an architect who joined the Committee on the School of Fine Arts in 1921 and was its chairman from 1927 until 1928; elected president in 1928, serving until his death in 1933.
• John Russell Pope: first recipient of the Rome Prize in Architecture at the American School of Architecture in Rome from 1895 to 1897; a trustee of the American Academy in Rome from 1926 to 1933; served on the Committee on the School of Fine Arts, 1927-1938, and was president of the board from 1933 until his death in 1937.
• Edward K. Rand: professor of Latin at Harvard University, Rand; elected a trustee of the American Academy in Rome in 1911; served for many years on the Committee on the School of Classical Studies, and during 1912/13 was a professor at the School of Classical Studies; resigned from the board in 1929 due to pressures of his Harvard workload, but many years later resumed his position as a trustee.
• John C. Rolfe: professor of Latin at the University of Pennsylvania; taught at the American School of Classical Studies in Rome from 1907 to 1908, and at the American Academy in Rome from 1923 to 1924; served as a member of the Committee on the School of Classical Studies from 1921 to 1940; also served on the Committee on Publications for an undetermined period, and was its chairman during 1927.
• James Kellum Smith: after holding the Stewardson Fellowship in Architecture of the University of Pennsylvania and the American Academy in Rome from 1920 to 1923, Smith joined the firm of McKim, Mead, and White; first elected a trustee in 1933, he was a member of the Committee on the School of Fine Arts and served as its chairman; president of the American Academy in Rome from 1937 until 1958 and in 1961 was awarded its medal for outstanding service.
• S. Breck Trowbridge: an incorporator of the American Academy in Rome in 1905; became a trustee in 1906; chairman of the Committee on the School of Fine Arts from 1915 (and possibly earlier), served as vice president from 1917 to 1925, and was chairman of the endowment fund committee from 1919 to 1921.
• Ferruccio Vitale: a landscape architect and trustee of the American Academy in Rome; instrumental in the founding of its landscape architecture department and establishing scholarships in landscape architecture; served on the Committee on the School of Fine Arts, 1921-1931 and was active in the Committee on Endowment's fundraising campaigns, 1914-1920.
• John Quincy Adams Ward: Sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward was among the artist members of the first board of trustees of the American Academy in Rome in 1897.
• Andrew F. West: professor of Latin at Princeton University, and later Dean of the Princeton Graduate School; chairman of the managing committee of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens; served as a trustee of the academy from 1911 to 1928, and from 1917 as chairman of the Advisory Committee on the School of Classical Studies.
• William L. Westerman: professor of history at the universities of Wisconsin, Cornell, and Columbia; served as a trustee from 1921 until 1932; Professor in Charge of Classical Studies at the American Academy in Rome from 1926 to 1927, and a member of the Committee on the School of Classical Studies from 1922-1935.

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