Providence High School was initially built on President Street in Providence, RI in 1843. While both males and females attended the same school, they were separated into two departments by their gender. A new school was built on Sumner Street with the building dedication held on September 3, 1878. The students were still divided by gender at this time. The school was renamed Providence Classical High School in 1898.
The collection includes manuscripts of selected papers, which are bound together, written by twenty-six girls in the third class, second year of modern history at Providence High School on February 29, 1876. The girls’ ages ranged from 14 to 18. Some of the questions they followed to compose their papers consisted of: what led to the rise of puritanism?, what was the character of Oliver Cromwell?, give a brief history of Mary Queen of Scots, and what was the cause of the French Revolution?
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.
Providence High School Girls Department Manuscripts of Examination, MSS-0116, 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.
Provenance of this collection is unknown, however it was in the holdings of Special Collections prior to 2019.
The collection was described by Special Collections intern, Melissa Moniz, in 2023 under the supervision of Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, Veronica L. Denison.
Rhode Island Historical Society holds:
This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact the Rhode Island College Special Collections.