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Brown University Library Collections

Rhode Island/Local Interest Collections

1793 Library
The Library of Brown University, as represented in the Catalog published in 1793. 2,173 titles are listed. List and published catalog available. ...more information
Adams (George James)
George James Adams (1812-1888) had a long career as a textile manufacturer and agent in Rhode Island. He was the treasurer of the Greenwich Print Works (1856-1882); a business associate at the Arkwright Cotton Mills (Fiskeville, R.I., circa 1836); an employee at Adams Print Works (Fiskeville, R.I.), Kent Print Works (East Greenwich, R.I.), Orion Cotton Mills (Providence, R.I., circa 1860s-1870s), Bristol Print Works (R.I.), and Clyde Bleaching and Print Works; a part owner of the Rhode Island Bleach and Dye Works, Adams and Butterworth (Providence, R.I., 1862-1882); and the chief agent at Narragansett Print Works (East Greenwich, R.I., 1848-1854). The collection includes family letters and business correspondence (mostly letters to Adams), invoices and receipts, inventories, payroll and supply lists, deeds and contracts, and photographs. A large number of letters are from Thomas P. Richmond, a banker of Bristol, Rhode Island, probably affiliated with the Bank of Bristol. They communicate Richmond’s strong abolitionist feelings and include descriptions of slave uprisings such as the insurrection on the ship La Amistad in 1839, meetings of abolitionist societies, etc. Also discussed are Richmond’s other interests, including phrenology, electricity, epidemiology, mesmerism, animal magnetism, and ships. Another large part of the collection comes from Adams’ time as chief agent at the Narragansett Print Works. This material includes correspondence with textile dealers and related business agents, mostly from Rhode Island, Hartford, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Invoices, receipts, as well as accounts for advertising, raw materials, and shipping, are also included. The collection also contains documents related to other businesses, mostly in textiles, run by Adams throughout Rhode Island. The remainder of the collection relates to the extended Adams family, including George Harvey Adams, Mary Hodges Adams, Sarah Martindale Adams, George William Brown, and others. This material includes correspondence as well as legal documents, bills and receipts, inventories of estates, financial documents, correspondence, and photographs. ...more information
Akerman and Company
The collection contains 8 items documenting the business relationship between Charles Akerman and Thomas B. Rawson. The documents include an account book kept by Rawson, financial statements, partnership agreements between the two men, a letter, and a copy of the Act to incorporate Akerman Company by the Rhode Island General Assembly. The only item not related to the business is a handwritten description and history of the Rawson family coat of arms. ...more information
Annmary Brown Memorial Library
The Annmary Brown Memorial, at 21 Brown Street in Providence, RI, was built in 1907 by Rush C. Hawkins (1831-1920) as a memorial to his deceased wife Annmary Brown Hawkins (1837-1903). The Memorial was designed as a tomb for the couple (both are interred there), and as a private library to house the Hawkins' collection of incunabula, paintings, manuscripts, books authored by or written about individuals with the surname of Hawkins, travel books, bibliographies, biographies, standard histories, books on printing wood engravings, and volumes on the early history of printing. This collection contains the records about the construction and maintenance of the building, documentation about the books and paintings collected by Hawkins, and records about the operation of the Memorial. It also includes a volume of minutes for the New York Dispensary for the Diseases of the Throat and Chest for which Rush Hawkins was a Trustee. Researchers can also find documentation about the Civil War swords presented to Rush Hawkins which were stolen from the Memorial and later recovered ...more information
Anthony (Richard H.)
Richard H. Anthony was a Providence, Rhode Island native and Brown University graduate, class of 1925. His distinguished career included working as a journalist in Paris for the European edition of the New York Herald Tribune, where he covered the landings of Charles E. Lindburgh and Richard E. Byrd on their respective transatlantic flights in 1927. These papers include letters, family memorabilia, and a collection of autographs of Richard E. Byrd, and co-pilots Bernt Balchen, Bertand B. Acosta and George O. Noville, who accompanied him on his historic flight from New York to the coast of Normandy on July 1, 1927. ...more information
Bailey (William Whitman)
These papers of William Whitman Bailey (1843-1914), Brown University professor of botany, consist of correspondence, diaries (20 vols), manuscripts, addresses, poems, drawings, paintings, sketches, notebooks, and scrapbooks dating from 1856 to 1914, that document the professional activities and family life of botanist William Whitman Bailey. In his letters, Bailey wrote about his reading and other literary pursuits; his publications; plants and botany; professional activities at Brown University; West Point; and excursions in New England, including Mt. Wachusett; Conway; and Cumberland, R.I.

Botanical specimens that Bailey found are described in some letters. Some early letters were written while he was a schoolboy at the University Grammar School in Providence. Botany is documented in the Manuscripts series through lecture notes, essays on flowers, sketches of specimens, and plant analysis. Other topics covered in the Manuscripts series include Bailey's private library, reading, and reminiscences of West Point. The Manuscripts series includes addresses, essays, notebooks, and scrapbooks. Poems written by Bailey are in the Letters by William Whitman Bailey series and in the Manuscripts series. The Botanical Sketches series (ca. 5 linear ft.) includes botanical sketches, drawings, and paintings that appear to have been created in various combinations of pen and colored ink, pen and watercolor, and pencil and colored pencil. ...more information
Bakst (M. Charles)
These papers date from 1927-2009 and include the personal papers and materials of Merrill Charles Bakst, Brown '66 and journalist for the Providence Journal. Includes manuscripts, correspondence, notebooks, ephemera, photographs, audiocassettes and videotapes related to his student days at Brown and his career as a reporter and columnist. ...more information
Baptist
Holdings in the area of religious history that reflect the University's Baptist origins. Included are the papers of many clergymen, among them Roger Williams, Isaac Backus, Samuel Jones, Thomas Ustick, Jones Very, missionaries (Adoniram Judson and Josiah Nelson Cushing) and several presidents of Brown. The records for the following churches are also available: First Baptist Church in Swansea, MA*; the Baptist Church in Warren, RI*; Shawomet Baptist Church in Warwick, RI; Meshanticut Baptist Church in Cranston, RI; Roger Williams Baptist Church in Providence, RI; Niantic Baptist Church in Westerly, RI, and the Arkwright and Fiskeville Baptist Church in Scituate, RI. There is also a sizeable collection of Baptist periodicals.

