James P. Adams Library: Special Collections: Special Collections (A-Z)

Please Note

The following A-Z list of special collections is a work in progress, and doesn't yet represent a complete listing of our collections.

Bacon (Nathaniel Terry) Papers, MSS.5

FINDING AID: Nathaniel Terry Bacon Papers
Papers illustrate the business and personal activities, 1876-1926, of Nathaniel Terry Bacon, a Rhode Island engineer, industrialist, philanthropist, and scholar. Includes the papers of other Bacon and Hazard family members, including Rowland Hazard, 1763-1835; Joseph Peace Hazard, 1807-1894; Thomas Rutherford Bacon, 1850-1913; Caroline Hazard, 1856-1945; Helen Hazard Bacon, 1861-1925; and Leonard Bacon, 1887-1954.

Online content:

Baxter (David) Papers -- Cape Verdean Collection, MSS.13-3

Collection includes 35mm slides from photographs taken by David Baxter of Cape Verde spanning from 1980 to 1989.

Online content:

Digitized photographs in DigitalCommons@RIC and Artstor

Browne (Dr. Rose Butler) Collection, MSS.40

Memorabilia of Dr. Rose Butler Browne (1897-1986), including awards, diplomas and certificates. Dr. Browne was an alumna of RICE, and she earned her doctoral degree in education from Harvard University in 1939. She was a renowned educator, dedicated to civil rights and improving educational opportunities for children of color.

Cardozo, (Antonio de Jesus) Papers -- Cape Verdean Collection, MSS.13-4

INVENTORY: Antonio de Jesus Cardozo Papers
Photographs, memorabilia, correspondence and printed material of Antonio de Jesus Cardozo. Born in 1903 in Fogo Cape Verde Islands, Cardozo arrived in New Bedford at the age of 17 and briefly lived in California before returning to New England. He graduated from Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1934 and practiced law in the Cambridge area. He was known as a kind, generous man willing to help those in need.

Coombs (Eva) Papers -- Cape Verdean Collection, MSS.13-6

Clippings, articles and printed material on Cape Verdean history and culture collected by Eva Coombs (1924-2010). Coombs was born in New Bedford, MA to Alfred and Maria Pina. She lived in Philadelphia, PA for 35 years, where she worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

Cormack (Maribelle) Papers, MSS.10

FINDING AID: Maribelle Cormack Papers
The papers of naturalist, teacher, and writer Maribelle Cormack include her books, manuscripts correspondence, scrapbooks, and instructional materials.

DeCiantis (Michael) Papers, MSS.1

FINDING AID: Honorable Michael DeCiantis Papers
The papers pertain principally to DeCiantis' career as a lawyer. There is information on Rhode Island politics, 1930's-1960's; the Rhode Island Family Court, 1961-1974; and personal matters, 1920's-1970's. Material on politics in Rhode Island for the period 1936-1940 is of particular interest.

Edmonds Family Papers, MSS.27

FINDING AID: Edmonds Family Papers
The Edmonds family’s collected papers document the day-to-day lives of a family of color in Rhode Island in the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century.

Fain (Irving Jay) Papers, MSS.3

FINDING AID: Irving Jay Fain Papers
Papers pertain to Fain's concern for and activities regarding the problems of housing, civil rights, poverty, and nutrition principally between 1959-1970. Includes material on the Rhode Island Fair Housing Law and the National Welfare Rights Organization.

Online content:

Digitized documents and tape recordings regarding the RI Fair Housing Bill in DigitalCommons@RIC

Forman (Helen) Collection, MSS.34

INVENTORY: Helen Forman Collection
Correspondence, photographs and memorabilia of Helen Forman, who was a 1934 RICE graduate and teacher in the Rhode Island school system, and a generous benefactor of RIC. Collection includes over 100 letters written to Forman by her husband, along with memorabilia and photos related to her academic career and life in Rhode Island.

Gomnes (Clare) letters to Caroline DiOrio, MSS.31

FINDING AID: Clare Gomnes letters to Caroline DiOrio
Letters written to Caroline DiOrio by Clare Gomnes, who was superintendent of the Sophia Little Home, a residence for unmarried mothers, from 1948-1955. The collection also includes a watercolor sketch of Caroline DiOrio by Clare Gomnes, as well as a few letters from Olga Gomnes and Madeleine Hoagland.

Gonsalves (Virginia Neves) Collection -- Cape Verdean Collection, MSS.13-8

INVENTORY: Virginia Neves Gonsalves Collection
Collection of materials on Cape Verde and Cape Verdean Americans collected by Virginia Neves Gonsalves. Includes publications, research files, ephemera, educational and conference materials pertaining to the people, culture, history, economics and development of Cape Verde.

Gross (Dr. Carl Russell) Papers, MSS.2

FINDING AID: Dr. Carl Russell Gross Papers
Papers chronicle the African American experience in Rhode Island from 1696-1971. The collection includes the research materials of African American physician Dr. Carl Russell Gross and the manuscript of his unpublished book.

