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3. Provenance 5. Inventory 6. Subjects |
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).
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.
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.
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.
Inventory:
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
Subjects:
Providence, R.I. - Societies and clubs
Women - R.I. - Societies and clubs
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RIHS1822