3. Provenance 5. Inventory 6. Subjects |
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.
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.
Provenance:
These records were donated by Quebecor Inc. in 1998.
Processing note:
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)
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