Henry Frederick Lippitt was born on October 12, 1856 in Providence. He attended private schools, graduated from Brown University in 1878, and entered the cotton manufacturing business. He was director of a bank and of several mill insurance companies, and was vice president of the People's Savings Bank of Providence. He served on the Governor's staff with the rank of colonel in 1888-1889 and was president of the New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association (now the National Textile Association) in the latter year. Lippitt was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate and served from March 4, 1911, to March 4, 1917; he was unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1916. While in the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Agriculture (Sixty-second Congress). He again became actively engaged in the textile industry; He died in Providence, Rhode Island in 1933 and was buried in Swan Point Cemetery.Henry Lippitt was a great-uncle of John H. Chafee and a great-great-uncle of Lincoln D. Chafee, both U.S. Senators, and also governors from Rhode Island. He was also the son of Henry Lippitt, a former Governor of Rhode Island.
The collection is arranged into three series:
The collection is comprised of correspondence, financial and business documents, meeting minutes, photographs, printed materials and several ephemera items.
Correspondence: comprised of family and general correspondence. The family correspondence is limited to three folders of manuscript and typescript letters. The general correspondence is primarily Mr. Lippitt's outgoing correspondence. The carbon copies of the letters are bound into 9 letterbooks and are arranged chronologically. They are dated as follows: 1881-1894; 1894-1898; 1887-1898; 1899-1902; 1902-1906; 1906-1908; 1910-1917; 1910-1923; 1918-1923. The letters cover various subjects including yacht racing, acquisitions, building and outfitting; business transactions; financial matters; cotton manufacturing business; elections to the U.S. Senate; matters before the U.S. House of Representatives (from Mr. Lippitt's years as a US Senator); other miscellaneous matters such as travel arrangements and accommodations, household keeping, etc. Among the recipients are several prominent individuals with historic connections to Rhode Island: Theodore F. Greene, Senator George P. Wetmore, Steven O. Metcalf; Hon. William H. Taft, Charles V. Chapin.
Preferred Stockholders Manville Jenckes Co. records: comprised of two folders of meeting minutes for 1931-1933. Mr. Lippitt was a chairman of the company. Also included is a separate folder with a proposal for company restructuring as well as financial and legal correspondence on the subject of restructuring.
Printed and graphic materials: Consists of family photographs; a leather bound typescript volume titled
There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Henry Frederick Lippitt Papers, Ms.2011.011, Brown University
The collection is a gift to Brown University from the Frederick Lippitt estate. It is comprised of materials that were separated from the Frederick Lippitt Papers (A2007.060): letters, letterbooks, photographs, stock reports, and a campaign poster.
Preferred Stockholders Manville Jenckes records, which were in 3-ring binders, were disbound and put in acid free folders.