1.   Historical note

2.   Scope and content

3.   Provenance

4.   Processing note

5.   Inventory

6.   Subjects


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 Providence Medical Association Records

 Professional association, of Providence, R.I.

 Records, 1851-1999

 Size: 2.5 ft.

 Catalog number: MSS 1112

 Processed by:  

Andrew Kerr, December 2002


©Rhode Island Historical Society

Manuscripts Division

 


Historical note:


            The Providence Medical Association was incorporated in 1848 as an institution committed to the "advancement of sound medical science and the promotion of the character, interests and honor of the medical fraternity." The Association sought to bring the physicians in Providence together into one organization in hopes that such an association would facilitate the exchange of ideas, stimulate activity in public health and general welfare, and secure the enactment and enforcement of just medical and public health laws. The Providence Medical Association also aligned itself with the Rhode Island Medical Society and the American Medical Association.

            According to the original constitution, any reputable and registered physician with a degree in medicine who had served at least one year as an intern in an approved hospital, and who does not lend his support to any exclusive system of medicine, would be eligible for membership. In their meetings, members of the Association discussed and adopted guidelines concerning anything from minimum fees for care to standards of practice. More recently the Providence Medical Association has established a scholarship and public education fund designed to reward students with interests in health related studies.


Bibliography:

 

Constitution and Bylaws (as amended to January 5, 1972), in the May 1989 Executive Committee minutes, Providence Medical Association Records


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Scope and content:


            This collection includes annual secretary's reports from 1883 to 1957; Standing Committee / Executive Committee minutes from 1904 to 1999; treasurer's records from 1851 to 1938; and membership applications from 1963 to 1972. Other Providence Medical Association material can be found interspersed in the Rhode Island Medical Society Records (MSS 38).


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Processing note:


            These records were donated by the Rhode Island Medical Society in 2002.


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Inventory:


Box 1.

Executive Committee minutes (bound); 1940-1968, 1971-1980.

            Annual reports of the Secretary (bound) 1883-1937.

            Annual reports of the Treasurer (bound) 1855-1938.


Box 2.

Executive Committee minutes (bound); 1981-1999.

            Standing Committee (bound); 1904-1933.

            Treasurer’s reports (bound); 1851-1881.

Reports of Reading Room Committee, resolutions, gift acknowledgments, miscellaneous data, presidents’ addresses (bound).

            Cases and reports (bound); 1899-1938.

            Standing Committee and Executive Committee minutes (bound); 1933-1940.

 

Box 3.

            Applications for membership (unbound); 1963-1970

            Applications for membership (bound); 1971-1972.

            Minutes (bound); 1970-1973


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Subjects:


Medicine - Societies, etc. - Rhode Island - Providence.

Providence (R.I.) - Societies and clubs.


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RIHS1822