*PLEASE NOTE: Records of the First Baptist Church of Swansea and the First Baptist Church of Warren are deposit collections, and each church retains ownership and control over its own records. Accordingly, permission is required from the appropriate church before either collection can be made available for research. Please email manuscripts@brown.edu or hay@brown.edu for further details and contact information. ...more information
Barbour (Clarence A.)
The Clarence A. Barbour papers contain many letters relating to Barbour's nomination as President of Brown University and his nine-month trip to Asia in 1931 and 1932. Also included are letters and poems written by Florence Newell Barbour about her experiences in Asia with her husband. ...more information
Barker (Sarah Elizabeth Minchin)
Sarah Elizabeth Minchin Barker (also known as Sally Barker) was an actress and director whose career was highlighted by the work with The Players at the Talma Theatre and the Barker Playhouse Theatre. She was active in dramatic events at Pembroke, where she taught theatre. Her husband, Henry Ames Barker, 1861-1929 (Brown class of 1893) was a guiding influence and a director of the Players. He was the son of Mayor Harry Barker of Providence and active himself in the civic and cultural affairs of the city. ...more information
Broadsides
The Broadsides Collection houses broadsides (single-sheet imprints), posters, bookplates, prints, valentines, greeting cards, postcards, and photographs. From a nucleus of 8,000 pieces in 1928, holdings have increased to over 40,000 items. Largely ephemeral by nature, broadsides are collected by only a few major libraries and historical societies in the United States. Originally issued primarily by governmental, religious, and political bodies, broadsides were later used for advertisements, programs, notices, ballad verses, elegies, and comments on contemporary events. More recently, they have become popular as exemplars of fine printing. Includes holdings of the Harris, Rider, Lincoln, Koopman, Military and general library collections. Notable areas within Harris include slip ballads and carriers' addresses. ...more information
Brown (Anne Seddon Kinsolving)
Personal papers of Anne Seddon Kinsolving Brown (1906-1985) who was one of the foremost authorities on military iconography. The collection includes her professional, family and personal correspondence, along with household records and materials that document her professional activities as a journalist, writer, and collector of military books, prints and museum objects. ...more information
Brown (Harold)
The Harold Brown papers, dated from 1878 to 1920, include legal and business documents, personal and business correspondence, two unpublished manuscripts, miscellaneous bills paid, two cashbooks and an inventory of Harold Brown's estate. ...more information
Brown (J. Carter)
The J. Carter Brown papers primarily contain correspondence, administrative materials, lecture notes, photographs, and other materials spanning his life. The bulk of the material is related to Brown's consulting business and his involvement as a board member with many organizations, dating between 1990 and 2002. ...more information
Brown (John Nicholas) (1861-1900)
COLLECTION CLOSED [2/1/24] This collection is unavailable for viewing, research, display, imaging, teaching and circulation. It is pending review by the appropriate Indigenous community or communities to determine if it contains culturally sensitive information. For additional information please contact hay@brown.edu John Nicholas Brown (1861-1900) was the eldest son of John Carter Brown and Sophia Augusta (Brown) Brown, members of one of the most prominent and distinguished families in Rhode Island. The papers reflect John Nicholas Brown's passion for the arts, travel, Europe, yachts, and philanthropic and civic activities. ...more information
Brown (John Nicholas) family photographs
The collection contains photographs and other memorabilia from the life of John Nicholas Brown II (1900-1979) and his family. Materials date from John's childhood to the last years of his life, and chronicle aspects of the lives of his children and grandchildren. Also included are photographs of John's wife, Anne Kinsolving, and her family. Film, sound recordings, postcards, newspaper clippings, portraits, photograph prints and slides comprise the bulk of the collection. ...more information
Brown (John Nicholas), (1900-1979)
Personal and professional papers of John Nicholas Brown, son of John Nicholas Brown (1867-1900) and Natalie Bayard Brown, Nephew of Harold Brown (1869-1900) and husband of Anne Seddon Kinsolving Brown. The papers comprise a wealth of material on the visual arts, art collections and collecting activities, and public service at the state, national and international levels, as well as the history of Brown University and the State of Rhode Island during the twentieth century. ...more information
Brown (Natalie Bayard)
Natalie Bayard Brown (1869-1950) was the wife of John Nicholas Brown (1861-1900) and mother of John Nicholas Brown (1900-1979), members of the prominent Brown family of Providence, Rhode Island. The papers reflect Natalie Bayard Brown's interests in politics and charitable causes through correspondence with family and friends, writings and speeches, scrapbooks, and photographs. The papers contain detailed financial and legal records related to John Nicholas Brown's (1900-1979) large inheritance from his father and uncle, Harold Brown. The papers also hold travel diaries and photographs from Natalie Bayard Brown and John Nicholas Brown's (1900-1979) travels in Europe, Asia, and Middle East. ...more information
Brown University Archives
The Archives collection contains copies of the official records and publications of the University, dating from 1763, along with the papers of many of its faculty, departments, and officers. A vital part of the collection are the records student groups and organizations. The Archives also encompass papers of Brown and Pembroke alumni/ae. The collections include Brown theses and dissertations, as well as printed, manuscript, graphic, and audiovisual material about the history of Brown University. ...more information
Brown University Archives - Biographical Files
Contains over 50,000 biographical files on alumni, faculty and administration members, and some staff members. These files contain vital statistics forms from the Alumni Records office, and in most cases include newspaper clippings, curricula vitae, bibliographies, and correspondence. ...more information
Brown University Archives - Photograph
This collection contains views of Brown University, including buildings, events and activities, student organizations, group shots of department members, reunion classes and fraternities, and faculty members, alumni and visitors. ...more information
Brown University Archives - Prints
This collection contains prints and etchings, mainly of Brown University buildings, but also includes portraits of faculty members and alumni, broadsides, athletic cartoons and postcards of Brown University buildings and events.

This collections includes the Helen Grose drawings and Tilden Thurber prints of the Brown University campus. ...more information
Brown University Archives - Scrapbooks
Scrapbooks kept by students, faculty members and alumni, containing photographs, prints, drawings and newspaper clippings of university events, birth and death announcements, and ephemera such as invitations, announcements, brochures, and programs. Most of these scrapbooks include memorabilia such as matchbooks, greeting cards, travel itineraries, postcards, tickets to events and dance cards.

Includes a collection of scrapbooks of newspaper clippings kept by University Librarian Reuben Guild, which chronicles events at Brown from 1851 to 1938. ...more information
Brown University Archives - Theatre
This collection contains theatre programs, photographs, posters, museum objects, announcements and newspaper clippings of productions mounted by various theatrical groups at Brown University, including Hammer and Tongs, Sock and Buskin, Komians, Brownbrokers, Rites and Reason, and Production Workshop.

