Cesare Barbieri Endowment records
Content Description
The Cesare Barbieri Endowment records encompass four series of materials spanning the dates 1947 to 1967, and document the origins and activities of a financial endowment created on December 31, 1947 by the Italian-born engineer, inventor, and philanthropist Cesare Barbieri. Mr. Barbieri intended for the endowment to benefit outreach projects pertaining to Italian education and culture both in the United States and in Italy. The Barbieri Endowment also provided aid to individual students for the cost of tuition, books, and fees. Initially, funds from the Barbieri Endowment were used almost exclusively for the restoration of classroom equipment, supplies, and books at the University of Bologna in Italy, which was all but destroyed during World War II.
The first series includes correspondence from a variety of individuals, institutions, and organizations both in Italy and the United States. Many of the named individuals are professors or students from the University of Bologna in Italy, or members of the American Committee for the University of Bologna. Additionally, named individuals are heads of institutions and organizations. Of interest is the file for Jerome P. Webster, a Trinity College (Hartford, Conn.) alumnus and physician at Columbia University. Notable correspondence from institutions and organizations includes Columbia University in New York (especially Casa Italiana), which was instrumental in helping to purchase and send equipment to the University of Bologna. Of interest in miscellaneous correspondence are two folders of letters and memos between Cesare Barbieri and his executive secretary (Charles H. Tompkins), most of which discuss the day to day operations of the work of the Endowment. "Letters from Abroad" are in the Italian language with no translations. A few pieces of correspondence pertaining to donations made to Trinity College (Hartford) are in this series.
The second series pertains to the University of Bologna in Italy and the creation of an "American Committee" to oversee the distribution of funds for help with the restoration of the University after it suffered considerable damage during World War II. The series includes committee correspondence, minutes, and reports, as well as University view books. Purchase order requisitions detail the types of equipment and supplies ordered by professors within specific academic departments. Of note is the 1949 "Report of Progress" of the American Committee which details its creation, purpose, and objectives. Also notable is the folder titled, "Endowment Activities / Report of War Damages," which includes a memorandum written by Cesare Barbieri as to why he thinks helping the University of Bologna is a worthwhile endeavor. In addition, the series includes a set of three oversize posters (presumably designed to be displayed outside the venue) advertising the Committee's benefit concert at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City in 1949.
Financial records in the third series include bank statements for multiple accounts, checkbooks, records of disbursements, receipts for paid bills, and tax documents. Most importantly, this series includes records of donations made by the Barbieri Endowment to individuals, institutions, and organizations (similar files may exist in the Correspondence series). Of note is a set of index cards arranged alphabetically by the names of recipients of funds from the Endowment, with dollar amounts and dates of distribution, thus providing quick access to an overview of how funds were distributed. In addition to files regarding donations made, the series also includes files of requests for donations that were turned down.
The fourth series includes records of a legal nature, pertaining to the establishment of the Cesare Barbieri Endowment itself, as well as to the estate of Cesare Barbieri after his death in 1956. Of note in the Endowment files (1947) is a sketch (with English and Italian language versions) concerning Cesare Barbieri written by Executive Committee member and 1913 Trinity College graduate, Alfred J. L'Heureux, "[p]repared in the interest of a better understanding among all peoples, the promotion of democratic ideals and an abiding peace...." Estate files include a copy of Barbieri's last will and testament, as well as inventories and appraisals of artworks, furniture, and jewelry belonging to the estate. In addition, several Estate files include detailed explanations of Mr. Barbieri's work with and connection to the Dixie Cup Company. Newspaper obituary notices (English and Italian language) regarding Mr. Barbieri's death are here.
Dates
- Creation: 1947 - 1967
Language of Materials
Many folders contain documents written in the Italian language. In some instances, these documents have a corresponding English language translation.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open to the public and must be used in the John M.K. Davis Reading Room of the Watkinson Library, Trinity College Library, Hartford, Connecticut. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws when using this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
Digital surrogates may be provided to researchers, in accordance with the duplication policy of the Watkinson Library.
Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs unless otherwise specified. It is the researcher's responsibility to secure permission to publish materials from the appropriate copyright holder.
Archival materials may contain sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal and/or state right to privacy laws or other regulations. While we make a good faith effort to identify and remove such materials, some may be missed during processing. If a researcher finds sensitive personal information (e.g. social security numbers) in a collection, please bring it to the attention of the reading room staff.
