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NETOP

RIHS NETworked Online Public catalog 

To begin searching RIHS collections, click above.

 

This electronic catalog was made possible through a $75,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to increase public access to the Society's diverse holdings.  This initial version contains only a portion of our full collection. We are currently working to electronically catalog all collection items. The most complete access is still available at the RIHS Library.  

 

Master List of Finding Aids

 

Introduction
This guide lists the Society's manuscript collections by subject.  Each manuscript collection is listed here under one of fifty-four subject areas. Links to full finding aids are available for some of collections, with many more on the way.  Each of the finding aids contains the distinctive code "RIHS1822".  To find selected words or phrases in our inventories, type the words along with our distinctive "RIHS1822" code into a search engine such as alltheweb.com or google.com.

 

If you want to find a specific word on this page, use the "Find (on this Page)" function on your Internet browser located at the top of the page under "Edit."

This list is intended as a broad overview and does not replace the Manuscript Division's card catalog or the finding aids that have been written for individual collections.  If you have specific questions about our collections, please contact reference for assistance.

For each collection, the following information is given:
1) The date range spanned by the large majority of the papers.
2) "MSS" catalog number.
3) Collection title.
4) Volume, expressed in linear feet of shelf space.

                                                   Subject Group Categories
Business:  Agricultural | Banking/financial | Construction/architecture | Craftsman/artisan | Entertainment | Estate/property/holding | Heavy industry/manufacturing | Insurance | Jewelry | Mercantile/maritime | Professional/law/medical | Publishing/printing | Retail/food/hotel |
 Textile | Transportation | Utility

Collections (Shepley, Peck, etc.)

Diaries: Men's | Women's

Government:  County | Federal | Military | State | Town

Organizations: Agricultural | Arts/crafts | Charitable | Civic | Clubs | Educational/library | Ethnic/cultural | Historical/preservation | Labor | Medical/mental health | Military | Neighborhood | Political | Professional | Religious | Social service/activism | Women’s

 People of Color

Personal:  Arts/crafts | Business | Business: Buildings/architecture | Business: Craftsmen | Business: Entertainment | Business: Estate/property/holding | Business: Extractive: Oil/lumber/mining | Business: Financial/banking | Business: Heavy industry/manufacturing | Business: Mercantile | Business: Professional | Business: Retail/food/hotel | Business: Textile | Educational/science | Family | Genealogical | Historical | Justice of peace/sheriff | Labor | Literary | Military | Organizations - ethnic/cultural | Political | Religious |
Social service/activism | Women