Online content:

Digitized manuscripts in DigitalCommons@RIC

International Institute Records, MSS.11

Documentation of the educational, legal, and social services provided by this Institute to immigrants and refugees since 1921. These materials include case records, reports, minutes, correspondence, activity records, financial records, photographs, scrapbooks, and audio recordings.

Online content:

Kevorkian (Zenas) Photographs and Other Material, MSS.42

FINDING AID: Zenas Kevorkian Photographs and Other Material, 1923-1988
Zenas Kevorkian (1910-1991) was a career educator, a United States Naval Officer during World War II, and a hobbyist photographer in Rhode Island. The bulk of this collection consists of Kevorkian’s personal photographs, which document his life, family, and community mostly in and around Providence and Cranston, Rhode Island from the 1920s through about 1960. The collection also includes correspondence while Kevorkian was in naval training in 1942, as well as publications of Providence Technical High School and Roger Williams Junior High School.

Livramento (Joseph) Papers -- Cape Verdean Collection, MSS.13-1

FINDING AID: Joseph Livramento Papers
Collected papers, photographs, and memorabilia related to Cape Verde, Cape Verdean-Americans, and Cape Verdean music.

Lopes (James) Papers -- Cape Verdean Collection, MSS.13-11

Collection includes postcards of Cape Verde.

Online content:

Digitized postcards in DigitalCommons@RIC and Artstor

Mariposa Collection, MSS.25

FINDING AID: Mariposa Collection
Collected records from Mariposa, an organization that provided preschool, weekend, and after-school programs in Providence, RI from 2005-2018. Materials include administrative documents, curriculum resources, and printed materials.

Martin (Carla) Collection on Cape Verdean Language and Culture, MSS.13-22

FINDING AID: Carla Martin Collection on Cape Verdean Language and Culture
This collection consists of over 300 books, along with articles and research files, sheet music, textiles, artworks, and souvenirs collected by Dr. Carla Martin, Lecturer and Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies in Harvard University’s Department of African and African American Studies. Items are related to the topic of Cape Verdean culture, language, music, politics, history, and literature, with a wide range of disciplines from social sciences and humanities represented.

Books:

Browse in the Adams Library catalog

McGowan (Louis) Rhode Island Postcard Collection, MSS.32

Online content:

Digitized postcards in DigitalCommons@RIC and Artstor

McLarty (Ron) Papers, MSS.21

FINDING AID: Ron McLarty Papers
The McLarty collection includes Ron McLarty's personal papers, photographs, published and unpublished works, and memorabilia from his appearances in theater, television and film.

Online Content:

Collection dedication and digital exhibit

Muratore (Joseph) Collection, MSS.12

An extensive collection of materials on Italian culture and the Italian-Americans of Rhode Island. It includes the personal papers and writings of Grandé Ufficalé and retired Vice Consul Joseph R. Muratore and book collections on Christopher Columbus and Italian geneaology.

Italian Genealogy Library

Online content:

Digitized newspaper columns by Joseph Muratore in DigitalCommons@RIC

Pereira (Alberto Torres) Papers -- Cape Verdean Collection, MSS.13-16

Collection includes materials from the Cape Verdean Oral History Project, which began in 1972 under the auspices of the Rhode Island Department of State Library Services. It was the second program of its kind undertaken by the RIDSLS, and it was conducted by Alberto Torres Pereira, a Cape Verdean historian, linguist and writer.

Online content:

Digitized oral history interviews in DigitalCommons@RIC

Prophet (Nancy Elizabeth) Collection, MSS.28

FINDING AID: Nancy Elizabeth Prophet Collection
Artwork, photographs, and memorabilia of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet (1890-1960), American sculptor of African American and Native American Descent, who was the first woman of color to graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Online content:

Personal photographs and photographs of artwork in DigitalCommons@RIC and Artstor

Smolski (Chester) Photographic Slides & Publications, MSS.41

FINDING AID: Chester Smolski Photographic Slides & Publications
This collection comprises over 10,000 slides and 370 editorial columns published in Rhode Island newspapers, spanning the 1950s through the 2000s. Materials document the studies and travels of Professor Chester Smolski, who was a Professor of Geography and Director of the Urban Studies Program at Rhode Island College.

Online content:

Digitized slides in DigitalCommons@RIC and Artstor
Digitized op-ed columns in DigitalCommons@RIC

Soares Family Papers -- Cape Verdean Collection, MSS.13-20

One of the items in this collection is a handwritten cookbook by Eduardo da Graça, who emigrated from Cape Verde to the United States in 1925. He worked as a chef at the Minden Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island, and his cookbook has been digitized.

Online content:

Vendettuoli (Maurice and Vera) Papers, MSS.4

FINDING AID: Maurice and Vera Vendettuoli Papers
Papers describe the opposition to school busing in a Providence neighborhood from 1950-1970.