Biographical / Historical
Cesare Barbieri was born June 9, 1877 in Bologna, Italy, where he attended the University of Bologna. He was a mechanical engineer, inventor, and philanthropist who came to America in 1905, settling in Chicago. During the first World War, he was assigned to the Italian Corps of Army Engineers. He later moved to New York, assigned to the Italian Military Mission. He was a member of the War Industries Board in Washington, representing the Italian High Commissioner. Barbieri became an American citizen in 1929.
In recognition for his work to rehabilitate the University of Bologna after the war, Barbieri was awarded an honorary degree, and was at that time one of only twelve persons in 900 years to have received it. He also received degrees from Illinois Institute of Technology and Middlebury College. Barbieri was awarded the Merit Medal from the President of Italy and the Gold Medal for Patrons of Public Education from the Ministry of Public Education. He was a member of several clubs, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the America-Italy Society, and the Metropolitan and Wall Street clubs. Cesare Barbieri died May 25, 1956 at the age of 78.
Trinity College received its first funds ($10,000) from the Cesare Barbieri Endowment in 1956 and again in 1957. These funds were used to strengthen the teaching of Italian at Trinity in many ways, specifically through the purchase of books and journals, and the establishment of a lecture series. Additionally, these funds were used to bring two students from Italy to study at Trinity for one year. In 1958, Trinity received a final, significantly larger donation of $100,000 which was used to establish the Cesare Barbieri Center of Italian Studies (later renamed the Cesare Barbieri Endowment for Italian Culture), the object of which was to stimulate interest in Italian language and culture at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as to encourage scholarly research, student and faculty exchange programs, and to foster public interest in Italian studies. The Barbieri Endowment for Italian Culture is a central component of Trinity College's Rome Campus program (established in 1970), as well as its Elderhostel program (established in 1981).
Extent
8 Cubic Feet (8 records storage cartons with letter-size and some legal-size folders.) ; 1 box (16.25 in. x 13 in. x 10.5 in.) equals 1 cubic foot ("cubic foot" defined in SAA Dictionary)
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into four series. Files within series are arranged alphabetically. Materials within files are arranged mostly in reverse chronological date order.
Series 1. Correspondence
Series 2. University of Bologna
Series 3. Financial Records
Series 4. Legal Records
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Peter J. Knapp, Reference Librarian and College Archivist of Trinity College, collected many of these files during his tenure at Trinity from 1965 to 2014. Trinity Professor Glenn Weaver may have also collected some of these materials.
Separated Materials
Four unprocessed boxes containing materials ranging from the late 1960s to 2000, presumably originating from Borden Painter, were separated and added to the Michael Campo papers. Most materials pertain to the planning and implementation of a 1982 conference regarding a set of Mussolini’s documents held by Trinity College's Cesare Barbieri Endowment for Italian Culture since the 1960s. Other materials include an extensive variety of Trinity College Rome Campus documentation from the 1970s to 2000. Also included is a number of cassette tapes from 1994-1995 interviews with Michael Campo, Borden Painter, and Robbins Winslow. Issues of the Cesare Barbieri Courier, the journal established by the then-Cesare Barbieri Center of Italian Studies in 1958 and published for about a decade, were separated as well.
Processing Information
The Cesare Barbieri Endowment records were first processed sometime around 2017 and again in October 2022. It appears as though the first round of processing in 2017 included folder-level arrangement of like items grouped together by box. Each box was assigned a title that corresponded to the folders within; as a result, boxes were either too full or not full enough, causing the folders to bend. In 2022, the processing archivist rearranged the folders into distinct series and sub-series which span across boxes, pulling together some folders that previously were not grouped together. Multiple folders which spanned several years' worth of materials were condensed into fewer folders to save space. Two boxes contain legal-size folders or items which are turned sideways in the box and are not completely full. Rusty fasteners were removed and newspaper clippings were isolated with acid-free paper. Previously housed in nine records storage cartons, the collection now occupies eight cartons.
- Title
- Guide to the Cesare Barbieri Endowment records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Amy M. FitzGerald, from a word processing document created by Peter Rawson in 2017.
- Date
- 2022-10-18
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Watkinson Library - Archival Collections Repository
Trinity College Library
300 Summit St.
Hartford Connecticut 06106