1872 to the present. ...more information
Burlingame (Katharine DePew)
Katharine DePew Burlingame (1900-1982)was the only child of Florida Ten Broeck Schneider and Edwin Aylsworth Burlingame. She was a member of Central Congregational Church, Providence Art Club, Urban League of Rhode Island, National Society of Colonial Dames, English Speaking Union and the Rhode Island Historical Society. She was an assistant librarian at the Providence Athenaeum for 50 years until her retirement in 1968. This collection consists of notebooks compiled by Katharine containing lists of favorite books and periodicals, poetry and prose, a history bibliography, biographical index, bibliography, etc. much of which may have been used as a reference sources for her work at the Providence Athenaeum. There are personal letters, cards and letters received at her retirement, ephemera relating to her parents, documents relating to the funeral of her mother, and a Christmas card showing the Burlingame family in their living room. Two photographs show an unidentified elderly woman, who is likely a member of the family, sitting alone and accompanied by Katharine and her mother. The two scrapbooks contain clipped images of churches in Paris from various sources. ...more information
Butler Hospital
The Butler Hospital records contain many of the hospital's records from its founding in 1841 to approximately its 50th anniversary in 1891. These records document the changing attitudes toward the mentally ill in Europe and the United States in the early 19th century as well as communal responsibility for the less fortunate, the responsibility of the wealthy for sharing both their wealth and their expertise, the financial practices of the period, detailed specifications on the construction of the first hospital of any kind in Rhode Island, the hospital's expansion, and the day-to-day expenses of such an institution. ...more information
Cameron (William H.) Civil War
The William H. Cameron papers consists of approximately 100 items, most of which pertain to Cameron's service in the Union Army during the Civil War. ...more information
Carriers Addresses
Carriers' addresses were published by newspapers, usually on January 1, and distributed in the United States for more than two centuries. The custom originated in England and was introduced here during colonial times. The newsboys delivered these greetings in verse each New Year's Day and the customers understood that a tip was expected. The poems, often anonymous, describe the events of the past year, locally, regionally, and nationally, and end with a request for a gratuity for the faithful carrier. Often the poem referred to the carrier's diligence and hardships during winter weather. Illustrated with wood-engravings and decorative borders, carriers' addresses are distinctive examples of popular publishing in nineteenth century America. Brown University Library holds one of the largest collections of these charming works, in the Broadsides Collection and the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays. ...more information
Carroll (Michael R.)
The collection consists of documents relating to Michael Carroll's pension for Civil War military service, letters written to him about slavery and the impact of emancipation by Victor Chambers, and the book "Born at the Battlefield of Gettysburg" written by Carroll's great-grandaughter, Harriet Rinaldi. ...more information
Civil War Manuscripts
Comprises more than 26 collections (more than 2,000 letters in all) covering the period from 1858 through 1879. Includes correspondence, diaries, photographs, prints and graphics and other related materials pertaining to all aspects of the Civil War, from the lives of enlisted Union soldiers and their families back home, to camp life and battlefield medicine, and the political issues that gripped the nation. ...more information
Cohen (Robert F., Jr.)
The Robert F. Cohen, Jr. papers relate to his activist work as a student at Brown from 1964-1968, and as a community organizer in Providence and other Rhode Island communities, and New York City around welfare rights, housing discrimination and education between 1968-1972. The collection contains original materials created in the context of this work, including press releases, research notes, minutes of meetings, leaflets, and other organizing materials, as well as news clippings covering the actual events. There is also an extensive collection of publications from progressive organizations. ...more information
Community Organizing
Organized in 2006 by Brown alumni Bob Cohen (1968), Jim Dickson (1968), and Ken Galdston (1968), and co-founded with the Swearer Center for Public Service, the COA comprises collection of archival and manuscript papers of Brown alumni and students engaged in public service for the betterment of communal life in the United States through NGOs. ...more information
Corbett (Scott)
The Scott Corbett papers contain a variety of material related to his career as a writer as well as personal memorabilia from his childhood and service in the United States Army during World War II. These papers also include Elizabeth Corbett's personal and business papers and artwork by the illustrator and author Don Freeman. ...more information
COYOTE Rhode Island
This collection contains the organizational records of COYOTE Rhode Island, a group of sex workers, former sex workers, trafficking victims, and allies, who advocate for policies that promote the health and safety of people involved in the sex industry. Materials include administrative records; special project files such as the COYOTE-RI Impact Survey and Sex Workers Outreach Project pen pal letters; subject files regarding other advocacy organizations; public records of court cases, arrests, and legislation relating to prostitution; and informational zines and booklets. The collections dates from 1990 to 2021. ...more information
Crosby (Christina)
This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Christina Crosby, lesbian and feminist scholar, social justice activist, and co-founder of Sojourner House – a non-profit dedicated to supporting those affected by domestic and sexual violence in Rhode Island. Crosby worked as a Professor in the English Department and a Professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Wesleyan University. Her scholarship focused on women in 19th-century British literature but turned toward disability studies after a near-fatal bicycle accident in 2003. In 2016, Crosby published "A Body Undone: Living on After Great Pain" documenting this experience. The collection documents Crosby's personal life, academic career, research, and writing, and includes photographs, correspondence, syllabi, handwritten notes, research articles, and writing drafts. The collection spans from 1949 to 2023. ...more information
Curtis (Minerva G.) diaries
A collection of 34 leather-bound diaries, ranging from 1900 to 1941, recording the daily activities of Minerva Greenwood Curtis, a grade-school teacher in Providence, Rhode Island. The collection also includes an address book, a notebook, a loose, hand-written recipe and a newspaper clipping. ...more information
Denison (Frederic) Baptist Biograpies
The Denison Collection consist of letters, manuscripts, and printed matter that contain biographical information about individual Baptists in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. ...more information
Dirt Palace ephemera
This collection consists of the ephemera of Dirt Palace a feminist artist-run non-profit arts space and artist collective located in Providence, Rhode Island. The collection includes articles, zines, posters, pamphlets, and newsletters related to the activities of Dirt Palace’s space and affiliated artists. The collection spans from 2011 to 2018. ...more information
Dixon (Nathan Fellows) Family
The Nathan Fellows Dixon family papers consist of letters, legal documents, personal and political memorabilia and photographs relating to a Westerly, Rhode Island, family of great prominence in state and federal politics during the 19th century. The majority of the collection represents the domestic and political lives of three generations of men named Nathan Fellows Dixon, all of whom graduated from Brown University and went on to serve in the United States Congress. ...more information
Doonan (Lesley C.)
This collection consists of the activist files of Lesley C. Doonan, social justice feminist and founding member of the Women's Liberation Union of Rhode Island. The collection documents Doonan's participation in various feminist organizations including the National Conference on Women, the Rhode Island Abortion Counseling Service and the Women's Liberation Union of Rhode Island. Materials include correspondence, conference material, clippings, legal files, and print materials, dating from 1968-2003. ...more information
Dorr (Thomas Wilson)
The Library holds the papers of Thomas Wilson Dorr, 1805-1854, lawyer, politician, reformer, and central figure in Rhode Island's "Dorr War" of 1842. The Dorr collection contains letters and speeches on suffrage, elections, banks, and state politics. They are supported by 60 scrapbooks of Dorr's personal and political correspondence, law practice and other items relating to the Suffrage Party and Providence history in the Rider Collection. The collection includes a box containing personal effects relating to Dorr's prison stay. ...more information
Drowne Family
In 1940, the personal library of botanist and physician Dr. Solomon Drowne, Class of 1773, plus over 1,000 documents and letters relating to members of the Drowne family (1770 through 1940) were moved from Mt. Hygeia, Dr. Drowne's home in Foster, Rhode Island, to Brown. This fine example of an 18th century American private library is preserved intact within Special Collections. ...more information
Eddy (Clifford M. and Ruth M.) musical compositions
This collection consists primarily of printed and manuscript music composed by Clifford M. Eddy, Jr. and his daughter Ruth M. Eddy. Also includes correspondence and poetry. ...more information
Elliott (Maud Howe)

