Board of Trustees/Members of the Corporation records
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of materials related to the Board of Trustees and Members of the Corporations from 1930-present. Formats include paper, ledger books, audiocassettes, videocassettes, DVDs, CDs, and microfilm.
Dates
- 1930-Present
Language of Materials
The records are in
English.
Access
Closed/Restricted: materials are only available to the Office of Origin for fifty years, after which they may only be viewed by the Office of Origin or with permission of the Archivist.
Use
Copyright: Permission to publish material from the collection must be authorized by the Institution Archivist.
Historical Information
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution was incorporated on January 6, 1930, by Ralph G. Boyd, Elizabeth D. Peabody, Charles F. Dunbar, William E. Hays, E. Curtiss Mower, Jr., Bertha A. Patten, and E. Louise Malloch. The successors of those original seven Members of the Corporation now number 120. In the simplest terms, according to Institution bylaws and according to the spirit of intent of the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Corporation Members are responsible for ensuring that the Corporation accomplishes the mission of the Institution in the public interest. Additionally, Members of the Corporation are responsible for electing the Trustees, and for working as ambassadors and advocates to increase external recognition and forge new connections that help sustain and increase both public and private support for the Institution.
The Board of Trustees is ultimately responsible for the governance and stewardship of the Institution. It controls all of the affairs, funds, and property of the Corporation, and has the discretionary authority to establish rules and regulations for management of the Corporation. The Board reviews and approves an annual budget for the Corporation, and provides active fiduciary oversight of finances, physical assets, and long range plans to ensure the abiding vitality of the Institution. It also appoints executive leadership and monitors its performance in the execution of Board policies, and it stands always ready to advise and support management in setting Institution goals and priorities. There are currently 36 Trustees.
Both Trustees and Members of the Corporation are expected to understand, endorse and promote the identity, standards of excellence, and mission of the Institution by sharing time, talent and personal resources according to means, and to recruit and mentor new Trustees and Members of the Corporation best suited to help the Institution maintain leadership in oceanography.
[Taken from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution website.]
Extent
49 boxes plus unboxed material (78.625 lin. ft.)
Overview
This collection consists of materials related to the Board of Trustees and Members of the Corporations from 1930-present. Formats include paper, ledger books, audiocassettes, videocassettes, DVDs, CDs, and microfilm.
Arrangement
This collection is the result of several different accessions because both the originating office and individuals have donated materials. In order to maintain the provenance of these different accessions (in cases where the provenance could be determined), materials have been divided into series that cover both topics and donors. For instance, retirement and benefits information is its own series, and former treasurer of the Corporation, Edwin D. Brooks, has a series that also includes retirement information. For this reason it is worth looking through the entire finding aid, rather than a single series.
The records are arranged in sixteen series:
List of Series:
- Administrative Materials
- Financial Materials
- Grants and Contracts
- Handbooks and Directories
- Meetings/Committees
- Names Files
- Retirement and Benefits Information
- Edwin D. Brooks, Jr. – Correspondence and Papers
- Mary Sears, Clerk of the Corporation, Papers
- Indexes
- Audio
- Video
- DVDs
- Microfilm
- Realia
- Electronic Records
Custodial History
This collection is the result of several different accessions because both the originating office and individuals have donated materials.
Acquisitions Information
The materials were received over time and continue to arrive. Please see the Accessions Database for more complete information.
Separated Material
The collection was reduced by removing duplicates. Sensitive duplicate materials, such as Financial Statements, were shredded after being removed.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Rosemary Davis from September 2006-January 2007.
- Title
- A Guide to the Board of Trustees/Members of the Corporation records, 1930-Present
- Author
- Rosemary Davis
- Date
- 2007
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written inEnglish
Repository Details
Part of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Data Library and Archives Repository