Stanley Weiss inducted in the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame

The man who placed his elegant mark on the city of Providence and beyond was born to a working-class family in Brooklyn, NY. His whirlwind journey to Rhode Island began when Stanley Weiss’ beloved mother placed a violin in his young hands.

He didn’t disappoint. Weiss would devote himself to his craft and secure a scholarship to the Manhattan School of music – which he turned down. “If I couldn’t become a great virtuoso, I wasn’t interested”, said the burgeoning pragmatist. Instead, the eventual Renaissance Man found himself at humble Hunter College studying the staid discipline of Urban Sociology.

Excellence commenced. Weiss won a research fellowship to the University of Michigan and then came to Brown University to work on a Ph.D as a National Science Foundation Fellow. Hello Ocean State! Working briefly for the state of Rhode Island, Weiss pioneered the first computerized data reporting system of mental health statistics.

But the bureaucracy couldn’t hold him. Weiss was hired away by the Citizens Trust Company as a Trust Officer. Here, in prosecuting Estates, Weiss mastered the art of commercial real estate and more notably, occasionally dispatched pieces of heirloom quality furniture. Meanwhile, the young man developed an appetite for collectables by assembling a fine array of vintage Leica cameras.

In the 1980s all these elements collided in an entrepreneurial explosion. Weiss’ private real estate endeavors soon eclipsed his corporate achievements and his able eye for woods and furniture (first developed while gazing at his violin) pulled him away from the boardroom.

A flurry of activity followed. Weiss’ collection of late Colonial and Classical furniture, along with his renown in the field, grew exponentially. He even placed pieces in the Philadelphia Museum and the White House. Weiss eventually purchased the historic Halsey House on College Hill and, along with his wife Beth, furnished their live-in museum in the Winterthur-style, frequently opening their private homestead to students and historical associations alike.

In downtown Providence, Weiss purchased the fabled Tilden-Thurber building and housed his public furniture collection in the newly restored Beaux-Arts gem, where it remained for sixteen years. He partnered with RISD in developing a “SoHo-like” cluster of buildings in the Arts and Entertainment District and even took a neglected structure on a side street near Grace Church and transformed it into the magnificent Hotel Providence!

Weiss also served on the Port of Providence Authority and the Providence Housing Authority.

Stanley Weiss continues to innovate. His website www.stanleyweiss.com is the premier site in the world of fine American antiques and his recently published 300-page reference guide “Fine American Antiques in the Stanley Weiss Collection” is the industry standard.

Today, the entire Stanley Weiss Collection is housed in a modern facility on Providence’s East side, within the orbit of Brown, RISD and the RIHS. Thus, the next performance of the violinist may be his most enchanting as plans for a permanent display, carefully composed by a true founding father of the Providence Renaissance, come to life.