Correspondence (mostly dating between 1890 and 1940), manuscripts, lectures and scrapbooks of a Newport-based literary figure who was the daughter of the poet Julia Ward Howe and activist Samuel Gridley Howe, and wife of the artist John Elliott. The collection includes unpublished manuscripts for Elliott's memoirs "Afternoon Tea" and "Memories of Eighty Years." ...more information
Fales family letters
The Fales family letters number thirty six, most of them sent by Stephen (who often signed himself "Esteban") Smith Fales from his Cuban plantation to his sister Lydia (Fales) French in Bristol, Rhode Island. Although the earliest letter dates from 1806, most of the letters were written between 1813 and 1834 from various locations in Cuba. ...more information
Farnham
The Christine Dunlap Farnham Archives records contains office files arranged by topic and correspondence, which is arranged alphabetically. The topical files include materials related to women's history sources, oral histories, various women's organizations and conferences, newsletters and reports. The files are dated from circa 1973 to 1993. ...more information
Fenner (Edward)
The Edward Fenner papers consist of correspondence, family records, deeds, accounts, receipts, orders, invoices, and other documents relating to Fenner's family background, his life and his service on the Town Council of Johnston, Rhode Island during the latter half of the eighteenth century. ...more information
Frost (Edwin Collins) and William Henry Frost
This collection, dating from 1890 to 1941, consists of letters addressed to both Edwin Collins Frost (1867-1956) and William Henry Frost (1863-1902) and a small autograph collection. Edwin Collins Frost was an assistant and instructor of rhetoric at Brown University from 1895 to 1898 and the cataloguer of Marsden J. Perry's Shakespeare Collection from 1901 to 1907. William Henry Frost joined the New York Tribune in 1887 as a reporter and drama critic and was the author of four books for children. ...more information
Frost Currency
The bank notes and documents in this collection were collected by Michael Freezy Frost. He was born in 1932 in Tulsa, Oklahoma and died on February 08, 2012 in McAllen, Texas. This collection contains examples of 26 pieces of currency, of varying types, issued in Rhode Island between 1775-1929, one bank note issued in Delaware in 1759, and 5 documents related to the fiscal history of 18th century Rhode Island. ...more information
Glass (Jodi L.)
The Jodi Glass papers provide rich documentation of the inner workings of feminist organizations and movements in Rhode Island and beyond. Included in the collection are the correspondence, essays, news clippings, legislation, agendas, and minutes of a number of groups and movements, including the Rhode Island Feminist Chorus, Feminist Resources Unlimited and the anti-pornography movement. ...more information
Gleeson (Alice Collins)
The Alice Collins Gleason papers consist of scripts and preparation sheets for radio plays about early Rhode Island history written for elementary and junior high schools in Rhode Island. The plays date from 1935-1937. ...more information
Goff family papers
The Goff family papers number seven items in all. The collection includes a letter from Daniel H. Goff, a Rhode Island native, sent from San Francisco, in 1849 to his family in Rhode Island. It includes military commissions of him and his son William M.Goff, in 1849 and 1865-1867 respectively. The collection also includes the wills of William's brother, Daniel. C. Goff, probated 1852, and the latter's wife, Martha Hall Goff, dated 1946. ...more information
Gorham

Archival records (approximately 6,200 linear feet, dating from 1831 to 2005) of the company founded in 1831 by silversmith Jabez Gorham in Providence, Rhode Island, and expanded under the leadership of his son John in the 1840s. At various times the company was the largest manufacturer of silver products, producer and distributor of ecclesiastical wares, and art bronze foundry in the United States.

The collection features many thousands of drawings and photographs of Gorham products, reflecting American taste from Victorian times to the present. It also contains corporate, personnel, costing, sales, and advertising records, as well as blueprints, plaster casts, and copper printing plates. Incorporated into the collection are the records of fourteen companies acquired by Gorham prior to its acquisition by larger companies, first by Textron Inc., then by Dansk International, and finally by Brown-Forman Corporation in 1991.

The Gorham Manufacturing Company records are not processed. A small portion of the records is accessible. See the Research Guide and the Inventory of Accessible Records linked below for further information.

...more information
Green (Eleanor Burges)
These papers contain correspondence relating to Eleanor Burges Green's support of Pembroke College, her role in organizing a memorial service to Dean Lida Shaw King who died in 1932, and the publication and distribution of two books paying tribute to Dean King. Additional materials include a draft of a Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women resolution and correspondence with the Association of Collegiate Alumnae. ...more information
Green (T.F.)
T.F. Green (class of 1887) was at different times a lawyer with Green, Hinckley and Allen and with Green, Curran, and Hart. He was an instructor in law at Brown University and served as Governor of Rhode Island. The collection consists of personal and professional correspondence; legal case files; financial files; family history; political files ...more information
Greene Memorial
The name by which the collection of manuscripts by and relating to Albert Gorton Greene has been known. It is now more properly cited as Ms. Greene. The Greene Memorial is a collection of materials relating to Judge Albert Gorton Greene, 1802-1868, the founder of the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays. Included are fourteen watercolors of Italian and Roman ruins painted by Judge Greene; two paintings by Giovanni Thompson related to poems by Greene; a manuscript copybook of letters from John Quincy Adams to his son about the Bible; manuscripts and letters; certificates; daguerrotypes; scrapbooks of poems; autograph albums; deeds; and a sea-letter of the brig Clinton signed "G. Washington, 1795." ...more information
Guild (Emmons Dexter)
The Emmons Dexter Guild papers comprise some 100 items, the bulk of which are letters he wrote to his family in the course of his service in the 1st Rhode Island Cavalry during the Civil War. The collection includes financial papers of the Improved Order of Red Men, Pokanoket Tribe No. 38, a fraternal organization to which Guild belonged, along with items that relate to Guild's role as Aide-de-Camp in the Grand Army of the Republic. ...more information
Hawkins (Rush)
The Rush Hawkins collection (1750-1951(bulk 1830-1917)) contains personal, family, financial, and military correspondence and documents; photographs; and a variety of museum objects ranging from dinnerware and household items to clothing and personal accessories belonging to the Hawkins and Brown families. Most of the collection reflects the life and interests of Hawkins himself, with some items related to his wife Annmary Brown Hawkins and her family. Included in the papers are two significant sub-collections of correspondence: a collection of antebellum historical letters and documents from earlier generations of the Brown family, as well as individual letters from Thomas Jefferson, Nathaniel Greene, Edgar Allan Poe, and Napoleon I; and a collection of Civil War-related correspondence and documents that contains records of Hawkins' Zouaves and much Confederate material, including a subseries of Jefferson Davis's communications to the Senate of the Confederate States. ...more information
Hill (Walter Nickerson)
American chemist. Letters and manuscripts; letterpress books; scrapbook; notebooks; documents; pamphlets; photographs; and memorabilia. The bulk of the written material (to, from, and about Hill) dates from 1870 through 1884. It consists of personal letters between Hill and his wife; letters between Hill and leading scientists and ordinance specialists; letters to and from important political, scientific, and military figures regarding Hill's application for appointment of Professor of Mathematics in the Navy; business correspondence; Hill's patents and pamphlets regarding explosives, demagnetization, etc.; newspaper clippings of Hill's death in an explosion. ...more information
Hughes (Donna M.)
This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Donna M. Hughes. She is Professor Emeritus and was the Eleanor M. and Oscar M. Carlson Endowed Chair in Women's Studies at the University of Rhode Island. Throughout her career, Hughes worked closely with women survivors of violence and sexual exploitation where her research centered the experiences of women and girls, which was a pioneering approach in the field. Many consider Hughes to be the founder of the academic study of sex trafficking. Materials in the collection document Hughes� academic career, research, writing, and advocacy work and is composed of dossiers, legal files, teacher evaluations, personal and professional correspondence, handwritten notes, conference materials, research articles, and writing drafts, dating from 1971-2024. ...more information
Humanities Forum of Rhode Island
The Humanities Forum of Rhode Island (HFRI) is a not-for-profit institution that sponsors six lecture programs/dinners annually. This collection represents the records of the forum from 1996 to 2007, including meeting minutes, membership rosters, bylaws, event planning, fliers, and news clippings. ...more information
Jenckes (Thomas Allen)
One box, chiefly correspondence to Thomas Allen Jenckes, Congressional Representative from Rhode Island, about legal matters and legislative affairs for the period of 1837 to 1870. ...more information
John Hay (1838-1905)
In July of 1905, John Milton Hay (Class of 1858, perhaps the most famous Brown graduate of his day) died in office as U.S. Secretary of State. The following year his widow, Clara Stone Hay, presented 400 books and manuscripts from Hay's personal library to Brown. These books include many volumes which are inscribed to John Hay. ...more information
Jones (Samuel)
These papers consist primarily of correspondence from James Manning, first president of Brown University, discussing issues relating to the founding of the college, such as fundraising, the charter, and the use of University Hall as barracks by the United States government during the American Revolutionary War. ...more information
Keely (George Washington)
These papers primarily consist of correspondence concerning events leading to the resignation of President Asa Messer and the educational developments in Providence between 1829 and 1833. ...more information
Ladd Observatory
Correspondences, articles, scrapbooks, course material, photographs, offprints, newspaper clippings, etc. Includes correspondence, professional papers and photographs of and relating to the research and teaching of Brown University astronomers Winslow Upton (founding director of Ladd Observatory), Charles Hugh Smiley, and Clinton Harvey Currier.

