Guide to the L. Earle Rowe papers, 1910-1937


Rhode Island School of Design Archives
2 College Street
Providence, RI 02903
Tel: 401-709-5922
Fax: 401-709-5932
email: risdarchives@risd.edu

Published in 2010

Collection Overview

Title: L. Earle Rowe papers
Date range: 1910-1937
Creator: Rowe, L. Earle (Louis Earle), 1882-1937
Extent: 3.0 linear feet
Abstract: The L. Earle Rowe papers, 1910-1937, include correspondence, diaries, lectures, notes, and publications.
Language of materials: English
Repository: Rhode Island School of Design Archives
Collection number: 23.1.2

Scope & content

The L. Earle Rowe personal papers, 1910-1937, include correspondence (1912-1936), with correspondence regarding Rowe’s hire as Director in 1912, and typed copies of speeches delivered by Rowe. The papers also include personal diaries, 1910-1914 and 1931-1936, as well as books from Rowe’s personal library.

Some contents of this series are in French.

Access Points

Subject Names Subject Topics

Arrangement

The materials in this collection are arranged in four series:

  • I. Correspondence, 1912-1936
  • II. Diaries and records, 1910-1937
  • III. Lectures, 1915-1933
  • IV. Personal Library

Biographical note

Born in Providence, RI, L. Earle Rowe graduated from Brown University in 1904. While at Brown, Rowe studied drawing and watercolor painting at RISD as part of a new agreement between the two schools. He attended Saturday classes at RISD as a child in 1892. Studying under Professor William C. Poland (RISD President, 1896-1907), Rowe was one of the first Brown students to receive a Master's in Fine Arts (1906).

Rowe studied at the American School of Classical Studies, Athens (1906-1907) before accepting the position of Docent at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1907. He became an Assistant in the Egyptian Art Department in 1910 and then traveled to Egypt in 1912 as a Field Assistant on an archaeological expedition. He returned to Providence later that year to accept the position of Director.

Deemed RISD's first "museum man," Director Rowe devoted far greater energies to the Museum of Art than his predecessors serving as Secretary of the Museum Committee and Editor of The Rhode Island School of Design Bulletin, first published January 1913. He inaugurated Sunday Gallery Talks and Docent work. In addition, he wrote for the Bulletin of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Art and Archaeology, and Antiques. He attempted to resign in 1918 in order to serve during World War I. The Board of Trustees did grant a leave of absence, but the Armistice was signed before he could leave.

Rowe's well-being and the stress of his administrative duties led to the appointment of the first full time Dean in 1919. His health declined during the 1920s resulting in a leave of absence in 1928. His return and the resignation of the Dean brought about a profound change in the administrative structure of RISD in 1929. The Board of Trustees voted to divide his administrative duties between two equal positions: the Museum Director and the Educational Director. Rowe continued as Museum Director until his death February 17, 1937. Shortly thereafter, the Museum Director was placed under the administrative control of the newly created position of Executive Vice-President, which replaced the Educational Director.

Access & Use

Access to the collection: The use of certain documents and collections may be restricted. Please consult the Archives staff for further details.
Use of the materials: Permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from archival materials must be obtained in writing from the Archives. The researcher assumes full responsibility for use of material and for conformity to all applicable laws, including copyright.
Preferred citation: L. Earle Rowe papers, Rhode Island School of Design Archives.
Contact information: Rhode Island School of Design Archives
2 College Street
Providence, RI 02903
Tel: 401-709-5922
Fax: 401-709-5932
email: risdarchives@risd.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION  
Acquisition: Series 1, Correspondence of former RISD Museum Director L. Earle Rowe, presented to the Museum of Art in 1980 by his daughter Edith, found in the Rowe summer house in Sorrento, Maine. Series 2-4 were presented to the RISD Archives by granddaughter Anne Rowe in 2022.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID  
Author: Finding aid prepared by Douglas Doe and Andrew Martinez.
Encoding: Finding aid encoded by Douglas Doe 2010 May 06
Revisions:

2023 Mar 30

  • The finding aid was updated to include series 2-4.
  • Descriptive rules: Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

    Additional Information

    Inventory


    Series 1. Correspondence
    The L. Earle Rowe correspondence series largely comprises correspondence, as well as inventories, appraisals, newsclippings, and journal articles which have been created by RISD Museum of Art Director Rowe, agents of museums, galleries and cultural organizations, patrons, artists, vendors, and publishers. Also included are an annual travel expense record (1920/21), a college course outline, "The Appreciation of Fine Arts," prepared by Holmes Smith and approved by the Education Committee of the American Institute of Architects (1924), a publication, "The Betrayal of Andrew Carnegie," by artist Charles Vezin, and a memorial tribute for Eliza G. Radeke, written by Rowe.

