Collections

Collections

PIHPS Inventory. (slideshow)
SUMMARY – The archival inventory of the Prudence Island Historical & Preservation Society includes over four thousand individual items that have been donated to the Society by its members and friends within the greater Prudence Island Community over the years that the Society has been in operation. The inventory as of February 2010 is categorized and briefly described below.
I. GENERAL COLLECTION – The General Collection includes many different types of items in the eleven categories listed below.
CATEGORIES
a.) Art – (approx. 12 items) The collection includes a small number of works of art, for the most part produced by local artists. The centerpiece of this collection is a painting of the ferry, Anna M, Prudence Island’s winter ferry from 1921 – 1960. Painted by Betty Budlong shortly after the 1938 Hurricane, the painting was donated to the Society in 1989 by Manny Sousa, a former Captain of the ferry, to whom it had been given by the artist.
b.) Artifacts – (approx. 50 items) Included are a large Indian pestle, several clay pipes, some stone tools, arrowheads, old wagon parts, small farm implements and metal tools.
c. ) Photographs and Negatives – (approx. 800 items) The Society’s photograph and negative collection covers nearly all areas and aspects of Prudence Island life from the late 19th century to the present time. The individual items vary from small contact prints (1’’ x 1”) to poster size prints.
d.) Post Cards – (approx. 75 items) The post card archive contains many post cards of Prudence and the surrounding area, dating from the undivided back era in the early 20th century to modern era continental size post cards.
e.) Manuscripts – (12 items) The manuscript archive contains several unpublished historical articles about Prudence Island, some of which were written by Sidney Davidson. Also included is an unpublished collection of poems about the Island.
f.) Books & Booklets – (approx. 110 items) The Society’s archive of books and booklets contains a copy of Charles Maytum’s “Paragraphs On Early Prudence Island” and a privately published genealogy of the Pearce family of Prudence Island. Also included is a copy of Devere Allen’s book, “Some Prudence Island Allens,” plus many other books and booklets relating to Prudence Island and the surrounding area.
g.) Maps – (about 14 items) The Society has a small collection of maps most of which are old plat maps of different sections of Prudence Island dating to the late 19th or early 20th century.
h.) Documents – (approx. 450 items) The document archive consists of well over 400 items, including many old property deeds, ferry schedules & tickets, telephone directories, and even a set of honey jar labels that came from a small bee keeping operation that existed on Prudence during the mid-20th century.
i.) Newspaper Related – (more than 1000 items) The newspaper archive consists of slightly more than one thousand newspapers or individual articles clipped from newspapers, dating from the late 18th century to the present time. Many of the items are directly related to Prudence Island or the Narragansett Bay area.
j.) Glass & Ceramic – (approx. 80 items) The glass and ceramic archive consists of many old medicine bottles and beverage containers, some of which are more than one hundred years old. Of particular interest are some very old round bottom glass bottles that appear to have been hand blown.
k.) e-Collection - (digitized, more than 800 items) The Society has more than 800 digitized photographs and documents as part of its general collection. This includes more than one hundred late 19th century images, mostly of Prudence Island and Narragansett Bay that were copied from the collection of the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society with their permission.
II. SPECIAL COLLECTION – In addition to the General Collection, there are some donated materials that make up the Society’s Special Collection. These are described below.
1.) The Grayson Collection – (252 individual items) Donated by Dorothy Grayson in 1988, this collection consists of many old photographs and post cards, most dating from the early to mid-20th century. Also included are many rare original editions of The Prudence Island Beacon, a summer newspaper published on the island during the 1920s & 1930s. Also included are two rare Prudence Island souvenir booklets and numerous newspaper articles regarding Prudence Island. The original Prudence Island Beacon newspapers were later loaned to the RI Historical Society for micro-filming and then returned to the collection. As a result, these rare newspapers are available for viewing on microfilm at the RIHS Library in Providence.
2.) The Atwood Donation – (456 individual items) Donated by Helen & Robert Atwood in 1989, this collection consists of a large scrapbook and a separate photograph/post card album compiled by the Atwood family during their many summers at Prudence Island. Included is a large collection of ferry tickets and schedules of the Prudence Island Navigation Company from the 1920s through the 1960s. The Atwood donation also includes a very rare edition of a Prudence Island newspaper published around 1940, known as the Prudence Island Visitor. Other items include many rare original post cards of Prudence Island, more than one hundred photographs covering the period of 1930 – 1970, all of which are identified; plus several hundred old newspaper articles and other paper items, dating from the 1920s through the 1980s.