The collection includes a number of historic astronomical instruments, including sextants, octants, and an azimuth.

The Papers of Charles H. Smiley, located in the Brown University Archives, form a closely related collection. ...more information
Littlefield (Katherine Frances)
The Katherine Frances Littlefield papers chronicles the early professional life of a 1902 graduate of Pembroke College at Brown University through letters to her mother from 1905-1909. The letters focus on the establishment of her professional career and family matters. ...more information
Lord (Augustus Mendon)
The Augustus Mendon Lord collection includes correspondence, documents, and autographs of prominent figures from the period 1778 through 1908. The bulk of the correspondence pertains to American politicians, particularly members of Congress, and dates from 1876 through 1908. However, the collection also contains autographs and documents from American and European military, scientific, literary, and artistic figures. ...more information
Lovell family
The Lovell family papers were compiled by Malcolm R. Lovell, Jr. They range in date from 1790 to 1911, with the primary focus being the period between 1800 and 1860. The range of subjects covered is equally broad, including religion and spirituality, slavery, family life, and student life at Brown University. Religion is at the core of this collection. The story depicted in the collection of nearly 850 letters, journals, clippings, sermons and other materials is that of a family struggling with its convictions about religion. These convictions are apparent in nearly all portions of the collection, from the sermons of Shubael Lovell to the letters and journals of his children. ...more information
Luce (Nancy)
The Nancy Luce Papers comprise manuscripts poems, accounts, journals, photographs, family papers and clippings that cover the period from 1725 to 1964. ...more information
Manning (James)
The James Manning Papers consist primarily of correspondence dating from 1765-1791 with prominent British and American Baptist ministers. Much of the correspondence involves the early history of Brown University or various issues regarding the Baptist religion and the growing tide of religion in Providence, Rhode Island. ...more information
McLoughlin (William Gerald)
Professor William Gerald McLoughlin taught history at Brown University from 1954-1992 and was an active and vocal participant professionally and personally in all of the issues and events during those years: freedom of speech, civil rights, racial equality, gender equality (Louis Lamphere sex discrimination case), nuclear energy, improving the Providence education system, the Vietnam War, divestment from South Africa, and US intervention in Nicaragua during the 1980s. His papers are particularly useful for studying the changes in America and their effect s at Brown University during his tenure. His major areas of scholarship were religion in America (particularly Baptists and Evangelicals), the Cherokee Indian Nation, antislavery movement, African Americans, and Rhode Island history. This collection contains research notes and subject files for his many research topics, drafts for some of his published books, correspondence with colleagues and friends, minutes for meetings of the various committees at Brown and in the community on which he served, and newspaper clippings for topics of importance to him. ...more information
Meshanticut Park Community Baptist Church
The Meshanticut Park Community Baptist Church in Cranston, RI was founded in 1905 when the Rhode Island Baptist State Convention bought the church building from the Congregational Society. The congregation struggled during their first decades, and it was not until the 1920s that they hired a settled minister. The 1940s ushered in a dramatic increase in the population of Cranston and the Meshanticut Park Community Church. They outgrew the old chapel on Cranston Street, so they built a new meetinghouse at 180 Oaklawn Avenue in 1950. The congregation prospered until the 1970s when the church declined somewhat, paralleling the experience of the Baptist denomination. By 2000, the church had various problems and issues of conflict. The last pastor, who took over in September 2004, was Robert Lancia who drew his inspiration and models from Robert Schuller (the Crystal Cathedral) and Rick Warren (Saddleback Baptist Church). Lancia sought to remake Meshanticut Park including renaming it “The Orchard Church” in 2008. The church dissolved in 2011 and the building was sold to the Evangelical Euphrates Armenian Church. The records date from 1932-2010 and contain Board of Trustee minutes, Church Council minutes, newsletters, documents about the church building, scattered membership records, and photographs dating from the early 2000s. This is part of the Rhode Island Baptist Heritage Center collection. ...more information
Morrill Act Papers
Papers regarding the acquisition by the University of land in Kansas as a result of the Morrill Act passed by Congress in 1862, the agreement to provide agricultural and mechanical arts instruction, and the sale of the land to support scholarships. ...more information
Morse (Carleton D.) Whaling
The Morse Collection of books, manuscripts and periodicals relating to the whaling industry was presented as a memorial to Carleton D. Morse (Brown Class of 1913), by his widow and daughter in 1958. It includes personal narratives and classics of whaling literature, along with correspondence; manuscript logbooks and journals; commercial papers; legal documents; memoranda; reports; personal memoirs; photographs; engravings; clippings and ephemera. Among the commercial papers are invoices and receipts for ships' outfits, merchants' records for repairs, freight, passengers, fuel, and taxes; Charter Party documents; as well as correspondence of a personal nature.

The books have been catalogued individually, and can be identified through JOSIAH. To pull up a title list, do an "author" search for "Morse Whaling." The manuscripts have been arranged and described as a collection, and an EAD finding aid is available. A link to the finding aid is provided below.

(NOTE: Two manuscript collections that arrived with the Morse materials are the papers of Malvina Pinkham Marshall and the Pinkham family and the Papers of Marshall Johnson. These have been arranged and described separately because they had no apparent connection to whaling.)

The Morse Collection, in combination with whaling collections at the Providence Public Library and the New Bedford Whaling Museum, provides an outstanding resource for studying the economic, historic and social influences exercised by whalers on the development of 18th and 19th century New England.

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Niantic Baptist Church
The records of the Niantic Baptist Church include annual reports, treasurer's reports and expense records, membership lists, minutes, contracts for the pastors and miscellaneous documents. These records document that last years of the church from 1987 to 2012. This is part of the Rhode Island Baptist Heritage Center collection. ...more information
Nicholson (Nellie B.)
This collection contains a scrapbook compiled by Nellie B. Nicholson, Brown University class of 1911. Nicholson is believed to be the fifth Black woman graduate from Pembroke College, the women's college in Brown University, and was a leading advocate for Black women's right to vote. She was an educator in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, for over 40 years. The scrapbook includes 172 photographs of friends and family members, Pembroke College campus buildings and women's athletics, house mates at 45 East Transit Street in Providence, and post-graduation travels and work. Many of these include handwritten captions. The scrapbook also includes programs for various events primarily at Brown, ribbons from events, and dried flowers and stems. Materials in this scrapbook date from 1906 to 1917, but the bulk of the items date from 1910 - 1911. ...more information
Oral history interviews concerning ACT UP of Rhode Island an
Oral history interviews conducted in 1993 by Peter Cohen with AIDS activists who were involved with the group ACT UP in Rhode Island and New York. The interviews were used as part of Peter Cohen's dissertation research at Brown University and used extensively in his subsequent publication: Love and Anger: Essays on AIDS, Activism, and Politics (Haworth Press, 1998). ...more information
Pembroke Center Oral History
The Pembroke Center Oral History Collection centers stories from women and non-binary members of Pembroke College and Brown University from 1911 to the present. Collection contains administrative records, audiotapes of interviews, transcripts, and related material. To listen to interviews and read transcripts online visit: https://sites.brown.edu/pembrokeoralhistory/. ...more information
Photographs
Collections of views, particularly of Rhode Island subjects. Includes portraits, and assorted general topics. Other named collections within special collections include photographs, notably the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays, the Harry L. Koopman Collection, and many manuscript and archival collections. ...more information
Pinkham family correspondence
The Pinkham family correspondence consists of letters between members of the Pinkham family, a prominent Nantucket family in the whaling business, and with their acquaintances. The letters, dating from 1855-1877, cover topics including family and social life in Nantucket, New Bedford, and Providence, with some discussion of national politics. This collection was originally part of a larger collection on whaling donated by Carleton D. Morse (Brown University Class of 1913). ...more information
Poland (William Carey)
William Carey Poland (1846-1929) was a member of the Class of 1868, and subsequently professor of Classics at Brown from 1870 to 1892. After his return from a sabbatical year in Greece in 1892, he was named the first Professor in the History of Art at Brown. He later served as President of the Rhode Island School of Design (1896-1907), but continued to teach the history of art at Brown until his retirement in 1915. Poland House, a residence hall on the Brown campus, is named for him.

