Getting a foothold on some information

February 4, 2009 7:09 AM

I'm trying to find the papers of incorporation (if that's the right term) for the New York School of Chiropody.

I'm trying to find out exactly when the New York School of Chiropody was founded. Various websites give the date as either 1910 or 1911, and some say 1912. I figure that getting my hands on the papers of incorporation (again, if that's the term I want---I'm not entirely sure) will give me the most accurate information. I'd be fine, too, with an online or electronic version of the same.
I found my way to the NY Dept. of State's website, but their corporation and business entity database turned up nothing useful. Considering that the school is still in existence (albeit under a different, also searched, name, the NY College of Podiatric Medicine), I imagine that such papers must be on file somewhere.
Where should I look, if not online then in person? Such papers would be open to the public, right?

posted by Bromius to Law & Government (5 answers total)

As it is a school it is probably operated (operates) under a trust, foundation, or non-profit organization. I'm not up on NY incorporation law history, but these may not have had to have been "incorporated" back in the early 20th century and would have been so only when the laws requiring registry of these entities went into effect (probably during the depression era). Even if they were they might have some name that has nothing to do with the school like the John W. Doe Foot Foundation or some such. Last, they might have been wholly funded out of someone's personal pocket for a time which might mean that no business papers would have needed to be filed.

You might try asking the school or the NY Dept. of Ed. or NY Medical Assoc.
posted by Pollomacho at 9:48 AM on February 4, 2009

Looking for incorporation papers is probably not the way to go, as there's no guarantee at all that educational institutions, particularly ones almost a century old, would have been incorporated when they were founded. The school probably filed papers for 501(c)(3) non-profit status, but those would only have been filed after that particular statute was passed, so that won't help.

Suggestion: call the school offices. Someone there will know exactly when the school was founded or be able to tell you who does. If you've got an innocuous enough reason, e.g. academic or journalistic research, they'll probably send you documentation if you ask nicely enough.
posted by valkyryn at 11:24 AM on February 4, 2009

I believe that if the entity is non-profit, their tax returns are available to the public. The returns have sections on them about when the corp was founded.

How to get returns:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2317388_request-copy-nonprofits-tax-documents.html

If they file Form 990, Section L in the contact info at the top is the box for "Year of Formation".
posted by Kensational at 11:46 AM on February 4, 2009

Actually, I'm looking into the matter on the school's behalf. Perhaps I should have mentioned this in the original question. There is, internally, some confusion as to when exactly the school was founded.
posted by Bromius at 12:10 PM on February 4, 2009

Spitballing: Do/Did corporations have to place a public notice about the formation? Perhaps some quick newspaper ad similar to the public notice requirements of name changes? Corp counsel swould know about today's requirements but was it a requirement in 1910? If so, the archives of the Times or Herald might help.
posted by Kensational at 7:47 AM on February 5, 2009