1.   Historical note

2.   Scope and content

3.   Provenance

4.   Processing note

5.   Inventory

6.   Subjects


    List of finding aids

    R.I.H.S. Library page

    R.I.H.S. home page

 Providence Lithograph Company Records

 Printers, of Providence, R.I.

 Records, 1880-1975

 Size: 5 linear feet

 Catalog number: MSS 1028

 Processed by: Rick Stattler, December 1998


©Rhode Island Historical Society

Manuscripts Division

 


Historical note:


            The Providence partnership of Harris & Jones entered into business as commercial lithographers in 1868, and became the Providence Lithograph Company circa 1875. In 1878, the firm began to emphasize religious lesson material for Sunday schools, and grew to become the leading printers of Sunday School lesson material in the country. Most of their work was done directly for the educational and publishing wings of the larger Protestant denominations. They also published periodicals and a small number of illustrated religious books under the imprints of Harris-Jones and the Religious Press.

            The company maintained a large library of artwork, mostly of biblical subjects. It commissioned some original artwork, and also negotiated for publishing rights or commissioned reproductions of existing works. Much of the artwork was licensed for American use from British publishers such as Eyre & Spottiswoode and the Lutterworth Press. The company did not generally produce individual prints of its art, or license its art to other commercial publishers.

            In 1959, the company set off a subsidiary, Federated Lithographers-Printers Inc., to handle secular printing, with road maps their particular specialty. With the decline in church attendance in the 1960s, the subsidiary grew to handle most of the company's business. Providence Lithograph was acquired by the Canadian conglomerate Quebecor Inc. in 1989. Its old Prairie Avenue plant remained in operation as Quebecor Printing Federated until its closure in late 1998, which left 144 former employees out of work.

            Presidents of the company over the years included Jabez Gorham Harris (1853-1928), his son-in-law Randolph T. Ode (1877-1967) ; and Ode's son-in-law Roger K. Richardson from 1959 onward.


Bibliography:

"Does Anyone Really Know What Christ Looks Like?" (story on company), Providence Evening Bulletin, November 24, 1975

"Helps Churches Instruct Youth," Providence Sunday Journal Business Weekly, March 17, 1957

Letter from Phillips Booth to the Medici Society, January 4, 1955, in box 1, folder 9.

"Quebecor Shutters Second R.I. Printing Plant," Providence Journal, December 17, 1998, E-1.


Return to top


Scope and content:


            The bulk of this collection consists of correspondence, which is mostly arranged alphabetically into files. Most of the correspondence relates to the company's efforts to secure rights to artwork, and also to printing orders generated by religious denominations. There are also some files relating to artists, including a folder of correspondence regarding work commissioned from watercolor artist Newell C. Wyeth (1882-1945), father of the famous painter Andrew Wyeth and a well-regarded artist in his own right. The folder includes seven signed letters by the elder Wyeth, dating from 1932 to 1945.

            The collection also includes contracts and agreements; reference files on individual artists and companies; the company's general purchase ledger from 1911 to 1936; a few personal papers from Randolph Ode and his Gorham relatives; and other papers.


Return to top


Provenance:


            These records were donated by Quebecor Inc. in 1998.


Return to top


Processing note:



Return to top


Inventory:


