William Dean Howells, of Maine; Henry Adams, of the District of Columbia; Theodore Roosevelt, of New York; John Singer Sargent, of Massachusetts; Daniel Chester French, of New York; John Burroughs, of New York; James Ford Rhodes, of Massachusetts; Horatio William Parker, of Connecticut; William Milligan Sloane, of New Jersey; Robert Underwood Johnson, of New York; George Washington Cable, of Massachusetts; Andrew Dickson White, of New York; Henry van Dyke, of New Jersey; William Crary Brownell, of New York; Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, of Maryland; Woodrow Wilson, of New Jersey; Arthur Twining Hadley, of Connecticut; Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts; Edwin Howland Blashfield, of New York; William Merritt Chase, of New York; Thomas Hastings, of New York; Hamilton Wright Mabie, of New Jersey; Brander Matthews, of New York; Thomas Nelson Page, of the District of Columbia; Elihu Vedder, of Massachusetts; George Edward Woodberry, of Massachusetts; Kenyon Cox, of New York; George Whitefield Chadwick, of Massachusetts; Abbott Handerson Thayer, of New Hampshire; Henry Mills Alden, of New Jersey; George de Forest Brush, of New Hampshire; William Rutherford Mead, of New York; Bliss Perry, of Massachusetts; Abbott Lawrence Lowell, of Massachusetts; James Whitcomb Riley, of Indiana; Nicholas Murray Butler, of New York; Paul Wayland Bartlett, of New York; Owen Wister, of Pennsylvania; Herbert Adams, of New Hampshire; Augustus Thomas, of New York; Timothy Cole, of New York; Cass Gilbert, of New York; William Roscoe Thayer, of Massachusetts; Robert Grant, of Massachusetts; Frederick Macmonnies, of New York; Julian Alden Weir, of Connecticut; William Gillette, of Connecticut; Paul Elmer More, of New Jersey; George Lockhart Rives, of New York, and their successors, duly chosen, are hereby incorporated, constituted, and declared to be a body corporate of the District of Columbia, by the name of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
(Apr. 17, 1916, ch. 77, §1, 39 Stat. 51.)
The purposes of this corporation are and shall be the furtherance of the interests of literature and the fine arts.
(Apr. 17, 1916, ch. 77, §2, 39 Stat. 51.)
The American Academy of Arts and Letters shall consist of not more than fifty regular members, and the said corporation hereby constituted shall have power to make by-laws and rules and regulations; to fill all vacancies created by death, resignation, or otherwise; to provide for the election of foreign, domestic, or honorary associate members, and the division of such members into classes, and to do all other matters needful or usual in such institutions.
(Apr. 17, 1916, ch. 77, §3, 39 Stat. 51.)
The American Academy of Arts and Letters shall hold an annual meeting at such place in the United States as may be designated and shall make an annual report to the Congress, to be filed with the Librarian of Congress.
(Apr. 17, 1916, ch. 77, §4, 39 Stat. 51.)
The American Academy of Arts and Letters be, and the same is hereby, authorized and empowered to receive bequests and donations of real or personal property and to hold the same in trust, and to invest and reinvest the same for the purpose of furthering the interests of literature and the fine arts.
(Apr. 17, 1916, ch. 77, §5, 39 Stat. 52.)
The right to alter, amend, or repeal this chapter is hereby expressly reserved.
(Apr. 17, 1916, ch. 77, §6, 39 Stat. 52.)