    The series contains correspondence with Rowe's mother-in-law Edith Talbot Jackson, RISD graduate Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, and artist George William Eggers, who became director of the Worcester Art Museum. Correspondents represent numerous museums including the Brooklyn Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

    These records are arranged alphabetically by correspondent. Correspondents are generally grouped in "alpha" folders, however several notable correspondents are filed in folders with a personal or corporate name designation. A folder entitled "Miscellaneous Notes" is filed at the end of the arrangement. Within each folder, the contents are arranged alphabetically, with a secondary chronological organization.

    Some contents of this series are in French.

    Container Description Date
    Box 1, Folder 1 A
    1921-1933
    Box 1, Folder 2 B
    1913-1930
    Box 1, Folder 3 C
    1920-1933
    Box 1, Folder 4 D
    1927-1932
    Box 1, Folder 5 E
    1913-1932
    Box 1, Folder 6 George W. Eggers (Worcester)
    1927-1930
    Box 1, Folder 7 F
    1913-1933
    Box 1, Folder 8 G
    1912-1932
    Box 1, Folder 9 H
    1926-1931
    Box 1, Folder 10 I-L
    1922-1930
    Box 1, Folder 11 Edith Talbot Jackson
    1923-1930
    Box 1, Folder 12 M
    1913-1930
    Box 1, Folder 13 N-O
    1927-1930
    Box 1, Folder 14 P-Q
    1926-1934
    Box 1, Folder 15 Elizabeth Prophet
    1920-1930
    Box 1, Folder 16 R
    1916-1933
    Box 1, Folder 17 Eliza G. Radeke
    1928-1931
    Box 1, Folder 18 Rhode Island School of Design
    1920-1930
    Box 1, Folder 19 S
    1917-1936
    Box 1, Folder 20 T-V
    1927-1933
    Box 1, Folder 21 H.E. Thompson (Museum of )
    1927-1930
    Box 1, Folder 22 W-Y
    1913-1931
    Box 1, Folder 23 E.P. Warren
    1928
    Box 1, Folder 24 Miscellaneous Notes
    undated

    Series 2. Diaries and Records
    The L. Earle Rowe diaries and records series contains biographical information regarding Rowe's career and also includes personal diaries related to his travels abroad.

    These records are arranged by subject.

    Container Description Date
    Box 2, Folder 1 Biographical Information: Obituaries
    1937
    Box 2, Folder 2 Certificate of Membership for the Egyptian Expedition of Harvard University at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts
    1912
    Box 2, Folder 3 Correspondence: Position at RISD
    1912
    Box 2, Folder 4 Curriculum Vitae
    circa 1912
    Box 2, Folder 5 Diaries
    1910-1914
    Box 2, Folder 6 Diaries
    1931-1936
    Box 2, Folder 7 Invitations, Brown University 150th Anniversary Celebration
    1914
    Box 2, Folder 8 Photographs and Postcards, Various Historic Homes (7 items)
    undated
    Box 2, Folder 9 New Museum Notes
    1924

    Series 3. Lectures
    The L. Earle Rowe lectures series mostly comprises typed copies of lectures that Rowe delivered to audiences in the vicinity of Providence, Rhode Island. The series also includes research notes and quotations from various sources.

    These records are arranged alphabetically by lecture title or subject.

