- Royal B. Farnum
Royal Bailey Farnum (
June 11 ,1884 –August 29 ,1967 ) was an American art educator who served in administrative roles in various public and private educational institutions in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island during the first half of the 20th Century.Citation | last = Ohles | first = Frederik | last2 = Ohles | first2 = Shirley | publication-date = 1978 | title = Biographical Dictionary of Modern American Educators | edition = 1 | publication-place =Westport, Connecticut | publisher = Greenwood Press | isbn = 9780837198934 | oclc = 3447005Early life and career
He was born in
Somerville, Massachusetts to Daniel Stoddard Farnum and Flora L. Bailey. He married the former Adeline Burnett onDecember 19 ,1907 and raised three children.Citation | title=Dr. Farnum, 83, Dies; Famed in Art World | newspaper=The Providence Journal | publication-place=Providence, Rhode Island | date=1967-08-29 | year=1967 | month=August | page=1He graduated from the
Massachusetts Normal Art School in 1906 and took a job as the Director of the Normal Department of theCleveland School of Art , while simultaneously teaching art in the Cleveland Public School District. In 1909, he became the Director of Art Education for the State of New York.Farnum was initially hired to be the Superintendent of the Department of Applied Arts at the
Rochester Athenæum and Mechanics Institute in 1918, but rose to the presidency the next year, serving until 1921.Citation | last = Saffran | first = Michael | publication-date = March 2007 | title = RIT's presidential history | periodical = RIT news & events | publication-place =Henrietta, New York | publisher = Rochester Institute of Technology | volume = 39 | issue = 11 | url = http://www.rit.edu/~930www/NewsEvents/2007/Mar02/t6.html | accessdate = 2008-01-18 Farnum, faced with state-mandated raises for secondary school teachers and enrollment swollen with veterans ofWorld War I , embarked on a fund-raising campaign to boost the compensation of the Institute's faculty.Citation | last = Gordon | first = Dane R. | publication-date = 2007 | title = Rochester Institute of Technology: Industrial Development and Educational Innovation in an American City, 1829 – 2006 | edition = 1 | publication-place =Henrietta, New York | publisher = RIT Press | page = 117 | isbn = 9781933360249 | oclc = 80360669 He also considered proposals to merge with theUniversity of Rochester or to take over the University's old buildings as it moved to its riverside campus, ideas that were opposed by bothGeorge Eastman and Carl Lomb.Citation | last = Gordon | first = Dane R. | publication-date = 2007 | title = Rochester Institute of Technology: Industrial Development and Educational Innovation in an American City, 1829 – 2006 | edition = 1 | publication-place =Henrietta, New York | publisher = RIT Press | page = 118 | isbn = 9781933360249 | oclc = 80360669In 1921, he returned to the
Massachusetts College of Art to serve as its President and as Director of Art Education for the state of Massachusetts.The Rhode Island School of Design
In 1929, he took a job as Educational Director for the
Rhode Island School of Design and was subsequently promoted to Executive Vice President in 1937.He served as president of the National Association for Art Education from 1936 – 1938, the National Association of Schools of Design from 1925 – 1936, and the Federal Council on Art Education from 1925 – 1936.
During
World War II , he helped the war effort by assisting in the development of color schemes for optimal camouflage.Farnum was bestowed with an honorary Art D. from
Brown University in 1935 and received the Michael Friedsam Medal in 1942. RISD's Farnum Hall is named after him. He retired from RISD in 1946 and died inPlainfield, Connecticut in 1967.elected works
*Citation
last = Farnum
first = Royal
publication-date = 1914
title = Present status of drawing and art in the elementary and secondary schools of the United States
publication-place = Washington
publisher = G.P.O.
oclc = 1399567.
*Citation
last = Farnum
first = Royal
publication-date = 1916
title = The manual arts in New York State
publication-place = Albany
publisher = University of the State of New York
oclc = 26408179.
*Citation
last = Farnum
first = Royal
publication-date = 1948
title = Learning more about pictures, with reference text on selected works of art
publication-place = Westport, CT
publisher = Artext Prints
oclc = 1438662.References
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