Series 1: Correspondence files

Box 1, folder 1. General, 1880-1908

Box 1, folder 2. General, 1921-1924

Box 1, folder 3. General, 1925-1929

Box 1, folder 4. General, 1930-1931

Box 1, folder 5. General, 1932-1933

Box 1, folder 6. General, 1934-1939

Box 1, folder 7. General, 1940-1944

Box 1, folder 8. General, 1945-1951

Box 1, folder 9. General, 1953-1965

Box 1, folder 10. Abington-Cokesbury (customer), 1942-1943

Box 1, folder 11. American Baptist Publication Society (customer), 1905

Box 1, folder 12. American Baptist Publication Society (customer), 1931-1936

Box 1, folder 13. American Red Cross, 1926-1929

Box 1, folder 14. American Sunday School Union (customer), 1931-1932

Box 1, folder 15. Augustana Book Concern, 1941-1952

Box 1, folder 16. Baptist Sunday School Board (customer), 1931-1937

Box 1, folder 17. Baptist Sunday School Board (customer), 1938-1941

Box 1, folder 18. Baptist Sunday School Board (customer), 1942-1944

Box 1, folder 19. Baptist Sunday School Board (customer), 1945-1946

Box 1, folder 20. Baptist Sunday School Board (customer), 1947-1948

Box 1, folder 21. Baptist Sunday School Board (customer), 1949-1950

Box 1, folder 22. A. & C. Black, 1954

Box 1, folder 23. Blackie & Son, 1951-1960

Box 1, folder 24. Boy Scouts of America, 1958-1960

Box 1, folder 25. Copping pictures, 1934-1942

Box 1, folder 26. Copyright correspondence, 1890-1900

Box 1, folder 27. Copyright correspondence, 1901

Box 1, folder 28. Copyright correspondence, 1902

Box 1, folder 29. Copyright correspondence, 1903

Box 1, folder 30. Copyright correspondence, 1904

Box 1, folder 31. Copyright correspondence, 1905

Box 1, folder 32. Copyright correspondence, 1906

Box 1, folder 33. Copyright correspondence, 1907

Box 1, folder 34. Copyright correspondence, 1908

Box 1, folder 35. Copyright correspondence, 1909

Box 1, folder 36. Copyright correspondence, 1910

Box 1, folder 37. Copyright correspondence, 1911

Box 1, folder 38. Copyright correspondence, 1912

Box 1, folder 39. Copyright correspondence, 1913

Box 1, folder 40. Copyright correspondence, 1914

Box 1, folder 41. Copyright correspondence, 1915

Box 1, folder 42. Copyright correspondence, 1916

Box 1, folder 43. Copyright correspondence, 1917

Box 1, folder 44. Copyright correspondence, 1918

Box 1, folder 45. Copyright correspondence, 1919

Box 1, folder 46. Copyright correspondence, 1920

Box 1, folder 47. Elder, Whitman & Weyburn, 1932-1939

Box 1, folder 48. Elder, Whitman & Weyburn, 1940-1943

Box 1, folder 49. Elder, Whitman & Weyburn, 1944-1948

Box 1, folder 50. Employee reference letters, 1904-1920

Box 1, folder 51. Evans Brothers, 1954

Box 1, folder 52. Eyre & Spottiswoode (customer), 1923-1924

Box 1, folder 53. Eyre & Spottiswoode (customer), 1925-1930

Box 1, folder 54. Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1931-1944

Box 1, folder 55. Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1944-1952

Box 1, folder 56. Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1953-1955

Box 1, folder 57. Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1956-1963

Box 2, folder 1. Forest Lawn Memorial Park, 1965-1966

Box 2, folder 2. General Board of Primary association, Church of Latter-Day Saints, 1952

Box 2, folder 3. Girls Friendly Society, 1955-1957

Box 2, folder 4. Gospel Trumpet Co. (customer), 1936-1937

Box 2, folder 5. Gospel Trumpet Co. (customer), 1938-1940

Box 2, folder 6. Gospel Trumpet Co. (customer), 1941-1947

Box 2, folder 7. Gospel Trumpet Co. (customer), 1948-1949

Box 2, folder 8. Gospel Trumpet Co. (customer), 1950

Box 2, folder 9. Gospel Trumpet Co. (customer), 1951

Box 2, folder 10. Greystone Press, 1952-1954

Box 2, folder 11. Guthrie Clinic, 1953-1954

Box 2, folder 12. Hanfstaengl, 1894-1895

Box 2, folder 13. Hanfstaengl (publisher), 1923-1925

Box 2, folder 14. Hanfstaengl (publisher), 1928-1929

Box 2, folder 15. Hanfstaengl (publisher), 1930-1931

Box 2, folder 16. Hanfstaengl (publisher), 1932-1937

Box 2, folder 17. Hanfstaengl, 1954-1955

Box 2, folder 18. Hardy, Emily S. (artist), 1926-1929

Box 2, folder 19. Harper & Brother, 1951-1965

Box 2, folder 20. Herrman, Erich S., 1946-1954

Box 2, folder 21. Home Words Printing & Publishing, 1954-1956

Box 2, folder 22. International Council of Religious Education (customer), 1937-1951