Slave Trade in Rhode Island
Business: Agricultural
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1851 - 1930 Mss 483 sg 20 Broad Rock Farm Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1868 - 1870 Mss 9 sg 6 Allen & Son Records 0.25 lin. ft.
1880 - 1929 Mss 864 Seth Wood Papers 0.5 lin. ft.
1893 - 1933 Mss 6 sg 12b Sayles Farm Records 1.5 lin. ft.
1895 - 1958 Mss 483 sg 17 American Fish Culture Records 7.0 lin. ft.
1906 - 1925 Mss 6 sg 6 Butterfly Farm Records 3.5 lin. ft.
1929 - 1933 Mss 483 sg 18 Aguadero Corporation Records 5.25 lin. ft.
1930 - 1935 Mss 483 sg 45 Timonel Farms Records 0.25 lin. ft.
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Business: Banking/financial
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1728 - 1759 Mss 526 Land Bank Records, 1728 - 1759 0.25 lin. ft.
1814 - 1925 Mss 80 Manufacturers Trust Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1814 - 1890 Mss 765 Union Bank of Providence Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1816 - 1845 Mss 690 Roger Williams Bank Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1818 - 1858 Mss 528 Landholders Bank Records, 1818 - 1862 0.5 lin. ft.
1818 - 1865 Mss 394 Eagle Bank Records 0.25 lin. ft.
1819 - 1956 Mss 943 Old Stone Bank Records 156.0 lin. ft.
1820 - 1837 Mss 361 Burrillville Bank Records 0.25 lin. ft.
1823 - 1870 Mss 592 North Kingston Bank Records 2.0 lin. ft.
1834 - 1928 Mss 111 Wakefield Trust Company Records 2.5 lin. ft.
1851 - 1902 Mss 619 Phenix Iron Foundry Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1886 - 1979 Mss 847 People's Bank Scrapbooks 7.5 lin. ft.
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Business: Construction/architecture
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1820 - 1855 Mss 110 Clark Sayles Papers 2.0 lin. ft.
1865 - 1963 Mss 1110 Murphy, Hindle & Wright Architects Records 2.0 lin. ft.
1880 - 1910 Mss 585 Newman Construction Co. Records 0.25 lin. ft.
1906 - 1929 Mss 740 Stone, Carpenter & Sheldon Records 1.25 lin. ft.
1909 - 1910 Mss 6 sg 24 Pawtucket Granolithic Construction Records 0.25 lin. ft.
1909 - 1911 Mss 6 sg 34 Washburn & Burton Co. Records 0.25 lin. ft.
1917 - 1925 Mss 6 sg 29 Sayles Engineering Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1918 - 1923 Mss 6 sg 7 Central Construction Records 4.0 lin. ft.
1919 - 1961 Mss 142 sg 5 Fuller Building Company Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1934 - 1971 Mss 1018 Bowerman Brothers Records 2.0 lin. ft.
1939 - 1969 Mss 512 Jamestown Bridge Commission Records 4.0 lin. ft.
1960 - 1977 Mss 850 Turoff Papers 13.0 lin. ft.
1977 - 1999 Mss 1059 Joseph R. Muratore Records 1.0 lin. ft.
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Business: Craftsman/artisan
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1750 - 1797 Mss 283 William Barker Account Books 0.25 lin. ft.
1799 - 1838 Mss 412 Joseph J. Fenner Papers 4.0 lin. ft.
1822 - 1846 Mss 928 William Boyd Accounts 0.25 lin. ft.
1826 - 1852 Mss 737 Jonah Steere Account Books 0.75 lin. ft.
1851 - 1893 Mss 987 Stukely B. Wickes Records 0.75 lin. ft.
1930 - 1950 Mss 483 sg 27 LaLuz Clay Products Records 4.0 lin. ft.
1933 - 1933 Mss 1071 Frank B. Grover Records 0.25 lin. ft.
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Business: Entertainment
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1928 - 1971 Mss 409 Fay Theatre Records 2.5 lin. ft.
1930 - 1944 Mss 152 Strand Theatre Records 5.0 lin. ft.
1959 - 1985 Mss 1000 WPRI-TV Records 0.75 lin. ft.
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Business: Estate/property/holding
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1681 - 1897 Mss 591 North Burial Ground Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1705 - 1742 Mss 634 Providence Proprietors Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1761 - 1761 Mss 545 John Henry Lydius Papers 0.25 lin. ft.