    Container Description Date
    Box 2, Folder 10 "Art and Industry"
    undated
    Box 2, Folder 11 "Art and the College Student"
    undated
    Box 2, Folder 12 “Art Interests of Europe During and After the War”
    undated
    Box 2, Folder 13 “The Art of the Etruscans”
    undated
    Box 2, Folder 14 “Biedermeier”
    undated
    Box 2, Folder 15 “Christie’s Auction Rooms, Sale of H.R.H. The Princess Royal’s Pictures, July 18, 1924: Slide list”
    1924 Jul 18
    Box 2, Folder 16 “Colonial and Early American Furniture”
    undated
    Box 2, Folder 17 “Color in Design”
    undated
    Box 2, Folder 18 “Controversial Remarks,” Providence Art Club
    1933 Apr 14
    Box 2, Folder 19 Cooperation Between Brown University and RISD
    undated
    Box 2, Folder 20 "Eclecticism in Roman Art
    undated
    Box 2, Folder 21 Egyptian lectures
    undated
    Box 2, Folder 22 Forgeries
    undated
    Box 2, Folder 23 “Furniture of Our Forefathers”
    undated
    Box 2, Folder 24 “Gilbert Stuart”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 1 “Goethe as an Artist”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 2 “Goethe in Italy”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 3 “Greece”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 4 “Industrial Art Education Today”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 5 “Japanese Sculpture”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 6 “John Carlile, Cabinet Maker”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 7 “Lost Pictures”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 8 “The Message of the East”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 9 “The Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design and the High School Teacher of Classics”
    circa 1935
    Box 3, Folder 10 Museum and Libraries
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 11 “Old Blue China”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 12 “Old Blue China”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 13 “Polychromy on Greek Sculpture”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 14 “The Producer, the Art Student, and the Museum”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 15 “Putting Salt on the Tale of Theseus”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 16 “The Rhode Island School of Design”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 17 “RISD Commencement Address”
    1915
    Box 3, Folder 18 “RISD Commencement Address”
    1916
    Box 3, Folder 19 “Romance in the Auction Room”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 20 “San Marino and Its Stamps”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 21 “Strawberry Hill and Its owner”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 22 Switzerland
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 23 Teaching and the Museum
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 24 “Treasures of the Boston Museum of Fine Art”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 25 “Use of the Museum by Teachers of Classics”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 26 “Wandering Afield”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 27 “William Guy Wall”
    1922
    Box 3, Folder 28 "A Young Man’s Hobby and an Old Man’s Joy”
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 29 School Lectures, Courses in Orientation
    1915-1916
    Box 3, Folder 30 Notes on the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 31 Notes, Treasures of the Cairo Museum
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 32 Miscellaneous Notes
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 33 Notebooks of Copied Texts
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 34 Various Quotations from Other Sources
    undated
    Box 3, Folder 35 Miscellaneous Pamphlets and Publications
    undated

    Series 4. Personal Library
    The L. Earle Rowe personal library series contains copies of published books that belonged to Rowe.

    These books are arranged alphabetically by author.

    Container Description Date
    Box 3, Folder 36 Greek Dress, by Abrams, Ethel B., 1908
    Box 3, Folder 37 A History of Egypt, by Breasted, James H., 1905
    Box 3, Folder 38 Polychromy in Greek Statuary, by Collignon, Maxime, 1896
    Box 4, Folder 1 A Handbook of Greek Sculpture, by Gardner, Ernest A., 1897
    Box 4, Folder 2 Primitive Athens as Described by Thucydides, by Harrison, Jane E., 1906
    Box 4, Folder 3 The Iliad of Homer, 1883
    Box 4, Folder 4 Greek Vases: Historical and Descriptive, by Horner, Susan, 1904
    Box 4, Folder 5 A Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts, by Jackson, A. V. Williams, 1914
    Box 5, Folder 1 The Potteries of Persia, by Kelekian, Dikran Khan, 1909
    Box 5, Folder 2 Various reprints, by Morse, Edward S.
    Box 5, Folder 3 Methods and Aims in Archaeology, by Petrie, W. M. F., 1904
    Box 5, Folder 4 Pottery of the Near East, by Pier, Garret C., 1909
    Box 5, Folder 5 The Preservation of Antiquities, by Rathgen, Friedrich, 1905
    Box 5, Folder 6 Catalogue of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Vases, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, by Robinson, Edward, 1893
    Box 6, Folder 1 Handbuch der Kunstgeschichte I Altertum, by Springer, Anton, 1904
    Box 6, Folder 2 Mythology and Monuments of Ancient Athens, by Verrall, Margaret de G., 1894
    Box 6, Folder 3 Prehistoric Art, by Wilson, Thomas, undated