Historical note:

            This collection includes officer lists, membership directories, newspaper articles, and records of branch offices for the association, which was founded by Mrs. A. Livingston Mason (Edith B.H. Mason), of Newport, RI, in May of 1898. The association was formed to provide aid and comfort to U.S. Army and Navy soldiers involved in the Spanish-American War, and to the Rhode Island families of enlisted men. The collection also includes official correspondence of the association's last secretary, Mrs. S. Willard Bridgham (Edith H. Bridgham), of Providence.

Return to top

Provenance:

            The provenance of this collection is unknown. In 1900, it was apparently in the hands of

the last secretary, Edith H. (Fenner) Bridgham, wife of Samuel W. Bridgham (married 4/30/1900), and judging by the original catalog card was donated before the RIHS left the Cabinet Building in 1942.

Return to top

Inventory:

Folder 1. Lists of officers and board and committee members, 1898-1900

Folder 2. Membership directories from various branch offices, 1898 - ?

Folder 3. Newspaper articles on annual reviews, 1899-1900

Folder 4. Personal correspondence to Mrs. S. Willard Bridgham, 1898-1900

Folder 5. Records of committees and minutes of meetings, 1898-1899

Folder 6. Records of branch offices from Providence, Newport, Pawtucket, Woonsocket,

                 East Providence, Jamestown, Tiverton, 1898-1899

Folder 7. Records of branch offices from Bristol, Barrington, Wickford, Westerly, Kingston,

                 East Greenwich, Warren and Portsmouth, 1898-1899

Folder 8. Summaries of association work, 1898-1899

Return to top

Subjects:

Bridgham, Edith H. (Fenner)

Charities - Rhode Island

Mason, Edith B.H. (1855-1906)

Dyer, Elisha, 1839-1906

Spanish-American War, 1898

End of finding aid - return to top

RIHS1822