COLLECTIONS A-Z

• Carroll (Michael R.) papers, 1885-1931
  The collection consists of documents relating to Michael Carroll's pension for Civil War military service, letters written to him about slavery and the impact of emancipation by Victor Chambers, and the book "Born at the Battlefield of Gettysburg" written by Carroll's great-grandaughter, Harriet Rinaldi. ...more information
  
  
• Cohen (Robert F., Jr.) papers, 1952-1984
  The Robert F. Cohen, Jr. papers relate to his activist work as a student at Brown from 1964-1968, and as a community organizer in Providence and other Rhode Island communities, and New York City around welfare rights, housing discrimination and education between 1968-1972. The collection contains original materials created in the context of this work, including press releases, research notes, minutes of meetings, leaflets, and other organizing materials, as well as news clippings covering the actual events. There is also an extensive collection of publications from progressive organizations. ...more information
  
  
• Dexter (Robert Cloutman) and Elisabeth Anthony Dexter papers
  Records and personal papers of sociologist and Unitarian minister Robert Cloutman Dexter (Class of 1912) and his wife, the noted historian Elisabeth Anthony Dexter. An important focus within the collection is the significant role played by the Dexters -- co-founders of the Unitarian Service Committee with Rev. Waitstill and Martha Sharp in 1937 -- in working to expedite the release of war refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe between 1938 and 1944. The collection also includes personal writings by the Dexters, as well as much information on the history of the Anthony family. ...more information
  
  
• Dickson (James C.) papers, 1988-2002
  These papers document the career of James C. Dickson (Class of 1968) as an activist and organizer for disabled individuals, primarily with the VOTE! 2000 Campaign, an effort to increase the number of voters with disabilities. Includes materials Dickson used in his efforts to increase the voting rights of disabled persons and their access to polling places. The materials contain information on poll accessibility, black voters, gay and lesbian voters, voting statistics, the motor voter law, election reforms, methods of voting, and the registration of potential voters when they apply for food stamps, Medicaid or a driver's license. Also consists of material documenting other organizing efforts involving the rights of children, especially children with disabilities, and the medical care of the elderly and people with disabilities. ...more information
  
  
• Fales family letters, 1806-1840
  The Fales family letters number thirty six, most of them sent by Stephen (who often signed himself "Esteban") Smith Fales from his Cuban plantation to his sister Lydia (Fales) French in Bristol, Rhode Island. Although the earliest letter dates from 1806, most of the letters were written between 1813 and 1834 from various locations in Cuba. ...more information
  
  
• Fisher (Rudolph) papers, 1919-1983
  Rudolph Fisher (Class of 1919) was a Providence native, a medical doctor specializing in radiology and a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s. His papers primarily contain various drafts and published copies of twenty-six of his short stories and novels, as well as book reviews and essays. The collection also contains correspondence, publicity materials, personal papers, family papers and newsclippings. Materials cover Fisher’s life from 1919 to his death in 1934, as well as the work on behalf of Fisher done by his sister, Pearl, until 1983. ...more information
  
  
• Hall-Hoag collection of dissenting and extremist printed propaganda
  Contains documents representing a broad spectrum of militant political, social and religious dissent in the United States, from the post-World War II period to the present. The Collection currently exceeding 168,000 items emanating from over 5,000 organizations, constitutes the country's largest research collection of right and left wing U.S. extremist groups, from 1950 to 1999. The collection began when Gordon Hall, a young veteran of the Pacific Theatre during the war, first encountered the printed propaganda issued by domestic hate-your-neighbor organizations/groups in the late 1940's. He supported his investigations and research of these organizations by giving public lectures about them. Materials from all corners of the country were collected, enabling him to document statements made in lectures as well as in a growing number of expository articles written for newspapers and magazines. Grace Hoag, an alumna of Smith College, began collaboration with Hall during the 1960's, assisting the research and investigation and expanding the collection beyond its initial emphasis. Includes publications of Anti-Abortion organizations; Anti-Integrationist organizations; Anti-Semitic and Racist political parties; Christian Identity organizations; Communist organizations; Communist political parties; Communist publishers; Congressional investigating committees; Cults and Alternative religions; Extreme Left-Wing publishers; Ku Klux Klan organizations; LaRouche organizations; Marxist-Leninist organizations; Militant Anti-Communist organizations; Militant Populist organizations; Neo-Nazi organizations; Pacifist organizations; Racial and Ethnic Consciousness organizations; Right-Wing Christian religious organizations; and Right-Wing publishers. ...more information
  
  
• Jay Saunders Redding (1906-1988) papers
  Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Saunders Redding graduated from Brown in 1928. After two years of teaching he returned to Brown to earn an A.M. in 1932. A writer and specialist in African-American Literature, Redding spent the majority of his teaching career at the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia, where he was Professor of English from 1943 to 1966. He subsequently taught at taught Duke, George Washington and Cornell Universities. In 1949, he returned to Brown for a brief stint as a visiting Professor, thus becoming the first African American to teach at an Ivy League school. He later served as Director of the National Endowment for the Humanities Division of Research and Publications from 1966 to 1969.
  
