Guide to the Nancy Elizabeth Prophet collection, 1920-2002

(bulk 1920-1960)


Special Collections, James P. Adams Library
Rhode Island College
600 Mount Pleasant Ave
Providence, RI, 02908
Tel: 401-456-8380
email:digitalcommons@ric.edu

Published in 2023

Collection Overview

Title: Nancy Elizabeth Prophet collection
Date range: 1920-2002, (bulk 1920-1960)
Creator: Prophet, Nancy Elizabeth, 1890-1960.
Extent: 3.5 cubic feet.
Abstract: Collection of Rhode Island born sculptor, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet. The collection includes photographs of Prophet’s sculptures, original sketches and watercolors, and articles on her life in the United States and Paris, France.
Language of materials: English; French.
Repository: Special Collections, James P. Adams Library
Collection number: MSS-0028

Scope & content

The collection features artwork by Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, including a bronze casting of the marble sculpture, “Silence”, a Terra Cotta mask, pencil sketches, and watercolor and chalk sketches; photographs and slides of sculptures, personal photographs of Prophet and her father; and collected exhibit catalogs, newspaper clippings, and articles about Prophet. The collection also includes Prophet’s Master’s cap and gown from Spelman College.

Access Points

Subject Names Subject Organizations Subject Topics Geographical Names Document Types

Arrangement

The collection has been arranged into the following series and subseries:

  • Series 1: Photographs and slides; circa 1920-1986
  • Subseries 1a: Artwork; circa 1924-1958
  • Subseries 1b: Personal photographs; circa 1920-1960
  • Subseries 1c: Slides; 1986
  • Series 2: Artwork; undated, 1926
  • Series 3: Other files; circa 1938-2002
  • Series 4: Master’s cap and gown; undated

Biographical/Historical Note

Nancy Elizabeth Prophet was born in Arctic Center, Rhode Island, to parents of Narragansett and African American ancestry. Between 1918 and 1922, she changed the spelling of her surname, Proffit, to its now popular form, Prophet. In 1918, she graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, and in 1922, she moved to Paris, where she attended L’Ecole de Beaux-Arts and worked in a small studio. In 1929, Prophet received a Harmon Foundation Prize for best sculpture. She returned to the United States in 1934 to teach at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. Finally, Prophet returned to Providence in 1944, where she lived until her death in 1960.

Access & Use

Access to the collection: The collection is open for research. Please be advised that several items have been loaned for exhibition through 2025 and are therefore currently inaccessible. These are noted in the collection inventory list. Please contact Special Collections for further information.
Use of the materials: Researchers are advised to contact Rhode Island College Special Collections for questions regarding permissions to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise publish material from this collection. Although Rhode Island College has physical ownership of the collection, it does not necessarily hold literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Alternate form: Select items have been digitized and are available on Rhode Island College Digital Commons under the Nancy Elizabeth Prophet collection.
Preferred citation: Nancy Elizabeth Prophet collection, MSS-0028, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
Contact information: Special Collections, James P. Adams Library
Rhode Island College
600 Mount Pleasant Ave
Providence, RI, 02908
Tel: 401-456-8380
email:digitalcommons@ric.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION  
Acquisition: A majority of the collection was donated by James N. Williams in 1977. A deed of gift was signed by Williams at that time. The slides were created by the audiovisual department at Rhode Island College in May 1986 for classroom use, and were subsequently added to the collection. Additional clippings and articles about Prophet have been added to the collection’s subject file by Special Collections staff over time, however this practice ceased as of 2022.
Processing information: The collection was initially described in 1977 by Special Collections staff. The finding aid was updated in 2019 by Special Collections assistant, Patricia McIvor, and then Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, Molly Bruce Patterson. The collection was rehoused and the finding aid updated again by Special Collections intern, Melissa Moniz, under the supervision of Veronica Denison, Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, in 2023.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID  
Author: Finding aid prepared by Veronica L. Denison.
Encoding: This finding aid was encoded by Veronica L. Denison, 2023
Descriptive rules: Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Related material: Works by Prophet are held in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art,the Brooklyn Museum, and the Rhode Island School of Design. The John Hay Library at Brown University also has a diary Prophet kept while she was in Paris: Nancy Elizabeth Prophet Diary, Ms. 90.8.
Location/Existence of copies: Select items have been digitized and are available on Rhode Island College Digital Commons under the Nancy Elizabeth Prophet collection.
Other information:
    Works used in preparation of inventory: Various materials in the collection were used to write the biographical history.

Inventory

Series 1. Photographs and slides, circa 1920-1986
0.40 cubic feet

Series 1. Subseries 1a. Artwork, circa 1924-1958
0.30 cubic feet

This subseries contains photographs of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet’s sculptures. Many of the artwork shown in these images is believed to have been destroyed, therefore only photographs remain.

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 1 Bust of black man, labeled “for dad”
2 photographs