The William Carey Poland Papers consist of 9 diaries and 24 photographs dating from around 1860 to 1910. Two of the diaries are in the hand of Clara (Harkness) Poland and one is in the hand of William Poland Jr. The photographs in the collection include various images of the Poland family as well of Prof. Poland at an archaeological dig, probably in Greece. ...more information
Pottery and Porcelain Club (Providence, RI)
The group, established in 1947, is dedicated to the study of fine porcelain and pottery. Study groups and exhibitions are its main activities. The collection contains administrative materials, membership lists, newsletters, and slides documenting exhibitions. ...more information
Powel (Harford W.H.) T.S. Eliot
This material was collected by Powel for his master's thesis, Notes on the life of T. S. Eliot 1888-1910, Brown University, 1954. Autograph and typed letters to and from Eliot's classmates; miscellaneous manuscripts relating to T. S. Eliot and Harvard College ca. 1909; photostats of selected contributions by Eliot to Smith Academy Record and Harvard Advocate. ...more information
Prophet (Nancy Elizabeth)

Nancy Elizabeth Prophet (1890-1960) was an American sculptress and, in 1918, the first woman of color to graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Her work became well-known throughout Europe and the United States. Born in Warwick, Rhode Island to a Narragansett Indian father and an African American mother, she experienced and struggled against racial discrimination typical of the times in which she lived. She studied and worked in Paris from 1922-1934. She taught at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia from 1934-1944. This collection contains the diary she kept during her life in Paris. In it she describes the hardships of poverty, her eagerness to work on her sculptures, the generosity of those who assisted her, and the sculptures she created. ...more information
Providence Black Repertory Company
The Providence Black Repertory Company (Black Rep) was a 501c3 non profit arts organization based in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. It offered programming inspired by the cultural traditions of the African Diaspora in Theater, Education, and Public Programs. It operated from 1996 until 2009. ...more information
Providence Milk Commission
The records of the Providence Milk Commission consist of financial and business records related to the Commission's activities from 1931 to 1985. The series concerning Hillside Farms contains reports on the health of its employees and the results of tests to determine the quality of the milk produced there. ...more information
Review Club
The Review Club records include papers and materials of the Review Club at Brown University, an informal organization aimed at the study and discussion of literature and culture. The collection includes booklets, manuscripts, correspondence, and ephemera related to the organization and its members. ...more information
Reynolds (Horace Mason)
Correspondence, account books, ledgers, invoices, documents, and music music relating to Gottlieb Graupner, John Rowe Parker and the music-publishing industry in Boston, Massachusetts from 1802-1838, collected by writer/editor Horace Reynolds. ...more information
Rhode Island Baptist Heritage Center
The Rhode Island Baptist Heritage Center, an affiliate of the American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island [ABCORI], was established in 2004 to create an official Baptist presence in Providence, Rhode Island. It provides substantive information regarding early English and American Baptists and documents traditional forms of worship and doctrine in the Baptist Church. The collection includes a wide array of church materials documenting organizational and administrative operations, religious practices and beliefs, and the history of the Baptist Church in Rhode Island. It includes registers, reports, correspondence, photographs and church publications dating from as early as 1867 to the late 1980s. The churches and organizations included are: Arlington Baptist Church, Bethany Baptist Church, Cranston Street Baptist Church, Eighth Baptist Church, First Free Baptist Church, Fourth Baptist Church, Jefferson Baptist Church, Olneyville Church, Park Street Baptist Church, Phenix Baptist Church, Rhode Island Free Baptist Association, Roger Williams Free Baptist Church, Trinity Baptist Church, United Baptist Church, United Community Church, United Presbyterian Church. ...more information
Rhode Island College Miscellaneous
A collection of early historical documents of Brown University from the petition for a charter in 1763 to the change of name from Rhode Island College to Brown University in 1804. Titles of the papers and folder numbers are taken from the two volumes in which the papers had previously been mounted. ...more information
Rhode Island Disability Vote Project
James deBoer, Class of 2005, served as the coordinator of the Rhode Island Disability Vote Project (RIDVP). This collection includes notes of the daily organizational activities between 2006 and 2008, meeting notes, planning notes, and a spreadsheet listing one-to-one calls. ...more information
Rhode Island Feminist Theatre
Theatre group founded in 1973 in Providence, Rhode Island. Members often collaborated on the writing of plays. Performances were given in Providence, Boston, and on national tour. The collection includes scripts, publicity, reviews, articles, promotional and touring material, posters, playbills, photographs, and other files. ...more information
Rhode Island Medical Society

Two important groups of rare or unusual materials collected by the Rhode Island Medical Society in its 175 years can be found in Special Collections at the Hay Library.

The first group comprises the contents of the Society's De Jong Rare Book Room plus titles selected from its general collection. Here are medical classics such as Pliny's Historia Naturale (Venice, 1501), Galen's works (Venice, 1525), Avicenna's Liber Canonis (Venice, 1555), Vesalius's De Humani Corporis Fabrica (Amsterdam, 1642) and works by Celsus, Harvey, Boerhaave, Pare, Morgagni and Osler along with other authoritative texts including the ubiquitous Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical (London, 1858) of Henry Gray. The collection includes numerous 18th and 19th century medical tracts published in America from Nicholas Culpeper's Pharmacopoeia Londinensis (Boston, 1720) to the "ether controversy" of the 1850's and beyond. There is also a substantial selection of pamphlets dealing with homeopathy, hydropathy, naturopathy and other less orthodox medical doctrines more frequently practiced in the 19th century.

The second group consists of the Society's own records, and includes a collection of historically significant antique medical instruments, given to the Society by William James Burge, M.D. (1831-1921), a fellow of the Society since 1874, as well as by other members of the Society over the course of many decades.

