Chatfield-Taylor, Adele, 1988-2013
Scope and Contents
These records include general correspondence and subject files collected by Adele Chatfield-Taylor during her time as President of the American Academy in Rome from 1988 to 2013. The records contain information ranging widely from strategic planning activities and work with the Academy's Board of Trustees to administrative matters and day-to-day operations of the Academy's offices in New York City and in Rome. They are a particularly rich source of information on the following topics. 1. The records contain many materials on financial and fund raising topics. For example, this collection includes records pertaining to the increase of the Academy's endowment during President Chatfield-Taylor's tenure, the balancing of the program and operating budgets, and the successful completion of a $75 million Centennial Campaign. 2. Most of the Rome Prize Fellowships and Residencies were successfully endowed during President Chatfield-Taylor's tenure, and the records show the long course of work with individual donors, private foundations, and federal agency donors as well as through special events to accomplish this objective. 3. Focusing on historical preservation and modernization of the physical plant, including landmark buildings, during President Chatfield-Taylor's presidency the buildings and gardens on the Academy's eleven-acre property in Rome were restored and renovated with $35 million raised for those purposes. The records contain detailed information about the nature and course of those complex activities, including the rededication of Villa Aurelia in 2002 after three years of extensive restoration and renovation. The records also contain some photographs and architectural plans for the renovations. 4. The leadership and operations of the Arthur and Janet C. Ross Library were endowed and its facilities rebuilt. 5. The place of the arts in the Academy's intellectual life was restored by re-establishing the Andrew Heiskell Arts Directorship. 6. The Rome Sustainable Food Project was successfully launched in 2007 as a replicable model of simple, sustainable food for Academy staff and residents in Rome, addressing a longstanding hospitality concern at the Academy.
Dates
- 1988-2013
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is partially restricted. Please contact the Archivist for further information.
Biographical / Historical
A native of Virginia, Adele Chatfield-Taylor (1945- ) is a professional historic preservationist and arts administrator who has lived and worked in New York City and in Washington, D.C. since 1967. She earned an M.S. from the Graduate School of Architecture and Planning and Historic Preservation at Columbia University and a B.A. from Manhattanville College. Ms. Chatfield-Taylor joined the staff of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1973 where she served in various capacities until 1980 when she established and became Executive Director of the New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation. She was an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture at Columbia University in the Graduate School of Architecture from 1976 to 1984. She was Vice-Chairman of the Policy Panel for the Design Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts from 1978 to 1982. In 1984 she became Director of the Design Arts Program for the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C., supporting projects in all areas of design through grants and advocacy activities. Ms. Chatfield-Taylor became President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Academy in Rome in December 1988 where she served until 2013.
Ms. Chatfield-Taylor's awards include the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2002) and the Vincent Scully Prize from the National Building Museum (2012). She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996.
Ms. Chatfield-Taylor has been a member of numerous boards concerned with arts and preservation. They include Preservation ACTION, the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions, the Architectural History Foundation, the Spoleto Festival, the National Building Museum, the Jeffersonian Restoration Advisory Board at the University of Virginia, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She was a member of the Commission of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C. from 1984 to 1994. In 2016 President Barack Obama appointed her to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Ms. Chatfield-Taylor is married to the playwright John Guare.
Extent
From the Record Group: 49.18 Linear Feet (31 record storage cartons, 24 letter-size document cases, 2 half-size letter document cases)
Arrangement
The records are organized alphabetically except for Events, a subset of the Subject Files, and Trips, which are organized chronologically within each of those categories. The arrangement of these records reflects their original order as established by Adele Chatfield-Taylor.
Processing Information
Adele Chatfield-Taylor's papers are currently being processed. This finding aid includes descriptions for her Subject Files for titles beginning with letters A-Z. It also includes descriptions for the following records arranged in chronological order: Events and Trips.
Repository Details
Part of the The Records of the American Academy in Rome Repository