John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. He was eighty-four years old when he wrote the letter in this collection to Ruth Williams in 1891, the year before his death.
The collection includes a single response letter from John G. Whittier to Ruth M. Williams in 1891 providing the Latin phrase, “virtue non verbis.” Williams requested a class motto on behalf of her class at Rhode Island Normal School in Foster, Rhode Island. The collection includes a typed transcript of the letter.
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.
John Greenleaf Whittier letter to Ruth A. Williams, MSS-0105, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
The collection is arranged in the order in which it arrived in the Rhode Island College Special Collections.
The letter was given to Adams Library after Professor James White found it in the Rhode Island College English Department and removed the letter from a frame. At some point, the letter came to Special Collections.
The collection was described by Special Collections intern, Melissa Moniz, in 2023, under the supervision of Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, Veronica Denison.
The letter was found among Rhode Island College English Department materials in 1966 by Professor James White.
This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact the Rhode Island College Special Collections.