1808 - 1850? Mss 337 Central Bridge Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1822 - 1873 Mss 328 Canal Market Company Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1824 - 1947 Mss 817 Woonasquatucket River Corporation Records 0.25 lin. ft.
1829 - 1923 Mss 263 Arcade Company Records 2.0 lin. ft.
1849 - 1878 Mss 476 William H. Haines Field Books 0.75 lin. ft.
1850 - 1922 Mss 8 Butler - Duncan Papers 8.0 lin. ft.
1850? - 1950? Mss 9 sg 11 Brown & Ives 1982 Accession 2.0 lin. ft.
1857 - 1934 Mss 88 George A. Howard Papers 2.0 lin. ft.
1865 - 1928 Mss 646 Providence Land & Wharf Records 0.75 lin. ft.
1875 - 1914 Mss 385 Walter M. Dexter Field Survey Books 1.0 lin. ft.
1882 - 1931 Mss 483 sg 39 Providence Warehouse Company Records 1.5 lin. ft.
1894 - 1926 Mss 6 sg 3 Estates At Will Records 3.0 lin. ft.
1895 - 1916 Mss 483 sg 24 Hudson River Bridge and Railway Records 2.0 lin. ft.
1896 - 1900 Mss 976 Lucius Darling Account Book 0.25 lin. ft.
1897 - 1913 Mss 793 Weaver Papers 0.5 lin. ft.
1899 - 1949 Mss 1032 Beverly Land Company Records 9.0 lin. ft.
1910 - 1947 Mss 483 sg 19 Anna Hazard Land Company Records 2.0 lin. ft.
1913 - 1918 Mss 1120 Mason Freeman Cocroft Papers 0.25 ft.
1913 - 1947 Mss 483 sg 40 Rhode Island Estates Company Records 7.5 lin. ft.
1917 - 1953 Mss 483 sg 41 R. Hazard Estate Company Records 2.5 lin. ft.
1917 - 1919 Mss 483 sg 47 South County Cooperative Association Records 0.25 lin. ft.
1929 - 1949 Mss 483 sg 42 Rowland Third Incorporated Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1929 - 1964 Mss 483 sg 37 Peace Dale Offices Records 2.5 lin. ft.
1932 - 1949 Mss 483 sg 46 Hazard Trust Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1933 - 1942 Mss 1088 Rhode Island Development Conference Records 0.25 lin. ft.
1959 - 1967 Mss 950 Foxes Hill Corporation Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1966 - 1994 Mss 901 Hill Realty Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
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Business: Extractive-oil/lumber/mining
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1848 - 1859 Mss 704 Sayles & Potter Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1865 - 1926 Mss 335 Cascade Petroleum and Land Association Records 0.25 lin. ft. 
1868 - 1893 Mss 483 sg 28 Mine la Motte Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1874 - 1903 Mss 839 William H. Sheldon Notebooks 0.25 lin. ft.
1940 - 1962 Mss 483 sg 21 Cave Company Records 0.5 lin. ft.
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Business: Heavy industry / manufacturing
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1907 - 1985 Mss 1069 J & H Electric Company Records 1.75 lin. ft.
1790 - 1987 Mss 362 Congdon & Carpenter Company Scrapbooks 1.0 lin. ft.
1833 - 1994 Mss 826 Brown & Sharpe Company Records 39.0 lin. ft. 
1837 - 1919 Mss 142 sg 3 Fuller Iron Foundry Records 0.75 lin. ft.
1844 - 1945 Mss 89 Providence Tool Company Records 4.0 lin. ft.
1845 - 1924 Mss 429 Franklin Machine Company Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1846 - 1854 Mss 691 Roger Williams Foundry and Machine Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1849 - 1961 Mss 7 sg 1 Builders Iron Foundry Records 38.0 lin. ft.
1853 - 1909 Mss 15 Henry M. Chase Company Records 2.0 lin. ft.
1853 - 1951 Mss 13 sg 2 Rumford Chemical Company Records 33.0 lin. ft.
1864 - 1869 Mss 843 American Screw Company Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1871 - 1921 Mss 587 Nicholson File Company Records 5.0 lin. ft.
1873 - 1947 Mss 123 I.P. Richards Company Records 6.0 lin. ft.
1880 - 1890 Mss 481 William A. Harris Steam Engine Company Records 6.0 lin. ft.
1881 - 1956 Mss 891 Pawtucket Manufacturing Company Records 50.0 lin. ft.
1882 - 1931 Mss 483 sg 25 Providence Saw Works Records 0.25 lin. ft.
1888 - 1906 Mss 7 sg 2 Diamond Machine Company 5.0 lin. ft.
1890 - 1946 Mss 441 Gladding Fire Apparatus Records 0.75 lin. ft.
1892 - 1920 Mss 483 sg 43 Solvay Process Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1895 - 1982 Mss 867 Taft - Peirce Records 5.0 lin. ft.
