Summary Information
At a Glance
| Call No.: | UA#0100 |
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| Bib ID: | 7953736 View CLIO record |
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| Creator(s): | Columbia University. University Archives. |
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| Title: | School of the
Arts Records,
1895-2011
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| Physical description: | 45 linear feet (82 document boxes, 4 record cartons, 1 oversized folder)
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| Language(s): | This collection is in English.
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| Access: |
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least
two business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and
Manuscript Library reading room.
Files concerning student records are restricted. Please see container list for exact
box and folders.
More information » |
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Arrangement
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in eight series.
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Description
Scope and Content
The School of the Arts Records consists of administrative files from several offices
within the School. The files span from the creation of the Department of Fine Arts
through the mid-1990s and document the day to day maintenance of the School as well
as the large scale vision held by faculty and administration. General administrative
files such as financial records, meeting minutes, proposals, reports, and
correspondence comprise the bulk of the collection. Correspondence from Dean
Davidson Taylor and Associate Dean Grafton Nunes is well represented. Records from
the Translation Center tend to focus on individual issues, but there are also files
concerning fundraising, publicity, and the many awards granted on a yearly
basis.
Series I: Administrative Files, 1954-1996
The largest series in the collection, Series I contains administrative
records for the various departments within the School of the Arts. These
records consist of statistics of course and department enrollment,
admissions information, correspondence and documents related to different
faculty members, financial records, committee meeting minutes, in particular
the Committee on Instruction which was the governing body of the School.
There are also reports to higher administrative, proposals for potential
programs, records concerning the renovation of various performance
facilities, such as Prentis Hall and Altschul Auditorium and Harkness
Theatre. Included are Schuyler Chapin's extensive correspondence files
(Dean, Faculty of the Arts, 1976-1987). This series is arranged
alphabetically by subject.
Series II: Department of Fine Arts, 1895-1959
Series II is comprised of general administrative records for the Department
of Arts, the precursor to the School of the Arts. Files held in this series
include financial records, departmental meeting minutes, correspondence
between instructors, and files related to the creation and administration of
outreach programs. There are also proposals and records concerning the
establishment of various programs within the department as well as the
staffing of those programs. These records illustrate how educational
theories and trends grow and evolve. This series is arranged alphabetically
by subject.
Series III: Grafton Nunes (Associate Dean), 1961-1996
Grafton Nunes's administrative records are held in this series. These subject
files cover a range of topics such as maintaining and improving the
undergraduate and programs, building usage, faculty concerns, and alumni.
There are also files and meeting minutes related to different committees,
the bulk of which are from the Subcommittee on Instructional Budgeting. This
series is arranged alphabetically by subject.
Series IV: Davidson Taylor, 1952-1972
This series consists of administrative correspondence and work-related
journals of Davidson Taylor in his capacity as Director of the Columbia
University Arts Center, Chairman of the Committee of the Arts, Director and
Dean of the School of the Arts, and Special Assistant to the President for
Education in the Arts. Series IV was originally two separate collections
that have been integrated into the School of the Arts Records. In light of
that, much of the original arrangement has been kept. Therefore, this series
is divided into five subseries.
Subseries IV.1: Alphabetical Correspondence, 1952-1971
Subseries 1 contains alphabetical correspondence files. Some of the
outgoing correspondence is duplicated in Subseries 2. Included are the
files pertaining to the Student Protests of 1968.
Subseries IV.2: Chronological Correspondence, 1960-1971
Subseries 2 holds carbon copies of outgoing correspondence of Taylor's
office. Also includes minutes of the Committee on Instruction for the
School of the Arts.
Subseries IV.3: Foundations, 1953-1972
This subseries is composed of correspondence with and proposals for
funding from various local and national foundations to support the
construction of the Art Center as well as fellowships and programming
money for the School of the Arts. Files are arranged alphabetically by
the name of the foundation.
Subseries IV.4: Urban Center, 1958-1972
The Urban Center subseries consists primarily of proposals and related
correspondence with the School of the Arts, Urban Center, and outside
organizations and individuals regarding funding for Arts-based minority
community projects as well as scholarship money for minorities to attend
the School of the Arts. The subseries is arranged alphabetically by
topic or genre.
