Guide to the Brown University Corporation minutes and reports, 1869-2001

John Hay Library , Special Collections
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu

Published in 2013

Collection Overview

Title:	Brown University Corporation minutes and reports
Date range:	1869-2001
Creator:	Brown University. Corporation.
Extent:	24.0 Linear feet
Abstract:	The Brown University Corporation Minutes and Reports contains minutes of Corporation meetings (1939-2001), minutes of the Advisory and Executive Committees (1929-1994), and reports produced by the Advisory and Executive Committee (1869-1992).
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library , Special Collections
Collection number:	OF.1B.1

Scope & content

The Brown University Corporation minutes and reports contains materials dated from 1869 to 2001. They have been organized into five series, each arranged by date. The first series comprises Corporation minutes, dated from 1939 to 1997. The remaining series consist of records of the Advisory and Executive Committee. These materials include minutes (1925-2001), reports (1869-1992), and a journal (1925-1926).

Access Points

Subject Organizations

• Brown University--Administration.

Subject Topics

• Universities and colleges--Administration

Document Types

• Minutes
• Reports

Subject Topics

• Education

Arrangement

The Brown University Corporation Minutes and Reports are organized in five series:

• Series I. Corporation minutes
• Series II. Advisory and Executive Committee minutes
• Series III. Advisory and Executive Committee minutes, 1942-1994
• Series IV. Advisory and Executive Committee reports
• Series V. Unprocessed accessions

The authority and responsibilities of the Corporation, a bicameral body composed of a Board of Fellows with twelve members and a Board of Trustees with forty-two, are set forth in the Charter of the University granted by the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1764. "It is our fixed star; we can do nothing that contradicts its prohibitions or transgresses its grants of power," states Henry Wriston in The Structure of Brown University.

The Charter originally provided for a twelve-member Board of Fellows and a Board of Trustees of thirty-six1. It provided further that eight of the Fellows should always be Baptists and the rest "indifferently of any or all denominations." The President was always to be a Fellow and always a Baptist. Of the thirty-six Trustees, the Charter provided that twenty-two should be Baptists, five Quakers, four Congregationalists, and five Episcopalians.

In 1926 the Charter was amended to provide for six additional Trustees, bringing the Board of Trustees to its present number of forty-two. These six were to be elected "without regard to denominational or religious affiliations." At the same time the qualification that the President must be a Baptist was removed. In 1942 a further amendment to the Charter removed all denominational qualifications for service on the Corporation.

Of the 42 trustees, 14 are elected by alumni pursuant to an agreement between the Corporation and the Alumni Association. These 14 trustees include the current and two past Brown Alumni Association chairs, and eleven others elected to six year terms. The rest of the Trustees, called Term Trustees, are nominated by the Committee on Trustee Vacancies. Careful selection of internally appointed trustees and those elected through the alumni ensures that Corporation members have the professional and personal backgrounds needed to meet their fiduciary and oversight responsibilities.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	Researchers should take note that Corporation records are restricted for 50 years from the date of the record's creation. Minutes of business meetings held subsequent to July 1, 2009 shall remain closed to researchers for a period of twenty-five (25) years from the date of the record’s creation.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Brown University Corporation Minutes and Reports, OF.1B.1, Brown University Archives.
Contact information:	John Hay Library , Special Collections Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Tel: 401-863-2146 email: hay@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Brown University Library staff.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013 December 14
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Sponsor:	Processing funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Additional Information

Inventory

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