 | Board of Visitors minutes November 14, 1947 |  |
E. APPENDIX E
Estimated cost of the recommended program for
Visual Fine Arts, Majors in Art for B.A. degree
If satisfactory appointees could be obtained for lesser grades of faculty members than estimated,
the budget might be squeezed down $1,000.00. It is more likely to secure the right men it will
have to be squeezed in the higher direction. Combination of skills of the teachers is another factor.
Without someone of experience in teaching who can assume the direction of the visual arts there is an
impossible administrative situation. The present Professor of Art and Architecture desires to drop the
first half of his title. Teaching the subject of most importance, guiding all the design, and administration
of architecture is a full load and added to this is the direction of the Fine Arts Library and
of the Museum. The latter two you are urged to provide for. In September the visual arts should be
on their feet enough to have a member of that staff assume direction.
| One part time instructor in Creative Design, lowest grade of instructor's salary |
$ 2,640.00 |
| Two assistant professors and one associate professor ($3,510.00, $3,930.00, and $4,400.00) |
11,840.00 |
| Librarian, Grade VI (Grade said necessary by Dr. Clemons) | 2,160.00 |
| Honorarium, Curator of Museum of Fine Arts | 500.00 |
| Operating expenses of School of Visual Arts | 3,500.00 |
| Increase in Museum Budget | 1,900.00 |
| $22,540.00 | |
| If lesser or minimum sums for faculty, museum curator, and museum budget are estimated |
$20,000.00 |
Salaries in the above budget are subject to periodical increases.
The teacher of advanced work need not be appointed for the first year of operation and his
estimated salary should be used that year for purchases of new equipment; otherwise, there should be
$4,000.00 set up for new equipment. The Architectural School contributes a large amount of equipment.
ALLOCATION OF CARRUTHERS HOUSE
The allocation of the house on East Range formerly occupied by Mr. E. I. Carruthers was referred
to the Buildings and Grounds Committee with authority to act.
OUTDOOR SWIMMING POOL
The following report on the progress of plans for an outdoor swimming pool was presented by
Mr. Christopher B. Garnett, Chairman of the Buildings and Grounds Committee.
Mr. Stettinius
Members of the Board of Visitors of the University
The Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Board of Visitors, meeting today
in Charlottesville, adopted the following resolution to present to the Board:
We recommend to the Board that the site of the outdoor swimming pool be on
the location of the present reflecting pool for the following reasons:
1) Construction of the swimming pool will remove the present hazard and
eyesore.
2) It will be convenient to the Gymnasium and proposed Student Union Building.
3) It can be used as part of the development of a beautiful area.
The Committee feels that the pool must be highly sanitary and that necessary
construction be carried out to make it available to women students.
We recommend that the architects chosen for the construction of the new dormitories
and Student Union Building of the University be requested to make a study and
prepare plans for consideration for such a pool and landscape gardening of the area.
MCGREGOR LIBRARY
The following resolution was adopted:
The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, having reviewed the report of the
Curator of the McGregor Library for the period of its first ten years, hereby resolve.
That the gift of this great collection of Americana, the first such Library to come to the
South, has had an inestimable value in the advancement of the humanistic studies at the University and
that its effect on the life and culture of the South and of the nation, though not measurable in exact
terms, has been extensive and wholesome;
That by attracting scholars to the University, not less than by making available to its own
faculty and students the historical monuments of our past, it has fostered the growth of the understanding
of our own heritage; that it has strengthened the traditional Virginian beliefs in our American
forms of life and government; that it has served to broaden and interpret the influence and meaning of
the expression "Jeffersonian Democracy"; and that it has stimulated the study and appreciation of
history in a manner and by a means not heretofore available in this region of the United States.
That the Rector and Visitors have observed with profound satisfaction the steady growth of
the McGregor Library and its services to many schools of the University; that at least one tangible
measurement of the Library's influence can be found in the phenomenal increase in the study of history
since the establishment of the McGregor Library, the faculty in American history having exactly doubled,
and during this same ten-year period, the graduate enrollment of students in history having come to exceed
that of all other schools in the humanities, while undergraduate enrollment has jumped to nearly
one thousand students, giving history third place among the undergraduate schools.
That any diminution of the income of the McGregor Library for acquisitions, with resultant
decrease of strength and usefulness, would be viewed by the Rector and Visitors with the keenest regret.