Box 2, folder 23. Lithographer's National Association, 1936-1938

Box 2, folder 24. Lithographer's National Association, 1939

Box 2, folder 25. Livingstone Press (customer), 1923-1928

Box 2, folder 26. Lorenzo de Nevers (customer), 1938-1942

Box 2, folder 27. Lutterworth Press, 1943-1950 (formerly Religious Tract Society)

Box 2, folder 28. Lutterworth Press, 1950-1955

Box 2, folder 29. Lutterworth Press, 1956-1962

Box 2, folder 30. Mansell & Co., 1924-1926

Box 2, folder 31. Mennonite Publishing House, 1938-1947

Box 2, folder 32. Methodist Book Concern, 1912, 1935-1936

Box 2, folder 33. Methodist Episcopal Church South, 1935-1936

Box 2, folder 34. Methodist Publishing House, 1938-1945

Box 2, folder 35. Methodist Publishing House, 1946-1951

Box 2, folder 36. Morehouse Gorham Publishing, 1936-1944

Box 2, folder 37. Morehouse Publishing Company (customer), 1935-1936

Box 2, folder 38. National Baptist Publishing Board, 1918-1920. Lawsuit.

Box 2, folder 39. National Sunday School Union, 1954-1963

Box 2, folder 40. Nazarene Publishing Company (customer), 1935-1936

Box 2, folder 41. Nazarene Publishing Company, 1938-1951

Box 2, folder 42. Nelson & Son, 1922-1929

Box 2, folder 43. Nelson & Son, 1947-1962

Box 2, folder 44. Newton Photographic Services, 1952-1958

Box 2, folder 45. Pflaum Publishers, 1937-1938

Box 2, folder 46. Photography - Byron C. DeBolt, 1943-1946

Box 2, folder 47. Pilgrim Press, 1937-1939

Box 2, folder 48. Presbyterian Board of Christian Education (customer), 1931-1937

Box 2, folder 49. Presbyterian Board of Christian Education (customer), 1939-1944

Box 2, folder 50. Presbyterian Board of Christian Education (customer), 1945-1947

Box 2, folder 51. Presbyterian Board of Christian Education (customer), 1948-1951

Box 2, folder 52. Presbyterian Committee of Publication (customer), 1939-1946

Box 2, folder 53. Presbyterian Committee of Publication (customer), 1947-1950

Box 3, folder 1. Religious Tract Society, 1905-1924

Box 3, folder 2. Religious Tract Society, 1927-1946 (re rights to Copping pictures)

Box 3, folder 3. Religious Tract Society, 1927-1928

Box 3, folder 4. Religious Tract Society, 1929-1930

Box 3, folder 5. Religious Tract Society, 1931-1934

Box 3, folder 6. Religious Tract Society, 1935-1936

Box 3, folder 7. Religious Tract Society, 1937-1938

Box 3, folder 8. Religious Tract Society, 1939-1942 (becomes Lutterworth Press)

