Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Corporation, Executive Committee minutes
Scope and Contents of the Collection
Records of two early Corporation committees (Committee on Instruction, 1866-1871, and Committee on the School of Industrial Science, 1871-1883) which precede the establishment of the Executive Committee are included in the beginning of the volume that contains the first Executive Committee records.
Louis W. Tappan served as secretary of each committee and he recorded the minutes of both in the same volume.
The first entry of minutes for a meeting of the Executive Committee, October 22, 1883, follows the last entry for the Committee on the School of Industrial Science.
Minutes were recorded at first by hand in bound volumes. Beginning with the minutes of October 8, 1901, minutes were typewritten. Individual indexes were created for each volume from volume 2 through volume 11, covering the period October 4, 1887, to December 1, 1963.
Minutes in series 1 of this collection are the official record of Executive Committee meetings. Meeting packets sent to Executive Committee members prior to a meeting can be found in series 3 of this collection through June 2004. They contain copies of previous meeting minutes and background materials for meeting discussion; they date from 1970. After June 2004 mailings and minutes are filed together in series 1.
Dates
- 1866 - 2017
- Majority of material found within 1883 - 2017
Creator
Access note
All materials in this collection are restricted for 50 years from their date of creation. The contents of folders that are more than 50 years old are open.
Conditions Governing Use
Access to collections in the Department of Distinctive Collections is not authorization to publish. Please see the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy for permission information. Copyright of some items in this collection may be held by respective creators, not by the donor of the collection or MIT.
Historical note
During the tenure of Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Francis A. Walker, as the Institute grew in size, a committee of Corporation members was appointed, along with the president, to propose changes in the organization of the governing structure of MIT. Among the changes in the Institute’s bylaws was a call for the creation of an Executive Committee. Bylaw changes were proposed at the April 11, 1883, Corporation meeting, considered and approved at meetings of May 23 and 29, 1883, to take effect in October 1883. The Executive Committee was composed of the president and treasurer of MIT, who served ex officio, and five additional members who were elected by the Corporation.
At the October 10, 1883, Corporation meeting Henry B. Rogers, Augustus Lowell, Alexander S. Wheeler, Louis W. Tappan, and Francis Williams were voted as the five additional members of the first Executive Committee. The Executive Committee was to have responsibility for the “general administration and superintendence” of all matters relating to the School. In addition, the Executive Committee was to appoint the president, treasurer, and professors and teachers, subject to the confirmation of the larger Corporation.(1) The Executive Committee met for the first time on October 22, 1883.(2)
The Executive Committee meets ten times each academic year and is one of four standing committees of the Institute. The Executive Committee consists of the chair of the Corporation, president, and treasurer (ex officio members), up to five members and two rotating members, and the chair of the Investment Management Company Board, ex officio. The president is the chair of the Executive Committee. The bylaws outline the current duties of the Executive Committee.(3)
http://web.mit.edu/corporation/bylaws.shtml
http://web.mit.edu/committees/www/
NOTES
(1) MIT. Corporation Minutes, April 11, May 23, May 29, October 10, 1883. Institute Archives & Special Collections, collection AC 278, box 1.
(2) MIT. Executive Committee Minutes, October 22, 1883. Institute Archives & Special Collections, collection AC 272, box 1.
(3) http://web.mit.edu/corporation/bylaws/by14.shtml
Extent
45 Cubic Feet ((134 manuscript boxes, 18 reels of microfilm in 4 microfilm boxes) )
2.751 Gigabytes (763 digital files)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Executive Committee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation was created in 1883 on the recommendation of a committee of members appointed by President Francis A. Walker to propose changes in the organization of the Institute's governing structure. The Executive Committee meets ten times each academic year and consists of the chair of the Corporation, president and treasurer (ex officio members), up to five members and two rotating members, and the chair of the Investment Management Company Board, ex officio. This collection consists of the official minutes of the committee and background materials for meeting discussion.
Provenance
Records are transferred from the Office of the Secretary of the Corporation.
Accruals note
Minutes for academic year 2011-2012 and academic year 2012-2013 are missing. The last set of print minutes is June 2, 2011. The first set of minutes acquired as born digital is minutes of the September 11, 2013 meeting.
Location of Copies
Preservation microfilm and use microfilm of minutes of the Committee on Instruction, 1866-1871; the Committee on the School of Industrial Science, 1871-1883; and the Executive Committee, October 22, 1883 to May 5, 1995, comprise series 2 of this collection (AC 272).
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Corporation. Executive Committee
- academic affairs Subject Source: Thesaurus for Use in College and University Archives
- advisory bodies Subject Source: Thesaurus for Use in College and University Archives
- faculty Subject Source: Thesaurus for Use in College and University Archives
- governing bodies Subject Source: Thesaurus for Use in College and University Archives
- trustees Subject Source: Thesaurus for Use in College and University Archives
- visiting committees Subject Source: Thesaurus for Use in College and University Archives
Creator
- Title
- Guide to the Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation
- Status
- Completed
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2021 March 15: Digital archivist, Joe Carrano, added collection level digital extent for 2015-032, 2018-038, 2018-069, 2020-017
- 2021 July 8: Digital archivist, Joe Carrano, added listings for 2017-008 accession and updated the collection level digital extent
Repository Details
Part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections Repository
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries
Building 14N-118
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge MA 02139-4307 US
distinctive-collections@mit.edu