Supplementing these historical medical materials are two associated literary collections compiled by physicians, the James Henry Davenport collection (comprising books on medical history, medical biography and the extra-curricular writings of physicians), and the personal library of Providence Superintendant of Health Charles Value Chapin (consisting primarily of Greek and Latin classics in English translation).
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Rhode Island Sheet Music
A collection of over 2,500 pieces of sheet music related to Rhode Island. It contains works by Rhode Island composers and lyricists, titles issued by Rhode Island publishers, cover illustrations of Rhode Island scenes, buildings, and well-known Rhode Islanders. It also includes many works that take Rhode Island as their subject. The sheet music dates from the early 1800s to the 1980s ...more information
Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women
The records of the Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women (RISCEW) consist of the organization's meeting minute records, correspondence, news clippings, organizational histories, membership lists and financial ledgers from 1895-1971. Additional materials within the collection are reports by various committees, such as the Building Committee, Evaluation Committee, and the War Service Committee of 1918-1919. ...more information
Rhode Island Women's Health Collective
This collection contains the records of the Rhode Island Women's Health Collective, a non-profit organization that operated from 1975 to 1999 with the mission of improving the health of women and their families through education, advocacy and mutual support. Topics in the collection include pregnancy and childbirth, birth control, maternal and child health, cancer and cancer screening, and women's mental health. Materials include administrative files, financial records, grant materials, event materials, photographs, research materials, and electronic records on removable carriers dating from 1973-1997. ...more information
Rhode Island Writers' Guild
This collection consists of administrative records, correspondence, newsletters, scrapbooks, photographs, clippings, and proclamations from the Rhode Island Writers' Guild, founded by Ruth Eddy in 1950 . The collection also includes original poetry, prose and music written by guild members. ...more information
Rider

The Sidney S. Rider Collection on Rhode Island history, the largest private collection of materials related to Rhode Island, was presented to the library in 1903 by Marsden Perry. Rider was a leading Providence bookseller, publisher and antiquarian who had amassed a collection of manuscript and printed materials from the 18th through the early 20th centuries. The collection includes books, pamphlets, manuscripts, broadsides, ephemera, scrapbooks and newspapers compiled over 50 years of collecting. Notable among the ephemera are posters, cartoons, playbills, ballots, carrier's addresses, theater programs, tax bills, lottery tickets, death notices, and funeral invitations. Significant sections of the collection pertain to the Dorr Rebellion of 1842 and to the life and career of Rhode Island lawyer and Congressman Thomas Allen Jenckes.

Researchers should conduct an author search on "Rider, Sidney S." in order to locate items from the printed collection.
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Robinson (Edward North) Sports
The Edward North Robinson Collection of Brown University Athletics contains more than 30,000 photographs, over 900 reels of motion pictures, manuscripts, cartoons, scrapbooks, museum objects, office files, media guides and programs. This collection is part of the Brown University Archives. ...more information
Robinson (Ezekial Gilman)
The Ezekiel Gilman Robinson papers primarily contain the business correspondence of Robinson during his presidency at Brown University between 1872 and 1889. Also included are three typewritten drafts of an article entitled, "The Professor of Philosophy," by Alfred Gideon Langley about Robinson. This article was meant to be a supplement to Robinson�s autobiography but it was never published. ...more information
Roger Williams Baptist Church
The administrative records, committee minutes, publications, photographs and historical information documenting the history and activities of this Baptist church in Providence, RI. This is part of the Rhode Island Baptist Heritage Center collection. ...more information
Romance Novels
The romance novels included in this database, along with the working papers of their authors, were acquired in conjunction with the establishment of the Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive, which is "dedicated to preserving and the continued collection of materials documenting the history of women in Brown University and Pembroke College, the post-graduate lives of Brown University and Pembroke College alumnae, and the lives of Rhode Island women." The authors are Barbar Kieler, Jo Ann Ferguson, Patricia Coughlin, and Sylvia Baumgarten. In addition to works by the Brown and Rhode Island authors listed, works by over 30 other romance authors appear in the database in cases where they have been anthologized with these four authors. The novels include titles translated into many languages ...more information
Russell (Jonathan)
The papers of merchant, diplomat, and Massachusetts Congressman Jonathan Russell, Class of 1791, provide information on an early critical period of American politics and diplomacy. Included are records, notes, and correspondence for the period 1795-1830, during which Russell was a member of the United States Commission to draw up the Treaty of Ghent following the War of 1812, and later, Minister to Sweden and Norway. There are also several hundred letters from Russell to President James Monroe, and 22 from Monroe concerning commercial and diplomatic relations between the United States and Europe. Some 120 letters which Russell exchanged with John Quincy Adams span the years 1798 to 1823. ...more information
Sears (Barnas)
Barnas Sears graduated from Brown University in 1825 and served as the fifth president of Brown from 1855-1867. This collection primarily consists of correspondence from Sears' service as president of Brown University. ...more information
Seven Hills Garden Club
The Seven Hills Garden Club of Providence, Rhode Island, was founded in 1937 to "stimulate an interest in horticulture for purposes of civic betterment, and to enable each member to enjoy her own garden more intelligently." These records were kept in two notebooks by the Seven Hills Garden Club librarian and include by-laws, programs, clippings, photographs, some minutes, membership lists, memorial tributes to past members, and reports. In addition to documenting a women's club and the horticultural activities of a number of Providence women over several decades of the twentieth century, this collection provides some information about individual members and about the Rhode Island Federation of Garden Clubs. ...more information
Shakespearian Advertiser printing blocks
Wood engraving printing blocks created by Edward S. Jones to illustrate a booklet titled "The Shakespearian Advertiser" published by Harlen P. Boyce in Providence, RI in 1871. The images are comic illustrations of quotes from various plays by William Shakespeare. ...more information
Sharpe (Mary Elizabeth)
Mary Elizabeth Sharpe (1884-1985) was a successful businesswoman (owner of a successful tea shop and candy room in New York City) when she married her husband Henry Sharpe in 1920. Mrs. Sharpe was a philanthropist with many interests but was best known for her efforts to beautify Brown University and the city of Providence, RI. A self-taught landscape architect, Sharpe established an annual tree fund and lead the fundraising efforts to create India Point Park, a Providence waterfront recreation area. This collection contains her personal files, blueprints, correspondence, day books, calendars, clippings, recipes, scrapbooks, records relating to landscaping and other community projects, gardening information, blueprints, and photographs. ...more information
Shawomet Baptist Church
The Shawomet Baptist Church was officially organized in 1842 as the Old Warwick Baptist Church. The original congregation of "Six Principle" Baptists combined resources with Regular (Calvinist) Baptists, whose numbers were growing as a result of the Second Great Awakening, to occupy a small meetinghouse on the Warwick Neck peninsula in Rhode Island. In 1851 their name was officially changed to Shawomet Baptist Church. The word Shawomet is the Narragansett Indian name for Warwick Neck. The church closed in 2011. The records include founding documents, publications, meeting minutes, correspondence, financial records, membership lists, club and activity records and photographic materials documenting the 170-year history of the congregation. The bulk of the material covers the period from 1945 through 1999. This is part of the Rhode Island Baptist Heritage Center collection. ...more information
Sherman (Stuart C.)
These papers consist of correspondence spanning his career and beginning with his time spent as Librarian at the Providence Public Library, and materials generated while he was Librarian in the John Hay Library, including President�s reports, Albert E. Lownes bibliography and personal library, notes on Lownes� History of Science Collection, and correspondence on Herman Melville (his bibliography and first printings). Also includes papers from the period when Sherman was Vice President of the Rhode Island Historical Society and later Trustee. His interest in whaling is well-represented by the papers, which include related correspondence from around the world, checklist of Whalemen, whaling records from the Island of Madeira, and notes on logbooks. The papers also include some personal material dealing with his resignation from Providence Public Library, as well as speeches and reviews. ...more information
Sorrentino (Mary Ann)
The Mary Ann Sorrentino papers about her excommunication from the Catholic Church consist of correspondence, clippings, and other materials. These papers relate to the practice of abortion, the authority of the Catholic Church over its members, and general discussion of religion and morality with respect to abortion. The correspondence with Sorrentino (who was Executive Director of Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island from 1977 to 1987) includes responses from proponents of both the pro-choice and pro-life movements, Catholics, non-Catholics, public officials, and others. The collection also includes an oral history interview of Sorrentino recorded in 2012 and a Master of Arts in History thesis written by Rhonda J. Chadwick about Sorrentino's experiences. ...more information
Spicer (William Arnold III)
This collection offers a glimpse into the social and intellectual life of William A. Spicer, III, (1919-2008) a Brown University alumnus and administrator, world traveler, and expert in the care and restoration of clocks. The materials date from 1901 to 2004, with the bulk from the 1960s to 2004. It contains scattered correspondence; travel brochures, maps, and postcards; memorabilia; printed materials; photographs and photographic slides; ephemera; and various artifacts, including an antique stereoscope with accompanying glass slides. ...more information
Spooner (Edna Maine) Woman's Christian Temperance Union
Edna Maine Spooner was a third-generation temperance worker, and a devoted lifelong member of the Rhode Island chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. This collection comprises WCTU materials, from the Rhode Island chapter and the national organization, carefully compiled by Spooner during her lifetime. It was donated to the Brown University Library by her daughter, Lucille S. Votta, in her memory. ...more information
Stillwell (Margaret Bingham)
The papers of Margaret Bingham Stillwell, librarian of the Annmary Brown Memorial, 1917 - 1953, and professor of bibliography, 1948 - 1953. Includes personal correspondence, incunabula census correspondence, Annmary Brown Memorial correspondence, manuscripts, notes, poetry, talks, subject files, personal papers, Hroswitha Club Papers, specimen pages and galley proofs of Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke. ...more information
Swearer, Howard Robert
Consists of subject files dating from 1976 to 1990, most of which were created while Howard Robert Swearer was President of Brown University. Subjects documented in the collection include alumni and alumnae; athletics; admissions; the Bio-Med program; the Corporation; commencements; physical planning; faculty; libraries; students; the cooperative program between Brown University and Tougaloo College; and gifts to the University. Civil rights and minority affairs on the Brown University campus, including issues about status of women; Afro-American studies; Asian-American students; Hispanic American students; the American Civil Liberties Union; sexual harassment; and discrimination are documented. Student topics documented include the university radio station, WBRU; issues pertaining to Iranian students (ca.1978-1980); campus organizations; and protests about Central Intelligence Agency recruiting on campus. There are files on Richard Salomon, Thomas J. Watson, and Baruch Korff. ...more information
Tefft (Thomas Alexander) Architectural Drawings
Architectural drawings by Thomas Alexander Tefft, Brown University Class of 1851. ...more information
Third & Elm Press
The archive of Alexander and Ilse Nesbitt's private press in Newport, Rhode Island. The Library also owns an extensive collection of the publications of the Third & Elm Press. ...more information
Tierney (Robert J.)
Posters, scripts, tickets, photographs, and other ephemera related to theatrical and entertainment events in the local area over the past fifty years. The collection features over 350 radio and television scripts, representing musical variety, science fiction, drama, mystery, westerns, and comedies of the Fifties and the Sixties. In addition there are many scripts accompanied by correspondence related to their acquisition from producers, sponsors, etc.; numerous posters, programs, playbills, promotional brochures, handbills, photographs, and tickets to performances primarily in the Providence arena, gathered from local and regional theaters. Also included are itineraries for big bands, musicians, and other performers, as well as play lists for their performances ...more information
Trickett (Homer)
Collection contains sermons, materials used to create sermons, lectures, study courses, materials relating to the Dodeka society, personal correspondence, newsletters, newspaper clippings all created or collected by Homer Trickett. This is part of the Rhode Island Baptist Heritage Center collection. ...more information
Trinity Repertory Company
This collection includes press clippings, board and development files, programs, scripts, promotional materials, production photos, press releases, audio recordings, video, and film documenting the history of Trinity Repertory Company, founded in 1963. ...more information
West Exeter Baptist Church
Administrative and financial records, photographs, weekly bulletins for each Sunday service, and attendance records for a small Baptist congregation in Exeter, RI. This is part of the Rhode Island Baptist Heritage Center collection. ...more information
White (William Wurts) Family
The William Wurts White family papers are comprised of correspondence and legal and financial documents related to settling the estates of William Wurts White (1841-1911), his sister, Ella C. White (-1904), and his son, Merwin White (1877-1920). ...more information
Williams Table
The reassembled colonial library of Brown University. The "Distresses of our oppressed Country," as the American Revolution was described in a class petition, interrupted the College's course of instruction between December, 1776 and June, 1782. The College Edifice was used as a barracks and hospital for the American and French troops. The library, fortunately, was removed and stored in rural Wrentham, Massachusetts at the home of William Williams, of Williams Table fame.