1901 - 1959 Mss 775 Wanskuck Company Records 3.0 lin. ft.
1902 - 1928 Mss 6 sg 11 Erie Specialty Company Records 4.0 lin. ft.
1912 - 1930 Mss 6 sg 8 Champion Horseshoe Company Records 9.0 lin. ft.
1913 - 1916 Mss 6 sg 16 Huile Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1929 - 1945 Mss 852 Grinnell Company Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1934 - 1974 Mss 70 Fairmont Foundry Records 13.0 lin. ft.
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Business: Insurance
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1799 - 1948 Mss 22 Providence Washington Insurance Company Records 12.5 lin. ft.
1802 - 1835 Mss 575 Mutual Fire Society Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1805 - 1844 Mss 159 Warren Insurance Company Records 3.5 lin. ft.
1807 - 1857 Mss 5 Providence Mutual Insurance Records 18.0 lin. ft.
1880 - 1960 Mss 174 Title Guarantee Company of Rhode Island Records 68.0 lin. ft.
1960 - 1963 Mss 837 Firemans' Mutual Insurance Records 0.25 lin. ft.
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Business: Jewelry
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1883 - 1915 Mss 357 W.R. Cobb & Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1925 - 1958 Mss 237 Coro Company Records 12.0 lin. ft.
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Business: Mercantile/maritime
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1744 - 1865 Mss 828 Ships' Logs Collection 18.0 lin. ft.
1746 - 1753 Mss 919 John Banister Account Books 1.5 lin. ft.
1752 - 1877 Mss 1131 Joshua Rathbone Family Papers 0.5 lin. ft.
1774 - 1789 Mss 573 Gideon Mumford Papers 0.25 lin. ft.
1778 - 1795 Mss 354 Clarke & Nightingale Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1786 - 1830 Mss 459 E & C Greene Records 2.5 lin. ft.
1789 - 1809 Mss 353 Clarke & Hammond Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1795 - 1797 Mss 383 Edward Dexter Papers 0.25 lin. ft.
1798 - 1838 Mss 19 Jacob Babbitt Papers 1.0 lin. ft.
1799 - 1813 Mss 423 James Foster Papers 0.5 lin. ft.
1803 - 1827 Mss 1060 Jonathan Adams Papers 1.0 lin. ft.
1806 - 1812 Mss 155 Whaling Company of East Greenwich Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1811 - 1829 Mss 799 Samuel Wetmore Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1815 - 1878 Mss 395 William Earle & Company Records 10.0 lin. ft.
1833 - 1841 Mss 797 Wetmore, Hoppin & Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1850? - 1950? Mss 951 Brown & Ives Collection 1.5 lin. ft.
1852 - 1855 Mss 767 United States and Paraguay Navigation Company Records 1.5 lin. ft.
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Business: Professional/law/medical
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1813 - 1844 Mss 3 Metcalf Marsh Papers 2.0 lin. ft.
1864 - 1919 Mss 829 Boyce Brothers Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1894 - 1922 Mss 568 Harold Metcalf Account Books 1.5 lin. ft.
1921 - 1923 Mss 906 Rhode Island Legal Briefs Collection 4.0 lin. ft.
1975 - 1978 Mss 877 Edwards and Angell Research Notes on the Narragansetts 1.5 lin. ft.
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Business: Publishing/printing
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1809 - 1821 Mss 670 Rhode Island Republican Records 0.25 lin. ft.
1831 - 1838 Mss 648 Providence Mercantile Newsroom Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1880 - 1975 Mss 1028 Providence Lithograph Company Records 5.0 lin. ft.
1901 - 1922 Mss 430 E.L. Freeman Company Records 0.75 lin. ft.
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Business: Retail/food/hotel
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1742 - 1756 Mss 485 James Helme Papers 0.5 lin. ft.
1758 - 1803 Mss 924 Simeon Borden Accounts 0.5 lin. ft.
1790 - 1840 Mss 274 Rowse Babcock Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1794 - 1869 Mss 753 George Thurston & Son Records

