The Rhode Island State Normal School was established in 1854 in Providence, RI, as a teachers’ college. It briefly moved to Bristol, RI, in 1857 and then closed from 1865 until 1871. Upon reopening, its name was changed to Rhode Island Normal School and it was moved back to Providence. The following were principals represented in the scrapbook: Dana P. Colburn (1854), Daniel Goodwin (1859), Joshua Kendall (1860), J.C. Greenough (1871), Thomas J. Morgan (1884), George A. Littlefield (1889), and William E. Wilson (1892).
The Columbian Exposition Rhode Island State Normal School scrapbook of 1893 was arranged by the Principal of the Normal School, W.E. Wilson. The scrapbook depicts the Normal School's history through photographs of professors, students in classrooms, and classes in session. Various disciplines in the curriculum are represented: art and design, and psychology are among the readily identifiable classes being taught. In the scrapbook, there are also handwritten lists, narratives, and printed items. The scrapbook contains a history of the State Normal School as well as photographs of the earlier buildings which were home to the school before it acquired its own campus beneath the shadow of the State House.
Pages were removed from the original book and pasted into the current binding prior to 2010. It is assumed the original order was maintained.
Researchers are advised to contact Rhode Island College Special Collections for questions regarding permissions to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise publish material from this collection. Although Rhode Island College has physical ownership of the collection, it does not necessarily hold literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
The collection is open for research.
Rhode Island Normal School. Columbian Exposition Scrapbook, CA-0013, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
The scrapbook is arranged in chronological order.
The collection was in the holdings of Special Collections prior to 1980.
The collection was described by Rebecca Docter, Special Collections Intern, under the supervision of Veronica L. Denison, Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian in 2024.
Rhode Island College Special Collections also holds The Normal Student (CA-0005), a newsletter created by students at the Rhode Island Normal School which documents their lives at the Normal School.
The scrapbook has been digitized and is available in