 1923
Box 1, Folder 2 “The Charlatan”
1 photograph

General Note:
    Removed for exhibit until 2026

 1925
Box 1, Folder 3 “Congolaise”
8 photographs

General Note:
    Original piece located at the Whitney Museum

 1931
Box 1, Folder 4 “Discontent”
4 photographs

General Note:
    Original piece located at RISD Museum

 circa 1929
Box 1, Folder 5 “Confidence”
1 photograph

General Note:
    Removed for exhibit until 2026

 1926
Box 1, Folder 6 “Facing the Light” bas relief in wood
4 photographs

 1931
Box 1, Folder 7 “Head in Wood”
3 photographs

 1944
Box 1, Folder 8 Head of man, not labeled
4 photographs

 1929
Box 1, Folder 9 “Head Over Lifesize”
3 photographs

 1958
Box 1, Folder 10 “Head With High Cap in Wood”
3 photographs

 1940
Box 1, Folder 11 Mask
3 photographs

General Note:
    Original piece located at Rhode Island College

 circa 1957-1958
Box 1, Folder 12 Mask with hair
2 photographs

General Note:
    One photograph removed for exhibit until 2026

 1955
Box 1, Folder 13 “Sketch” mask
2 photographs

General Note:
    One photograph removed for exhibit until 2026

 1955
Box 1, Folder 14 “Negro in Wood”
5 photographs

General Note:
    Original piece located at RISD Museum

 1924
Box 1, Folder 15 “Pilgrim”
3 photographs

 circa 1931
Box 1, Folder 16 “Pilgrim”
3 photographs

 1931
Box 1, Folder 17 “Pilgrim”
3 photographs

 circa 1931
Box 1, Folder 18 “Pilgrim”
5 photographs

 circa 1931
Box 1, Folder 19 “Pilgrim”
11 photographs

 circa 1931
Box 1, Folder 20 “Poise”
4 photographs

 circa 1930-1932
Box 1, Folder 21 “The Reptile Woman”
2 photographs

General Note:
    One photograph removed for exhibit until 2026

 1929
Box 1, Folder 22 “Silence in Onyx”
4 photographs

General Note:
    Original piece located at RISD Museum.

 1926
Box 1, Folder 23 Standing figure of woman
1 photograph

 1944
Box 1, Folder 24 “Taille direct in alabaster”
2 photographs

General Note:
    One photograph removed for exhibit until 2026

 1944
Box 1, Folder 25 “Tete de fou book ends” objects for commercial market
2 photographs

General Note:
    One photograph removed for exhibit until 2026

 1944
Box 1, Folder 26 “Torse in Stone over life size – destroyed to avoid transport”
5 photographs

General Note:
    One photograph removed for exhibit until 2026

 1933
Box 1, Folder 27 “Torse”
2 photographs

General Note:
    One photograph removed for exhibit until 2026

 1944
Box 1, Folder 28 Unfinished statue to be cut in marble
1 photograph

 1926
Box 1, Folder 29 “Walk Among the Lillies” bas relief, unfinished, 2 versions
5 photographs

General Note:
    Two photographs removed for exhibit until 2026

 1931
Box 1, Folder 30 “Woman in Hat” plaster to be executed in wood
2 photographs

General Note:
    One photograph removed for exhibit until 2026

 1944

Series 1. Subseries 1b. Personal photographs, circa 1920-1960
0.05 cubic feet

The personal photographs in this subseries feature portraits of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet in Paris, Newport, and Atlanta, as well as portraits of her father, William H. [Proffit] Prophet.

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 31 Paris; On boat
7 photographs

General Note:
    Two images, “Prophet in hat” and “Prophet in Paris” have been removed for exhibition through 2025a

 1922-1929
Box 1, Folder 32 Newport and Atlanta
10 photographs

 1932-1938
Box 1, Folder 33 Portraits of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet
5 photographs

 1920-1960
Box 1, Folder 34 William H. Prophet in 1940; Photograph of plant
3 photographs

 undated, 1940

Series 1. Subseries 1c. Slides, 1986
The slides in this subseries are copies of original photographs in subseries 1a and 1b. The slides were created in 1986 for class instruction purposes.

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folders 35-36 Slides
 1986

Series 2. Artwork, undated, 1926
2.25 cubic feet

This series contains pencil sketches of cows, people, and a fountain; watercolor and chalk sketches of landscapes and cityscapes; and two sculpted heads of women.

Container Description Date
Box 2, Folder 1 Pencil sketches
4 sketches

General Note:
    Removed for exhibit until 2026

 undated
Box 2, Folder 2 Watercolor and chalk sketches
6 sketches

General Note:
    Removed for exhibit until 2026

 undated
Box 3 Terra Cotta mask, gilded with artist’s signature on reverse. 13 ½” tall
General Note:
    Removed for exhibit until 2026

 undated
Box 4 “Silence” bronze, head of woman, 13” tall [Original in marble at RISD, purchased from Prophet by Ellen Sharp]
General Note:
    Removed for exhibit until 2026

 1926

Series 3. Other files, circa 1938-2002
0.35 cubic feet

This series contains biographical articles on Nancy Elizabeth Prophet’s life. Exhibit catalogs detail where her artwork was displayed. The Advertisement for Lehmann Heredity Chart was likely owned by Prophet.

Container Description Date
Box 2, Folder 3 Advertisement for Lehmann Heredity Chart
 1938
Box 1, Folder 37 Contemporary articles about Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, including obituary
 undated, 1960
Box 1, Folder 38 “Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, Sculptor” SAGE, Spring 1987
 1987
Box 1, Folder 39 Citations and notes, collected by Carl Gross & Special Collections staff
General Note:
    Xerographic copies of articles

 undated
Box 1, Folder 40 Exhibit catalog for the Art Association of Newport
General Note:
    Xerographic copies of originals from 1932

 undated
Box 1, Folder 41 “In the Tradition: Nancy Elizabeth Prophet” QUIX
 undated
Box 1, Folder 42 “The unfulfilled promise of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet” International Review of African American Artists
 2002
Box 1, Folder 43 “Four from Providence” Bannister Gallery exhibit catalog
 1978
Box 2, Folder 4 “I will not bend an inch: Elizabeth Prophet’s struggle to become an artist” Rhode Islander Magazine, July 10, 1994
 1994 July 10

Series 4. Master’s cap and gown, undated
0.50 cubic feet

Box 5
The Master’s cap and gown in this series was likely worn by Nancy Elizabeth Prophet during Spelman College’s graduation ceremonies.

Container Description Date
Box 5 Master’s cap and gown
 undated