Upon the reorganization of the College in the fall of 1782, the Corporation resolved that the "Library, which, owing to the public confusions, has for several years been in the country, after being compared and examined by the catalogue, be immediately brought with care into town." The catalog in question, undated and in President Manning's hand, probably was compiled in 1782 and listed some 6oo volumes. Most of those volumes survive today as the Williams Table Collection and they constitute one of Brown's most institutionally significant special collections. ...more information
Women in Rhode Island Oral History
The Women in Rhode Island Oral History Collection, 1983-2006, contains administrative files and audio taped interviews with Rhode Island women and pertaining to issues affecting women in Rhode Island. Topics discussed include the Women's Movement, abortion advocacy and the Catholic Church, and women in the Hmong community in Rhode Island. ...more information
Wriston (Henry Merritt) Files
Consists of correspondence with attachments; speeches; writings; manuscripts; drafts (documents); galley proofs; contracts; plans; and printed material, including clippings, reprints, pamphlets, and programs dating from 1914 to 1977, although the bulk dates from the 1930s to the 1960s. The collection documents Henry Merritt Wriston's career as president of Brown University and Lawrence College. ...more information
Wyllys (Samuel)
Annmary Brown Hawkins inherited from her father, Nicholas Brown, a collection of papers compiled by Samuel Wyllys (1631-1709), a Connecticut magistrate and public official who served from 1654 to 1684, along with papers of other members of the Wyllys family. The collection, covering the period from 1638 to 1757 (bulk 1663-1698), comprises half of the original collection; the other portion (covering 1694-1726) was acquired some time ago by the Connecticut State Library from the Estate of John Carter Brown. These early papers pertain to Indian affairs, colonial wars, civil and criminal cases. The witchcraft trials of 1692 to 1693, as revealed in the testimony of witnesses in the Oyer and Terminer Courts, are of particular interest. ...more information
Yatman Family
The Yatman Family papers include correspondence, diaries (including travel diaries), Republican campaign and other material, church subscription books, photographs, etc. The collection primarily consists of the papers of Thomas Laurie, reflecting his work as a missionary and minister; Martha Ellen Laurie Yatman, especially documenting her daily life and trips abroad; and Marion Fay Yatman, providing a cursory view of her work for the Republican Party in the 1940s and 1950s. The papers provide some information about other family members and document a variety of familial and spousal relationships as well as life in the Boston and Providence areas ...more information

Image Source: John Gorham, founder, principal stockholder & president of the Gorham Manufacturing Company with his wife and children. Gorham Company Archives. John Hay Library.

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