Box 3, folder 9. Roberts, Cushman & Grover, 1948-1952

Box 3, folder 10. Roberts, Cushman & Grover, 1953-1962

Box 3, folder 11. Sesquicentennial International Exhibition, 1926

Box 3, folder 12. Shaw & Co., 1924-1927

Box 3, folder 13. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1949-1963

Box 3, folder 14. Sunday School Publications, Evangelical Church, 1944-1946

Box 3, folder 15. Technical matters, 1887-1910

Box 3, folder 16. Technical matters, 1922-1927

Box 3, folder 17. Technical matters, 1928-1951

Box 3, folder 18. Testimonial letters, 1881-1886

Box 3, folder 19. Union Gospel Press (customer), 1940-1945

Box 3, folder 20. United Church Publishing House, 1932-1944

Box 3, folder 21. United Church Publishing House, 1945-1951

Box 3, folder 22. United Lutheran Publishing House, 1945-1949

Box 3, folder 23. United States Post Office, 1913-1923

Box 3, folder 24. W.F. & F.C. Sayles order forms, 1888

Box 3, folder 25. Ward, Lock & Co., 1953-1965

Box 3, folder 26. Wyeth, Newell C. (artist), 1929-1943

Box 3, folder 27. Yale Divinity School (customer), 1944-1945


Series 2: Artist and publisher files

Box 3, folder 28. American artists 1

Box 3, folder 29. American artists 2

Box 3, folder 30. American artists 3

Box 3, folder 31. American artists 4

Box 3, folder 32. American artists 5 - Newell C. Wyeth

Box 3, folder 33. Foreign publishers 1

Box 3, folder 34. Foreign publishers 2

Box 3, folder 35. Foreign publishers 3

Box 3, folder 36. Foreign publishers 4

Box 3, folder 37. Foreign publishers 5

Box 4, folder 1. American photographers

Box 4, folder 2. American publishers

Box 4, folder 3. American miscellaneous

Box 4, folder 4. Artist file (lists paintings by artist), undated

Box 4, folder 5. Fine arts artist file (lists paintings by artist and by number), undated

Box 4, folder 6. Painting log book, 1960-1969


Series 3: Contracts and agreements

Box 4, folder 7. American Baptist Publication Society, 1924-1935

Box 4, folder 8. American Sunday School Union, 1911-1918

Box 4, folder 9. Bethel Publishing Company, 1928-1936

Box 4, folder 10. Christian Board of Publication, 1925-1927

Box 4, folder 11. Christian Publishing Association, 1927-1936

Box 4, folder 12. Church of God Publishing House, 1928-1932

Box 4, folder 13. Conference Press, 1927-1935

Box 4, folder 14. Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House, 1924-1936

Box 4, folder 15. Evangelical Press, 1929-1936

Box 4, folder 16. Free Methodist Publishing House, 1929-1936

Box 4, folder 17. Gospel Advocate Company, 1930-1935

Box 4, folder 18. Gospel Publishing House, 1927-1934

Box 4, folder 19. Gospel Trumpet Company, 1928-1932

Box 4, folder 20. Harris & Jones (press manufacturer), 1895-1912

Box 4, folder 21. Lutterworth Press, draft agreements, 1950-1961

Box 4, folder 22. Lutterworth Press, contract correspondence, 1950-1954

Box 4, folder 23. Lutterworth Press, contract correspondence, 1957-1960

Box 4, folder 24. Lutterworth Press, contract correspondence, 1961

Box 4, folder 25. Lutterworth Press, misc. contract papers, 1957-1961

Box 4, folder 26. Nazarene Publishing House, 1929-1936

Box 4, folder 27. Presbyterian Board of Christian Education, 1901-1938

Box 4, folder 28. Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 1910-1940

Box 4, folder 29. Publication and Sunday School Board of the Reformed Church, 1925-1935

Box 4, folder 30. Publishing House of the Pentecostal Holiness Church, 1930-1936

Box 4, folder 31. Religious Tract Society, 1905-1953

Box 4, folder 32. Ryerson Press, 1927-1934

Box 4, folder 33. Sunday School Publishing Board of National Baptist Convention, 1902-1936

