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3. Provenance 4. Inventory 5. Subjects |
Isabelle Ahearn O'Neill Papers Actress and politician, of Providence, R.I. Papers, 1897-1984 Size: 0.25 linear feet Catalog number: MSS 1077 Processed by: Karen Eberhart, October 2001 ©Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division |
Historical note:
Isabelle Florence Ahearn O'Neill was born in 1880 as the 13th and youngest child of her parents Daniel Ahearn and Mary J. (O'Connor) Ahearn. The family moved to Providence in 1892. Isabelle was educated at the Boston College of Drama and Oratory and attended Dr. Sargent's classes in Physical Education at Harvard University. Isabelle married John A. O'Neill in 1907 and they had one child who died at the age of three in 1911. She later divorced her husband.
She began her career as an orator and actress by establishing her own Ahearn Shool of Elocution in 1900. Her students gave annual recitals at the Providence Opera House. Isabelle played leading and supporting roles in several plays throughout the period of 1900-1918 in Rhode Island and New York. Her career moved to the big screen when in 1915 she joined the Eastern Silent Film Company and acted in several silent films.
Mrs. O'Neill used her considerable elocutionary skills with great success in the world of politics. She was elected as the Representative from the 15th Assembly District in 1922, the first woman to hold office in the Rhode Island Legislature. After eight years in the House she became a Senator in 1932. She resigned her membership in the Senate to become the Legislative Representative for the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics at the request of President Roosevelt. She worked for the Bureau until 1943 after which she worked with the Rhode Island Labor Department on the cost of living index. She retired in 1954 and passed away in 1975 at the age of 94.
Scope and content:
The most comprehensive item in the collection is the scrapbook of her work as an elocution teacher and actress for the years 1897-1918. The remainder of the collection is tidbits from her life as a politician and amateur poet with the most informative being the newspaper clippings and articles.
Provenance:
These papers were donated in 2001 by Bill Langlois. His grandmother, Rosella (Ahearn) Flemming, was a sister of O'Neill, and his mother Rosalind (Flemming) Langlois was O'Neill's niece and god-daughter.
Inventory:
box 1, folder 1 Autobiography c.1955
box 1, folder 2 Certificate of Baptism, Mary A. Ahearn 1956
box 1, folder 3 Correspondence 1929, 1933
box 1, folder 4 Deed, Mary Ahearn to Anne Duffy 1902
box 1, folder 5 Legislation 1927, 1932, n.d.
box 1, folder 6 Newspaper clippings and articles 1908-1984, n.d.
box 1, folder 7 Poems 1949, n.d.
box 1, folder 8 Political material 1924-35
box 1, folder 9 Writings 1904, 1928
box 1, folder 10 Scrapbook 1897-1918
Oversize:
State Returning Board - Certificate of election as Representative to General Assembly, 1922
State Returning Board - Certificate of election as a Senator to General Assembly, 1930
Subjects:
Ahearn, Isabelle F. (1880-1975)
Politics - Rhode Island
Rhode Island General Assembly
Women in politics - Rhode Island
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RIHS1822