Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women records, 1895-1971

John Hay Library , Special Collections
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu

Published in 2013

Collection Overview

Title:	Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women records
Date range:	1895-1971
Creator:	Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women.
Extent:	1.5 Linear feet
Abstract:	The records of the Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women (RISCEW) consist of the organization's meeting minute records, correspondence, news clippings, organizational histories, membership lists and financial ledgers from 1895-1971. Additional materials within the collection are reports by various committees, such as the Building Committee, Evaluation Committee, and the War Service Committee of 1918-1919.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library , Special Collections
Collection number:	MS.1ZW.R1

Scope & content

The records of the Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women (RISCEW) consist of the organization's meeting minute records, correspondence, news clippings, organizational histories, membership lists and financial ledgers from 1895-1971. Additional materials within the collection are reports by various committees, such as the Building Committee, Evaluation Committee, and the War Service Committee of 1918-1919.

The Seventy-fifth Anniversary Committee of the RISCEW planned its final luncheon for the 14th of September 1971. The collection contains the committee minutes, correspondence, and typescripts of speeches by Mrs. Dwight Owen (president), Bessie H. Rudd (committee chair), and W. Chesley Worthington (which was read by Rudd). Also available are the photographs mounted for a show after Rudd finished Worthington's speech.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Andrews, Elisha Benjamin, 1844-1917
• Doyle, Sarah Elizabeth, 1830-1922
• Knight, Ameila Sumner
• Snow, Louis Franklin, 1862-1934

Subject Organizations

• Pembroke College (Brown University).
• Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women.

Document Types

• Administrative records
• Brochures
• Clippings
• Invitations
• Letters (Correspondence)

Subject Topics

• Rhode Island/Local Interest

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following series:

• Series 1. Organizational Records, 1895-1971
• Series 2. Subject Files, 1896-1971
• Series 3. Seventy-fifth Anniversary Committee, 1971

Historical note

The Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women (RISCEW) was founded by Providence educator and suffragist Sarah Elizabeth Doyle. Doyle had founded the Rhode Island Women's Club and had also helped found the Rhode Island School of Design. With the appointment of Elisha Benjamin Andrews as Brown University's president in 1889, Doyle found a coworker in the cause of women's higher education at Brown. Andrews succeeded in obtaining the Corporation's approval to permit women to take Brown qualifying exams in 1891 and registered seven students for classes, about which the Corporation had made no mention. In 1892, the Corporation approved the granting of undergraduate and graduate degrees to women and, in 1896, gave the growing number of women students an official status by creating the Women's College at Brown University, a department of the College. Andrews and the women's dean, Louis Franklin Snow, called on Doyle for help in the endowment and building construction of the College. RISCEW was formed in 1895 largely from the membership of the Rhode Island Women's Club (RIWC) and was incorporated in 1896 with Doyle as president and Ameila Sumner Knight (president of the RIWC) as treasurer. Pembroke Hall was completed and transferred to Brown in 1897. RISCEW served as the main fund-raising organ for the Women's College until the establishment of a large and vigorous alumnae association, but continued its financial and moral support through the 1971 merger of Pembroke and Brown, when they considered their work complete. These records of RISCEW provide a detailed picture of Pembroke's "fairy godmother" - as the membership was often called by the Women's College - at work.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	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.
Use of the materials:	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.
Preferred citation:	Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women records, MS-1ZW-R1, Brown University Archives.
Contact information:	John Hay Library , Special Collections Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Tel: 401-863-2146 email: hay@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The acquisition information for this collection is unavailable.
Processing information:	This collection was arranged and described by Karen Lamoree and Kim Brookes.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Karen Lamoree. Inventory supplemented by Kim Brookes, 1993.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013-04-18

Additional Information

Separated material:	See also the dedication program for Pembroke Hall, the slides taken at the last meeting in April 1971, and the photographs taken at the final luncheon in September 1971. Both sets of images were originally part of this collection, but are now stored respectively in the Archives slide files and the Archives 1-ZP Photographic files.
Other information:	Brown University Library catalog record for this collection: Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women records, 1895-1971

Inventory

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