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Roy Fleming collection

 Collection
Identifier: KA-0065

Summary

Canadian elementary school teacher Roy F. Fleming (1878-1958) produced the notebook and drawing in this collection while attending the New York School of Art (later, Parsons School of Design) between 1902 and 1907. Fleming's notes include sketches illustrating lectures by Frank Alvah Parsons, William Merritt Chase, and Robert Henri. The collection also includes a photograph of Fleming, his diploma, and a color chart created for art instruction.

Dates

  • 1900 - 1915

Creator

Extent

0.3 Cubic Feet (1 box, 4 folders)

Language of Materials

English

Scope and Contents of Collection

The Roy Fleming collection includes his 1907 diploma from the New York School of Fine Art, an illustrated notebook, a photographic portrait, a drawing, and an intricate color chart developed by Fleming for art instruction. The drawing, which depicts a woman watering a garden, is signed and dated by Fleming with a notation that it was created while he was a student at the New York School of Fine Art.

With entries dated between 1900 and 1907, the notebook, "Composition Scenes Illustrations Lectures," features lecture notes accompanied by diagrams, quick sketches, caricatures, doodles, and a color wheel. Many of the identified entries are from Frank Alvah Parson's lectures on composition, art history, and psychology. In some entries, Fleming transcribes lectures in the words of the lecturer, affording a direct glimpse at distinctive teaching approaches and philosophies. In addition to Parsons, lecturers include Robert Henri, William Merritt Chase, and Edward Penfield at the New York School of Art, and Henry H. Davis, Daniel A. Huebsch and others at venues around New York City, including the YMCA, Cooper Union, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Some notes appear to have been made in preparation for tests or exams focusing on art education.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use. Please contact archivist@newschool.edu for appointment.

Use Restrictions

To publish images of material from this collection, permission must be obtained in writing from the New School Archives. Please contact: archivist@newschool.edu.

Biographical note

Roy Franklin Fleming was born in 1878 or 1879 in Derby Township, Ontario. He studied to become an elementary school teacher and, at the age of 17, passed his Province of Ontario Education Department examinations. Between 1896 and 1900, Fleming taught at various schools in Ontario until enrolling in the Toronto Normal School for a year. He attended Kingston Art School for seven months in 1902-1903 and simultaneously served as a school principal in that city until 1904.

In 1905, Fleming left Ontario to study at the New York School of Art (later, Parsons The New School for Design), where his teachers and lecturers included William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri, and Frank Alvah Parsons. He joined the Art Students League and attended classes at the DeWitt Clinton Night Technical School, a pioneering educational institution that had opened in 1897. Fleming earned a certificate in Normal Art Training from the New York School of Art in June 1907. Shortly thereafter, he returned to Ontario to serve as drawing master of the Normal School of Ottawa, and taught there until his retirement in 1940. The Normal School of Ottawa eventually became the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa.

During his tenure at the Normal School, Fleming was involved in a range of other activities. He lectured at the University of Toronto and other schools throughout the province; edited art textbooks at the behest of the government of Ontario; and practiced carpentry, building houses for himself and his brother. An amateur historian, Fleming also wrote about Ontario's history and investigated a shipwreck for the Canadian Department of Public Works.

Roy F. Fleming died in 1958.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by format.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Virginia Moore, Fleming's great-granddaughter, 2005.

Related Materials

The Roy F. Fleming fonds are held by the Library and Archives of Canada. These records primarily relate to his role as an amateur historian.

Title
Guide to the Roy Fleming collection
Status
Completed
Author
New School Archives and Special Collections Staff
Date
October 29, 2010
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin