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 Female Charitable Society Records

 Providence charitable organization.

 Papers and records, 1799-1952.

 Size: 1.5 lin. ft.

 Catalog number: MSS 642

 Processed by: Robin Flynn, April 1998


©Rhode Island Historical Society

Manuscripts Division

 


Historical note:


            The idea for the formation of a charitable society to help "indigent women and children" was first proposed by a group of well-known Providence women in March of 1800. The Providence Female Charitable Society was formed April 2nd the same year. Its first Board of Directors included Lydia Clark, Mrs. Avis Brown, Rebecca Munroe, Elizabeth Nightingale, Abby Francis, Eliza Ward, Mary Bowen, and Mary Brown Howell. The first charter and constitution of the Society was printed in February, 1801 by John Carter, Jr. The Society was incorporated by an act of the General Assembly in October, 1802. Membership was based on heredity.  

            With the exception of special cases, women who applied to the Society for assistance would be denied if they refused to put their younger children "of a proper age" in school, and their older, able-bodied children into service or a trade. One of the ways by which the Society assisted its accepted applicants was to purchase materials for them to make clothing; the completed garments were then sold to the same applicants at a reduced price. The Society also appointed members to teach children reading and writing two hours per day, and lead them to church each Sunday.

             Eventually the care of children was given up by the Society because demand outweighed its resources; offshoots of the Society such as a children's home and reform school were created. At its centenary in 1901, the Society noted that it was one of only two charitable organizations in New England that had survived to the one-hundred-year mark. The Society is still in existence today.


Bibliography:

            Ames, Mrs. William. Centennial. The Fourth of April, Nineteen Hundred. Notable Meeting of the Providence Female Charitable Society (Livermore & Knight Co., Providence, R.I., 1901).


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Scope and content:


            Generally, the records range from 1799 to 1952. Specifically, the collection includes correspondence from 1802 to 1889; a large number of account books from 1800 to 1917; the Society's 1802 charter and petition to incorporate; printed versions of the charter and constitution (1804); subscriber lists from 1801 to 1952; receipts, both loose and in book form, from 1800 to 1952; meeting minutes and resolutions from 1800 to 1934; and miscellaneous items such as newspaper clippings and members' obituaries.


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Provenance:


            The records were donated in two separate gifts, one in 1971 and one in 1978, by Mrs. Stanley Livingstone as president of the Society.


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Processing note:


            In 1998, research on the history of the Society was done and a finding aid produced. Additionally, the records were re-housed in upright archival folders and boxes.


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Inventory:


Correspondence

Box 1, folder 1. 1802-1819

Box 1, folder 2. 1849-1869

Box 1, folder 3. 1873-1889

Box 1, folder 4. Undated


Society administration

Box 1, folder 5. Notice of wish for a relief fund; includes list of subscribers, ca. 1799

Box 1, folder 6. Petition to incorporate, 1802

Triple oversize storage. Charter, 1802

Box 1, folder 7. Printed charter of the charter and constitution, 1804 (2 copies and reprint)


Subscribers

Box 1, folder 8. Subscribers, 1801-1932

Box 1, folder 9. Subscribers (volume), 1898-1952


Accounts/account books

Box 1, folder 10. "Manager's book, 1800 and 1801"; contains only 1800

Box 1, folder 11. Accounts for clothing, 1800-1801 ("Mrs. R. Munro")

Box 1, folder 12. Accounts for clothing, 1800?/1-1805

Box 1, folder 13. Account book, 1800-1828

Box 1, folder 14. Accounts for clothing, 1801 ("Elizabeth Burrill")

Box 1, folder 15. Accounts (clothing), 1801 ("Ann Eliza")

Box 1, folder 16. Accounts, 1801-1802

Box 1, folder 17. Accounts for clothing, 1801-1802

Box 1, folder 18. Accounts of clothing made, May 1802-Sept. 1803

Box 1, folder 19. Accounts of clothing, Oct. 1802-Feb. 1803 (Peddy Bowen)

Box 1, folder 20. Manager's book, 1802-1804

Box 1, folder 21. Accounts, including clothes received, 1803

Box 1, folder 22. Accounts of clothing, April 1803-April 1804

Box 1, folder 23. Accounts (adjusted), May 1803-March 1804

Box 1, folder 24. Accounts of clothing, Dec. 1803-March 1808

Box 1, folder 25. Accounts of clothing, April 1804-April 1805

Box 1, folder 26. Accounts, 1804-1805

Box 1, folder 27. Accounts with women serving, 1804-1805

Box 1, folder 28. Accounts between Eliza Bowen and PFCS, 1805-1806

Box 1, folder 29. Account book, 1805-1806 (Rebecca F. Snow)

Box 1, folder 30. Manager's book, 1805-1806 (Sarah C. Howell)

Box 1, folder 31. Accounts, 1806

Box 1, folder 32. Accounts for clothing, 1806-1807 ("Martha Munro's applicants")

Box 1, folder 33. Accounts, 1806-1809 (Sarah Mumford)

Box 1, folder 34. Bank book, 1809-1810

Box 1, folder 35. Accounts, 1809-1811

Box 1, folder 36. Accounts, 1823-1869

Box 1, folder 37. Accounts, 1828-1842

Box 1, folder 38. Account book, 1828-1847

Box 1, folder 39. Accounts, 1837-1868 ("Anne A. Ives")

Box 1, folder 40. Accounts, 1840-1858, with list of subscribers, 1801-1866

Box 1, folder 41. Accounts, 1847-1872

Box 1, folder 42. Treasurer, 1865-1923

Box 1, folder 43. Accounts, 1872-1912

Box 1, folder 44. Schedule of property and accounts, 1876-1892

Box 1, folder 45. Manager's book, 1890-1929

Box 1, folder 46. Schedule of property and accounts, 1892-1912

Box 2, folder 1. Accounts and receipt book, 1912-1917

Box 2, folder 2. Accounts, undated.


Receipts

Box 2, folder 3. 1800-1818

Box 2, folder 4. 1801

Box 2, folder 5. 1802-1822

Box 2, folder 6. 1820-1825

Box 2, folder 7. 1823

Box 2, folder 8. 1824-1886

Box 2, folder 9. 1843-1852

Box 2, folder 10. 1882-1892

Box 2, folder 11. 1892-1901

Box 2, folder 12. Receipts and expenditures, 1917-1939

Box 2, folder 13. Receipts, subscriptions, 1949-1952

Box 2, folder 14. Receipts, undated


Meeting minutes and resolutions

Volume. Minute book, includes by-laws, 1800-1934

Box 2, folder 15. Resolutions, 1852 and undated


Miscellaneous

Box 2, folder 16. Sermon, Jonathan Maxcy, 1802 (2 copies)

Box 2, folder 17. Sermon, James Wilson, 1803

Box 2, folder 18. "A Discourse delivered in Providence Sept. 6th 1804 before the Female Charitable Society for the Relief of indigent widows and children" by Theodore Dehon

Box 2, folder 19. Blank subscription form, 19th c.; obituaries for 3 members, 1926; newspaper             articles, 1950 and undated

Box 2, folder 20. Tribute to Harriet Morris Smith, April 1906


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Subjects:


Charities - R.I. - Providence

Providence, R.I. - Societies and clubs

Women - R.I. - Societies and clubs


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RIHS1822