The Rector and Visitors further resolve that for the next ensuing ten years they propose to
continue at least in its present strength and capacity the staff and maintenance of the Rare Book and
Manuscript Division of its Library, of which the McGregor Library is an integral and important part;
that the $2,500.00 which has annually for ten years been spent by the University for additions to the
McGregor Library be reassigned to the Rare Book and Manuscript Division for the next ensuing ten years,
and in the event of further appropriations from McGregor Fund that this money or appropriate parts of
it be specifically designated for additions to the McGregor Library in the same manner as under the
original Deed of Gift.
They resolve further that application be made by the President of the University to McGregor
Fund for a ten-year annual grant for additions to the McGregor Library, so that the growth of the library
along the lines laid out by the late Tracy W. McGregor and the Trustees of McGregor Fund may be continued
at least on its present level.
That the Rector and Visitors would be especially gratified if the Trustees of McGregor Fund
would consider an eventual endowment of the McGregor Library, which would constitute a lasting guarantee
that this "Library of American History" would maintain the permanent and continuous growth essential to
the vitality of such a library.
That the Rector and Visitors would urge upon the Trustees the continuance of the wise counsel
and friendly help of an Advisory Committee for the McGregor Library such as has met semiannually during
this ten-year period, and that they would hope that the Trustees of McGregor Fund would be willing to
have representatives from their number continue to serve on such a committee.
DUNNINGTON PROPERTY
A proposal to lease part of the Dunnington property for the erection of an ice-cream and soft-drink
stand was disapproved by the Board.
ACCOUNT WITH CITIZENS BANK
A request from the Citizens Bank and Trust Company that the University open an account with that
bank was presented and was referred to the President with power to act.
SALARIES OF MEDICAL FACULTY
The President reported on a conference with the clinicians of the Department of Medicine, and
action on this matter was deferred until the December meeting of the Board.
The following resolution was adopted:
RESOLVED by the Board of Visitors of the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
that medical contracts for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1947 be settled on the basis of
the previous year's contracts.
MEDICAL TUITION FOR VIRGINIA G.I.'S
The President made a report on the study of the tuition of Virginia veterans in the Medical
School, in which he recommended the awarding of scholarships to these veterans. The Board approved the
awarding of such scholarships, the amount to each individual not to exceed the difference between the
tuition rates for Virginians and non-Virginians.
LOAN TO UNIVERSITY PRESS
The report of the President on a petition from the University Press for a loan from the endowment
funds for new equipment was referred to the Finance Committee with power to act.
HERMITAGE FOUNDATION MATTER
The Committee appointed at the July 11 meeting of the Board to meet with Mrs. Sloane for a discussion
of the Hermitage Foundation matter, presented the following report.
The Committee appointed by the Rector to investigate and report on the proposal of Mrs. Florence
K. Sloane that there be an arrangement made between the Hermitage Foundation and the University of Virginia,
whereby the latter would direct and carry on the work of the Foundation after Mrs. Sloane's death, respectfully
reports as follows:
The Hermitage Foundation is a charitable corporation organized in 1937 under the laws of the
State of Virginia.
It is the owner by deed from Mr. and Mrs. William Sloane of a tract of land of seven acres located
in Lochhaven, an extremely desirable residential section of the City of Norfolk. The property is in
the form of a peninsula jutting out into the Lafayette River. There are three buildings, in the English
Tudor Style, the major one being partially occupied as the home of Mrs. Sloane.
This house has fourteen galleries filled with many rare paintings and objects of art, with
special emphasis on Eastern art. This is the lifetime collection of Mr. and Mrs. Sloane and it has been
transferred to the Foundation.
A copy of a newspaper clipping giving a more detailed description of the property and containing
pictures of the house and of some of the objects of art is attached hereto.
At the present time the building or museum is open from Tuesday through Saturday from 1:00 to
5:00 p.m., and on Sunday from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. In addition a series of art lessons for both children and
adults is conducted in another building.
The Committee has received the general impression that the facilities of the museum were not
being very widely used, perhaps due to the rather remote location, and possibly also to the manner in
which it has been conducted.
The Foundation is now being financed by the income from an irrevocable trust created by Mrs.
Sloane. The trustee, The Guaranty Trust Company, now holds the principal sum of approximately $270,000;
the income from this fund for the last five years has been as follows:
| 1942 | $ 3,500.00 |
| 1943 | 4,000.00 |
| 1944 | 7,000.00 |
| 1945 | 9,500.00 |
| 1946 | 10,000.00 |
Under the terms of the trust nine-tenths of each year's income is available for the support of
the Foundation. The remaining tenth is added to the principal until $100,000 is accumulated when the entire
income becomes payable to the Foundation.
