Ralph Hartman Papers

University Archives and Special Collections
15 Lippitt Road
Kingston, RI 02881-2011
Tel: 401-874-4632

email: archives@etal.uri.edu

Published in 1997

Collection Overview

Title:	Ralph Hartman Papers
Date range:	undated
Creator:	Hartman, Ralph
Extent:	5 box(es)
Abstract:	Collection contains 132 Architectural Landscape Drawings of dwellings in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	University Archives and Special Collections
Collection number:	Mss. Gr. 25

Scope & content

The Ralph Hartman Papers were given to Special Collections by Ralph Hartman. The papers are in good condition. The papers consists of 132 Architectural Landscape Drawings of various dwellings of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. After a preliminary sorting, the drawings were separated into five transfer boxes by location, if known:

BOX I: Connecticut

BOX 2: Massachusetts

BOX 3: Rhode Island

BOXES 4-5: Unidentified

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in one series.

• 1. Inventory

Biographical Information

Born in Trenton, Ohio, in 1920, Ralph served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a naval aviation instructor, and came to Rhode Island to attend the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 1951 with a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture.

Ralph was Superintendent of the Providence Parks Department from 1961 to 1976. During his service to the City of Providence, he was instrumental in restoring Roger Williams Park to its rightful place as one of the great municipal parks of the United States.

He encouraged Mrs. Henry D. Sharpe to establish a fund to improve areas in the Park such as the Japanese Garden, and the Betsy Williams Cottage. The fund was expanded to start a tree planting program for the streets of Providence which continues today.

He conceived of an idea to support the Zoo financially and joined with Mrs. Murray Danforth, Jr. to form the Rhode Island Zoological Society for the purpose of improving and giving guidance to the Zoo at Roger Williams Park.During his tenure, the Zoo changed from a system of cages with animals, to animals living in a more humane setting of landscaped areas with moats, ponds, and grasslands.

He was a world traveler throughout his life. As Superintendent, he especially spent time in Japan studying Japanese Gardens for the Japanese Garden Restoration Project, and Morocco and Portugal for an exhibit of sub-tropical and desert plants in the Charles H. Smith Greenhouses. In 1976, a Bicentennial Garden in the Park was dedicated to Ralph as the Ralph Hartman Garden.

From 1976 to 2006, he was a freelance landscape architect designing many gardens in New England, New York and as far West as Chicago. He had many distinguished clients throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Ralph Hartman passed away on March 16, 2011.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	Any qualified person doing scholarly research is permitted to use material housed in the Special Collections Unit.
Use of the materials:	Terms governing use and reproduction: Photocopying and scanning of materials is a fee based service available in the repository and is allowed at the discretion of the Archivist when in compliance to the Unit's policy on copyright and publication.
Preferred citation:	Ralph Hartman Papers, Mss. Gr. 25, University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections.
Contact information:	University Archives and Special Collections 15 Lippitt Road Kingston, RI 02881-2011 Tel: 401-874-4632 email: archives@etal.uri.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The collection was given to the Special Collections Unit by Ralph Hartman
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Stephen Dalpe.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Stephen Dalpe 1997, updated by Erin C. Mullen on 2011 December 06, updated by Mark Dionne on 2020 April 13
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Inventory

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Inventory