Subseries IV.5: Journals, 1959-1968
The last subseries holds Taylor's work-related journals. Within each
journal is an index of individuals who are present in the journal with
their respective pages. Thus, a researcher can look to see if Taylor met
with faculty member Jack Beeson and turn to the notes from that meeting.
Subjects covered in the journals include soliciting funding from
individuals and organizations, faculty-related issues, hiring needs,
departmental issues, and building and space concerns. There is one
journal dedicated to the Hammerstein Theatre.
Series V: Translation Center, 1972-1994
Series V contains administrative files from the Translation Center. The
series has been divided into two subseries: General and Bound Issues.
Subseries V.1: General, 1972-1994
The bulk of subseries 1 consists of files related to the awards that the
Center grants annually. These are both general awards and
language-specific. The files contain submissions, correspondence with
accompanying documentation, and financial records. There are also quite
a number files pertaining to the board such as meeting minutes,
correspondence, nominations, and recommendations. Of particular interest
are the records concerning the creation and development of the
Translation Center's bi-annual publication, Translation: submissions
with comments from the staff, budgets detailing every item, from the
printing of the physical item to the celebratory party thrown at the
end, and sample photographs and drawings, and mock-ups of the final
issue.
Subseries V.2: Audio Visual Material,
1975
Subseries 2 contains several reel to reels and one audiotape from a
series called "Translation Project" held at Columbia in 1975. Topics
range from translating Asian texts to working on poetry.
Series VI: Photographs, 1968-1997
This small series is composed of photographs, contact sheets, and slides from
presentations, classes, and special events. Series VI has been divided into
two subseries: School of the Arts and Translation Center. They are arranged
alphabetically by name, title, or subject.
Subseries 1: School of the Arts, 1968-1997
Subseries 1 holds photographs, contact sheets, negatives, and slides of
School of the Arts classes, faculty, fundraisers, marketing initiatives
and special events.
Subseries 2: Translation Center, 1973-1984
Subseries 2 contains photographs, contact sheets, and negatives of
Translation Center staff, parties, issue launches, and other special
events.
Series VII: Additions, 1977-1989
Materials relating mostly to projects and foundations.
Series VIII: MFA Student Theatre Production Materials, 1979-2011
This series contains contact sheets, negatives, slides, programs, promotional materials (postcards, fliers, and posters), photographs, newspaper reviews and articles, press releases, production list, script, business information, and correspondence. Materials range from 1979 to 2011, with a gap between 1984 and 1992. A majority of the materials from 1979-1984 are newspaper clippings – reviews and articles pertaining to the program, its facilities, and productions. From the 1992 to 2003 year, many productions have contact sheets, slides, photographs, or negatives. The later materials are almost solely promotional. Any production that had more than one type of related material (i.e. postcards and programs, fliers, press releases, or reviews) received its own folder, while productions that were only represented by a postcard, flier, or program on its own were grouped together by school year.
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Using the Collection
Access Restrictions
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least
two business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and
Manuscript Library reading room.
Files concerning student records are restricted. Please see container list for exact
box and folders.
Restrictions on Use
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material
from the collection must be requested from the University Archivist, Rare Book and
Manuscript Library (RBML). The RBML approves permission to publish that which it
physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the
patron.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); School of the Arts records; Box and
Folder; University Archives, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University
Library.
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About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Archives; machine readable
finding aid created by Columbia University Libraries Digital Library Program
Division
Processing Information
Papers processed 2010 September Lea Osborne
Papers cataloged 2010 September Lea Osborne
Machine readable finding aid generated from MARC-AMC source via XSLT
conversion September 14, 2010
Finding aid written in English.
2010-09-20
xml document instance created by Lea Osborne
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Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
Subjects
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History / Biographical Note
Historical Note
Department of Fine Arts
The Department of Music was established within the Faculty
of Philosophy in 1896. Six years later the department was established as an
independent School of Music under the Division of Fine Arts (which included the
School of Architecture).