  The Redding papers cover his long career as a writer, academic and administrator, and document his involvement with numerous African American organizations and causes. ...more information
  
  
• Korff (Rabbi Baruch) papers, 1914-1995
  Personal papers of Providence rabbi and Jewish communal activist who became known as "Nixon's Rabbi" for his defense of the President during the Watergate affair. The collection includes materials pertaining to Korff's efforts on behalf of European Jewry during World War II, through the creation of the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, as well as his post-war advocacy for the State of Israel. ...more information
  
  
• Nancy Elizabeth Prophet Diary (1922-1934)
  
  Nancy Elizabeth Prophet (1890-1960) was an American sculptress and a 1918 graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. Her work became well-known throughout Europe and the United States, and she later taught in various schools. Born in Warwick (Rhode Island) to a Narraganset Indian father and an Afro-American mother, she experienced and struggled against racial discrimination typical of the times in which she lived. Her diary, dating from a period when she was working in Paris, detail the deep anguish she felt during a time of misfortune and hardship. ...more information
  
  
• Needmor Fund records, 1975-2005
  The Needmor Fund is a family foundation established in Toledo, Ohio in 1956 by Duane and Virginia Stranahan with income from the Champion Spark Plug business. It focuses on funding community organizing efforts to create a more equitable and just society. The records document the activities of the Needmor Fund from the the 1970\'s to the early 21st century and include correspondence, grant applications, pamphlets, seminar brochures, notes from site visits, speeches, and publications. Within the Needmor Fund Collection, the Kathy Partridge papers include material related to gay and lesbian issues. ...more information
  
  
• Portuguese Angola, Azores and Cape Verde Islands Collection
  
  This collection is comprised of Portuguese language manuscript materials documenting the settlement and colonization of Angola (1690-1790 and 1828-1941), and includes correspondence between the Bank of Lisbon and the Azores from 1930-1931 and documents from the Cape Verde Islands in the first half of the 19th century. Topics covered by the materials in the collection include governance and administration, population, public education, finances, history, agriculture, navigation and commerce, military affairs and related topics. ...more information
  
  
• Rhode Island Feminist Theatre Records, 1973-1984
  Theatre group founded in 1973 in Providence, Rhode Island. Members often collaborated on the writing of plays. Performances were given in Providence, Boston, and on national tour. The collection includes scripts, publicity, reviews, articles, promotional and touring material, posters, playbills, photographs, and other files. ...more information
  
  
• Sargent (Frances Herriott) papers, 1928-1942
  This collection of about 285 items traces the evolution and production of the play "Porgy" and its operatic expression, "Porgy and Bess". The collection is composed of the professional and personal papers of the assistant stage manager, Frances Herriott (later Frances Herriott Sargent), and provides insight into the major elements of production as well as the personal relationships of cast members and stage professionals. ...more information
  
  
• Watson (John Brown) collection
  John Brown Watson (Class of 1904) was among the earliest African American alumni of Brown University and had a distinguished career in the historically Black colleges of the South. After a teaching stint at Morehouse College, Watson moved into a career as an administrator. He became founding President of Leland College in Baker, Louisiana, in 1923, and later ascended to the presidency of Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal School, later known as Arkansas A&M University (now: University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff).
  
  The Watson papers cover, among other topics, African American education; the role of the African American woman as Christian homemaker and as community leader in education; land reform (creation of farms and rental of property to poor African Americans); African American business; African American leadership of the early 20th century; and African American missions in Africa.
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• Young (John) papers, 1859-1903
  These papers contain personal correspondence, business papers, writings by John Young and his daughter Harriet, maps and hand drawn diagrams of the Blackfeet Agency and it surroundings in Montana Territory. The personal correspondence from 1876 to 1884 provides firsthand accounts of life on the reservation during a crucial time in the tribe's history. ...more information
  
  

Image Source: Blue beard; or The fatal effects of curiosity and disobedience... , Philadelphia: Wm. Charles, 1815, Dorr Collection V.79, John Hay Library.

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