Box 4, folder 34. Union Gospel Printing Co., 1921-1936

Box 4, folder 35. United Brethren Publishing Establishment, 1926-1928

Box 4, folder 36. United Brethren Publishing House, 1894, 1927-1935

Box 4, folder 37. United Church Publishing House, 1930-1938

Box 4, folder 38. United Lutheran Publishing House, 1927-1934

Box 4, folder 39. Wesleyan Methodist Publishing Association, 1929-1936

Box 4, folder 40. Miscellaneous, 1896-1912

Box 4, folder 41. Miscellaneous, 1914-1928



Series 4: Miscellaneous

Box 4, folder 42. Citizen's Bank - President's report, 1962

Box 4, folder 43. Copyright notes, 1880-1896

Box 4, folder 44. Copyright registrations, 1881-1901

Box 4, folder 45. Employee insurance plan, 1955

Box 4, folder 46. Employee presentation dinner, 1954 (lists staff celebrating work anniversaries)

Box 4, folder 47. Greeting card proposal, 1950

Box 4, folder 48. Hassenfeld Bros. (Hasbro) - Dun & Bradstreet report, 1964

Box 4, folder 49. Lithographer National Association - Roster of PLC journeymen, 1938

Box 4, folder 50. Lithographic Technical Foundation - Undated brochure

Box 4, folder 51. Marketing research memoranda, 1953

Box 4, folder 52. Marketing research memoranda, January - September 1954

Box 4, folder 53. Marketing research memoranda, October - December 1954

Box 4, folder 54. Marketing research memoranda, 1955

Box 4, folder 55. News clippings, 1949-1975 (archival copies)

Box 4, folder 56. Ode, Randolph T. Certificate, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, 1957

Box 4, folder 57. Ode, Randolph T. Diary, May 1 - 23, 1947

Box 4, folder 58. Ode, Randolph T. Diary, May 4 - June 6, [1949?]. Definitely 1940s - mentions Washington as 30th most populous state as per 1940 census. At a conference on May 12, "was elected to the presidency". The June 1949 edition of New England Printer mentions that Ode became president of the Lithographers National Association "last month".

Box 4, folder 59. Order book, undated (circa 1930)

Box 4, folder 60. Order cards, 1953-1962

Box 4, folder 61. Orders, 1971-1973

Box 4, folder 62. Re-engineering proposal by the Austin Company, circa 1950

Box 4, folder 63. Sales data and graph, 1917-1949

Box 4, folder 64. Technical data, 1941 and undated

Box 4, folder 65. Postal regulation testimony, 1902

Box 4, folder 66. Gorham family papers:

                        Letter, Amy Gorham to husband Jabez, 11/1/1819 (photograph)

                        Letter, John Gorham to sister Amanda Harris, 11/27/1873 (original, transcription)

                        Deed, John Gorham to Amanda G. Harris, 12/18/1876 (original, transcription)

                        Draft of lecture, "The Gorham Manufacturing Company", unsigned, undated

                        Letter, Burrill Getman to Randolph Ode, 2/10/1967, re early Gorham letters.

Box 5. Purchase ledger, 1911-1936. Very large volume.

Box 5. "Professor Holmgren's Worsted Test for Color Blindness", undated (boxed)


Return to top


Subjects:


Art and religion - Rhode Island

Citizens Bank (Providence, R.I.)

Copyright - Art - Rhode Island

Diaries - 1947, 1949

Gorham, Amey (Thurber) (d.1820)

Gorham, Jabez (1792-1869)

Gorham, John (1820-1898)

Gorham Manufacturing Company

Harris, Amanda (Gorham)

Harris, Jabez G. (1853-1928)

Harris, Jones & Co. (Providence, R.I.)

Hassenfeld Brothers, Inc. (Pawtucket, R.I.)

Lithography - Rhode Island

Ode, Randolph T. (1877-1967)

Printing industry - Rhode Island - Providence

Publishers and publishing - Rhode Island - Providence

Religious education - Textbooks

Religious Press (Providence, R.I.)

Wyeth, Newell C. (1882-1945)


End of finding aid - return to top

RIHS1822