The Department of Fine Arts was established in 1921. The
original goal was to allow the students to become familiar with aspects of
architecture, painting, sculpture, and any related scholarly work in those fields.
The first course that was offered was a general survey of western art from antiquity
to the Renaissance period. The purpose, according to a history of the department,
was "to acquaint those students whose programs would permit no more than a single
course in Fine Arts with the outstanding names, monuments, and concepts in the arts,
and to provide a framework for more intensive exploration in the several branches of
the Fine Art..." Intermediate-level courses that allowed students to study in more
depth were also established. An example of this would be Italian Renaissance
Painting.
While the department steadily grew, its success rested on
the economy. In other word, the economic outlook affected student interest in these
fields and thus, the department size. Another factor affecting the department was a
changing view of education and focus at Columbia College. As the liberal arts
program evolved, the changes naturally affected specialized departments within the
college. By the late 1930s, however, collaboration between Humanities and the
Departments of Music and Fine Arts balanced out some of the inequalities. The focus
of the department also solidified. In the 1950s, the department increased adding
more faculty members in order to handle the growing amount of students.
The Arts Center Program, a forerunner to the School of the
Arts, was never realized as such. Instead, Columbia created the Program in the Arts
in 1958, which took over responsibility for the Schools of Dramatic Art and Painting
and Sculpture. The Committee on the Arts administered the instruction of the Program
in the Arts and advised on the Arts Center and the creation of the School of the
Arts. The Trustees of Columbia University established the School of the Arts to take
over the responsibilities of the Program of the Arts in December 1965. The School of
the Arts was created with the intention of consolidating the many courses in the
arts that had been offered at Columbia since the late nineteenth century.
Davidson Taylor
Davidson Taylor was born in 1907 in Tennessee. He received
a B.A. in 1927 from Mississippi College and a Th.M. in 1930 from Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary. Before coming to Columbia University, Taylor worked at CBS
beginning as an announcer for the Philharmonic and held various posts including the
Director of the Music Division and ending as Vice President. After that, Taylor had
been at NBC as Vice President in charge of news, public affairs, and sports and was
also a consultant to the Lincoln Center Committee for the New York Public Library.
In 1959, Columbia asked Taylor to be the Director of the Arts Center. Even though
the Arts Center was never realized, Taylor spent many years fund-raising for the
Center. In 1963, he became the Chairman of the Committee on the Arts, the
administration committee of the Program of the Arts. In December 1965, when the
School of the Arts took over the instructional responsibilities of the Program of
the Arts, Taylor became director, and later dean in 1969, of the newly established
School. He became Special Assistant to the President for Education in the Arts in
September 1971. Taylor retired from Columbia University in 1975 and died in July
1979.
Grafton Nunes
Grafton Nunes worked for Columbia University for twenty-two
years. He received his B.A. in English and Religion from the College of the Holy
Cross, his M.F.A. in Film History, Theory, and Criticism from Columbia, and his
M.Phil in Theater History and Film Studies from Columbia. Nunes first began working
at Columbia as the administrative assistant for the Film Division. In 1985, he was
hired as a lecturer in the theatre division. He taught until 1988 when he was
promoted to Assistant Dean. In 1990, Nunes was named Associate Dean of the School of
the Arts. Besides his work in academia, Nunes was an active film writer and
producer.
Translation Center
The Translation Center was founded in 1972 by Frank
MacShane (a writing professor in the School of the Arts), Robert Payne, and William
Jay Smith. Since its foundation it has been governed by a board of literary
translators. The mission of the Center is to increase "the number of works available
in English from foreign literature..." By doing so, the Center makes "the American
public aware of the concerns that are common to peoples of the world." To accomplish
this, the Center has three major outputs. It grants $10,000 each year in awards to
literary translators, it publishes twice a year
Translation
a magazine filled with poetry, nonfiction, and contemporary fiction
translated into English, and it operates a Publishing Advisory Service. Although the
Translation Center is housed on campus, it is funded primarily through grants. The
School of the Arts does, however, provide some financing of the Director's
position.
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