Correspondence, 1937-1939

Although Ingersoll had many connections with the museum, these papers focus primarily on his various committee activities prior to his appointment as president. Most of material in these files consists of Ingersoll's correspondence with Kimball. According to the annual reports, Ingersoll became involved with the museum in 1928 as a member of the Finance Committee. Within these records, however, his earliest association with Kimball and the museum began with his appointment in 1929 as chairman of the newly formed Committee on Modern Art, a non-standing committee that broadened the museum's mission to include works by artists such as Picasso, Matisse, de Chirico and Marsden Hartley. A copy of his 1930 remarks to the Print Club of Philadelphia about modern art underscores his commitment and is included here. In 1933, Ingersoll became a member of the Committee on Museum, and in 1946 he succeeded Jenks as its chair. By 1938 Ingersoll was also a member of the Board of Trustees, and as reflected in the correspondence from the early to mid-1940s, Ingersoll also chaired a Sub-Committee on Painting and then the Committee on Painting and Sculpture. Ingersoll's personal generosity to the museum is also documented.

Upon the death of J. Stogdell Stokes in 1947, Ingersoll was appointed the museum's president. That later correspondence is filed with other corporate officer documentation.