Under the will of William Sloane, a trust was created of which the present principal amounts
to $250,000. This sum is held in trust for the life of Mrs. Sloane. Under its terms she was given the
power to invade the principal, but she is about to surrender this power. Upon the death of Mrs. Sloane
one-half of the principal is paid to the Foundation and the balance is to be divided into two funds,
each of which is to be held in trust for the life of one of Mrs. Sloane's sons. Upon the death of each
son the principal of his trust is to be paid over to the Foundation.
Mrs. Sloane's will also makes a bequest to The Hermitage Trust, of an amount estimated to be at
least $100,000.00. This will make an aggregate ultimate amount available to the Foundation, directly or
through the trust, of not less than $620,000.00.
The buildings upon The Hermitage property, and owned by The Foundation, are valued at approximately
$225,000.00. The extensive water frontage enhances the value of the land. It is conservatively
estimated by real estate agents to be worth $150,000.00.
The art objects, paintings and the like, which are the property of the museum or Foundation, are
estimated to be worth $200,000.00.
Thus the aggregate involved in value in the proposal made by Mrs. Sloane is at least $1,200,000.
Mrs. Sloane proposes that the University of Virginia have a minority representation on the
Board of Trustees of the Foundation during her lifetime - (she is a woman well over seventy), that the
name of the University be linked with that of the Hermitage Foundation; that the University, through its
representatives on the Board, contribute advice and assistance in the conduct of the museum and school.
She would be willing to agree in advance to a definite program of activities. She would reserve for
herself and her family a portion of the second floor of the museum building for living quarters.
Upon Mrs. Sloane's death she would expect the University to have a majority representation on
the Foundation Board, although she would like to continue to have her family represented thereon for a
period of years.
Mrs. Sloane's proposal contemplates that the present plans of the Foundation be carried out
in general by the maintenance of the museum and art classes in Norfolk. If it should appear subsequently
that public interest in these activities has ceased, or if the site should become undesirable, Mrs. Sloane
would be willing for the activities of the Foundation to be transferred to Charlottesville to a suitable
fireproof, air conditioned building which could be erected, we believe, with the proceeds of the real
estate in Norfolk. She expresses a desire to have the building in Charlottesville patterned as closely
as possible on the present building in order that the beautiful panelling, part of which was imported
from Europe, may be reinstalled and the paintings appropriately reestablished. The committee doubts that
the English Tudor style of house, in which style the museum is constructed, would harmonize with the
architecture at the University. However, while the point has not been discussed with Mrs. Sloane, we do
not believe that she would insist on the building being reconstructed exactly as it now is if the activities
were transferred to Charlottesville.
The Committee does not believe it wise to approach the matter with any idea of transferring these
activities from Norfolk because extremely unfavorable political implications might arise from any report
that such a step were contemplated. However, it can do no harm to have in the agreement with the Foundation
a saving provision to the effect that the property could be sold and activities removed.
It is the view of the Committee that the proposal of Mrs. Sloane is an attractive one, involving
as it does in itself little or no increased financial obligation.
However, the Committee considers that it would be an anomalous situation for the University to
undertake what might be described as an extension or branch in the fine arts in view of the fact that
there is no present school of painting and sculpture at the University. Indeed, Mrs. Sloane's proposal
is predicated upon the establishment of such a school.
The Committee, therefore respectfully reports that the first decision to be reached is whether
or not the University desires to establish a School of Painting and Sculpture. That decision must, of
course, be made by the Board, after whatever study and investigation it may deem proper.
The matter has some urgency because we are informed that on account of her age Mrs. Sloane desires
to settle as promptly as possible the carrying on of the activities of the museum. In addition,
the letter from her attorney informs us that she has been approached by another large institution of
learning outside of Virginia. She, however, would prefer an affiliation with an institution within the
State.
The Committee spent the better part of a day conferring with Mrs. Sloane and viewing the
property and its contents. In addition the chairman has had four conferences with Mrs. Sloane.
November 3, 1947.
The Board directed that a copy of the Report of the Fine Arts Committee be transmitted by Mr.
Barron Black to Mrs. Florence K. Sloane to show intent of the Board to comply with one of the provisions
under which the Hermitage Foundation might be transferred to the University of Virginia.
UNIVERSITY BUDGET
The Rector proposed that a summary of the biennial budget requests for 1948-1950 be prepared
and sent to the members of the Board, and that the Bursar submit to the Finance Committee the detailed
University budget on Wednesday, November 19.
| Board of Visitors minutes November 14, 1947 | |