Rhode Island School of Design - Portfolio Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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The History of R. 1. S. D. 66 Years of Achievement 1854 The General Assembly gave a charter to the Rhode Island Art Association to establish an art museum and gallery. It was felt that Rhode Island needed a school to train designers of manufactured goods so that they might compete favor- ably with the European market. These plans could not be carried through because of the Civil War. 1876 The sponsors of the Rhode Island Exhibit in the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia came back with $1675 left over and no means of using it, until they recognized the need for such a school. Accordingly on March 5, 1877, twelve trustees met together, and preparing a constitution and plan of organization, subsequently applied to the General Assembly to be incorporated. ‘Their aim was “education in art with special reference to decorative design.” Free hand drawing, clay work, and wood carving were also among the first subjects taught by Mr. Charles Barry, the first teacher. Expenses were to be no more than $1500. per year. 1878 On October 7 the School of Design opened in Room 34 of the Hoppin Home- stead building on Westminster Street. There was stiff competition from the heads of various finishing schools throughout the city, among them Mary C. Wheeler, who had just returned from study in Europe. ‘The day school met on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from nine in the morning to one in the afternoon with the exorbitant tuition rate of $15. per term for the day school and $3. per term for the Saturday classes. Mrs. Jesse Metcalf was often among the students, giving her time and effort to helping them as they worked from casts and copies of well-known examples of art. 1885 By this time the students in mechanical design were becoming crowded and the heat from the gas lamps bothered them. ‘To remedy this they suggested rent- ing the upper floor of the building. ‘The School was sa fast in gaining recogni- tion that this year the first annual exhibition of American artists was held in Infantry Hall. Another benefactor in these formative years was Dr. Gustav Raedeke, a brother of Mrs. Metcalf, who brought in new models of practical ob- jects from Europe so that the students might use these for study. He also offered prizes for machine drawing, composition, and elementary design. 1888 The School was making such rapid progress that a 48-page catalogue was published. At the same time it was felt that more community help was needed in addition to that provided by a few philanthropists. Students of those days had their weaker side, too. Pipes were mysteriously frozen because of windows left open in icy weather and splashes of ink were sometimes found on the walls. 1893 Dedication ceremonies were held on October 24 for the main building on Waterman Street which is now used as the Freshman Building. ‘This was given by Mr. Metcalf in honor of his wife. ‘There was now a larger corporate body composed of twelve directors, including the Governor, the Mayor of Providence, the Commissioner of Education, the Superintendent of Schools and the librarian of the Providence Public Library.

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Yearbook Board EDITOR Rosaline A. Braga ART EDITOR BUSINESS MANAGER Ruth M. Lamb Dorothy Nichols LITERARY EDITORS DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Shirley Wooddell Marguerite Flynn ZIRT ASSOCIATES Priscilla Browning Jean Eller Colwell Barbara Demers Mary Parker Eleanor R. Price Ann Tokaz Elizabeth Underwood

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1901 Eleazer Bartlett Homer, an architect, became the first director of a school that could now boast of an enrollment of five hundred students occupying two floors of the Waterman Building. Arrangements were made with Brown Uni- versity to exchange students. The day school tuition was going higher—$60. a year! 1903 Memorial Hall, which now houses our student center and cafeteria, was once the old Central Congregational Church, but it was remodelled and dedicated on November 24, a gift of the three Metcalf brothers and Dr. Raedeke. There was now just cause for a 25th anniversary exhibition. The next year, Mr. Charles C. Pendleton presented his famous collection of colonial furniture to the School. To house this suitably a Georgian structure was built on Benefit Street similar to Mr. Pendleton’s original residence. 1908 In November of this year the land for a five-story building on North Main Street was bought in order to meet the need for more room in the textile depart- ment. A lunch room was furnished in the basement of the Waterman Building and the textile design classes took over the lower floor of Memorial Hall. Once there was a baseball team, somewhat inglorious perhaps, but a baseball team at that. They practiced pitching in an alley near the school. Another extra cur- ricular activity was the publication in 1910 of the first yearbook, “The Lotus”. This same year the director, Mr. Huger Elliott, designed the school seal which is still in use. 1914 Things were really humming now. There was a girls’ basketball team be- sides a scrubby football team which used an ungraded patch of ground near the school for practice. ‘They hardly ever won and there were never any home games. Another attempt was made at a yearbook, “The Risod”, which was larger than the former “‘Lotus”’. 1914-18 The war years in that time ran a similar course to those of today. Women were being trained here in the machine shops, in mechanical drawing and in blueprint reading. Women were busy making surgical dressings and holding benefit dances while the boys were obliged to undergo four hours a week of mili- tary drill. Altogether there were 918 members from both the student body and faculty engaged in the war, sixteen of whom lost their lives. For three years fol- lowing the war there were rehabilitation students studying elementary reading, writing, arithmetic, jewelry, architectural drafting, textiles, commercial art, inte- rior decoration, crude oil burning, sign painting, and even one student in em- broidery. 1926-29 Another generous gift from the Metcalf brothers came in 1926. This time it was a donation of $400,000 for a museum building in honor of their sister, Mrs. Eliza G. Raedeke. Among the faculty members, who are still with us and who were appointed in this period, were Mr. John Frazier, Mr. Antonio Cirino, Miss Emilie Wildprett, and Mr. William Fales. In 1928 a gala celebration was held for the golden anniversary, honoring fifty years of achievement. 1935-43 Our latest achievements are the erection of the College Building in 1937, the construction of the Auditorium Building in 1941 and the purchase of the Waterman, Angell, and Congdon dormitories. Now our school is engaged in another war, more deadly than the first. Let us hope that the Rhode Island School of Design will come through as bravely as she did in the last war. SHIRLEY WOoDDELL 10