2.5 lin. ft.

1795 - 1825 Mss 755 Thomas Tillinghast, Jr. Papers 0.5 lin. ft.
1798 - 1811 Mss 439 Benjamin T. Chandler Family Records 1.5 lin. ft.
1803 - 1856 Mss 561 John G. Mawney Account Books 1.0 lin. ft.
1805 - 1848 Mss 411 Jerry A. Fenner Papers 0.5 lin. ft.
1806 - 1832 Mss 920 Nathan Ballou Account Books 0.5 lin. ft.
1809 - 1848 Mss 517 Sterry Jenckes Papers 1.0 lin. ft.
1809 - 1826 Mss 804 Peleg Wilbur Account Books 1.5 lin. ft.
1811 - 1859 Mss 910 Robert Angell Account Books 0.25 lin. ft.
1813 - 1837 Mss 410 Charles A. Farnum Papers 1.0 lin. ft.
1815 - 1817 Mss 1091 Brown & Turner Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1819 - 1825 Mss 1092 Ezra Ramsdel Records 0.25 lin. ft.
1820 - 1821 Mss 1090 Jonathan Hopkins Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1834 - 1873 Mss 986 Edward Stanhope Records 0.25 lin. ft.
1840 - 1851 Mss 25 Almy and Evans Records 1.5 lin. ft.
1849 - 1880 Mss 660 Rathbone & Gardner Account Books 2.5 lin. ft.
1851 - 1967 Mss 1137 Benjamin F. Brown Records 1.75 lin. ft.
1866 - 1895 Mss 347 City Hotel Records 2.0 lin. ft.
1871 - 1877 Mss 518 J.D. Jones & Son Records 1.5 lin. ft.
1872 - 1930 Mss 13 sg 3 H.M. Anthony & Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1886 - 1951 Mss 1013 E. Morgan & Sons Records 3.0 lin. ft.
1887 - 1889 Mss 6 sg 5 Arlington Hay & Grain Company Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1890 - 1903 Mss 1105 Charles H. Sparks Records 1.5 lin. ft.
1902 - 1978 Mss 95 Allen & Reed Records 3.5 lin. ft.
1902 - 1968 MSS 1072 Gladding's Inc. Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1903 - 1947 Mss 878 Bovier, Girouard & Company Records 8.5 lin. ft.
1903 - 1905 Mss 880 Elsbree - Valleau Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1911 - 1991 Mss 103 Tilden - Thurber Records 6.0 lin. ft.
1911 - 1965 Mss 1024 Willey's Inc. Records 2.5 lin. ft.
1912 - 1939 Mss 115 Saunderstown Hotel Association Records 1.5 lin. ft.
1913 - 1923 Mss 6 sg 12a French River Inn Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1913 - 1970 Mss 447 Governor Dyer Cooperative Market Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1918 - 1933 Mss 1075 Constant Family Papers 0.25 lin. ft.
1922 - 1930 Mss 483 sg 48 Eastern Trout Growers Association Records 0.5 lin. ft.
1925 - 1969 Mss 99 Tyson's Book Shop Records 1.5 lin. ft.
1934 - 1960 Mss 551 Manville Provision Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1936 - 1977 Mss 903 Outlet Company Records 5.5 lin. ft.
1940? - 1970? Mss 866 Arnold Bakery Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1956 - 1992 Mss 1036 Narragansett Brewing Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1957 - 1962 Mss 483 sg 44 Trout Growers Co-Operative Association Records 0.75 lin. ft.
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Business: Textile
Date range Collection # Collection title Lin. ft.
1740 - 1835 Mss 352 Clarke & Cundall Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1763 - 1860 Mss 678 C. & W. Rhodes Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1789 - 1846 Mss 29 Almy & Brown Records 9.5 lin. ft.
1790 - 1834 Mss 269 James U. Arnold Papers 0.25 lin. ft.
1806 - 1829 Mss 255 Almy Brown and Slaters Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1807 - 1836 Mss 269 Utter Manufacturing Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1808 - 1935 Mss 9 sg 1 Blackstone Manufacturing Company Records 135.5 lin. ft.
1812 - 1883 Mss 471 Greene Manufacturing Company Records 7.0 lin. ft.
1815 - 1990 Mss 264 Arkwright Company Records 2.25 lin. ft.
1815 - 1921 Mss 128 Providence Dyeing Bleaching and Calendaring Company Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1819 - 1874 Mss 734 A. & W. Sprague Records 0.75 lin. ft.
1822 - 1919 Mss 483 sg 36 Peace Dale Manufacturing Company Records 2.0 lin. ft.
1830 - 1859 Mss 393 Samuel Dunster Records 1.0 lin. ft.
1831 - 1946 Mss 9 sg 2 Lonsdale Company Records 45.0 lin. ft.
1831 - 1837 Mss 4