Newspaper collection (newspaper)

Black Newspapers, 1935-1957
1 box(es)
(8 microfilm reels)

This series consists of microfilm of the Boston Chronicle (1935-1937) and the Providence Chronicle (1939-1957).

The two sets of microfilm were purchased by Providence College in the fall of 1972 as a supplemental research aid to accompany the College's Urban League of Rhode Island Collection.

Arrangement: The series is arranged by title then chronologically within each title.

Death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1945
1 box
(12 folders)

This series contains articles reporting on the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio in 1921. He became the 32nd U.S. president in 1933, and was the only president to be elected four times. Roosevelt led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II, and greatly expanded the powers of the federal government through a series of programs and reforms known as the New Deal.

After a series of grueling overseas war conferences and meetings in February and March of 1945, on March 29, Franklin Delano Roosevelt retired to the Little White House at Warm Springs, Georgia, to rest before his anticipated appearance at the founding conference of the United Nations.

On the afternoon of April 12, Roosevelt is reported to have said, "I have a terrific pain in the back of my head" and then slumped forward in his chair, unconscious. He was then carried into his bedroom and the president's attending cardiologist, Dr. Howard Bruenn, diagnosed a massive cerebral hemorrhage. At 3:35 pm that day, Roosevelt died. As Allen Drury later said, “so ended an era, and so began another.” At the time he collapsed, Roosevelt had been sitting for a portrait painting by the artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff, known as the famous Unfinished Portrait of FDR.


Arrangement: The series is arranged by title then chronologically.

Hurricane of 1938, 1938
1 box(es)
(8 folders)

This series contains news clippings of articles reporting on the Hurricane of 1938 that devastated much of Rhode Island and parts of the New England region.
The New England Hurricane of 1938 (or Great New England Hurricane, Yankee Clipper, Long Island Express, or simply the Great Hurricane) was the first major hurricane to strike New England since 1869. The storm formed near the coast of Africa in September of the 1938 Atlantic hurricane season, becoming a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale before making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Long Island on September 21.

Roaring its way from the West Indies in mid-September of 1938, a hurricane at first threatened Florida, then turned north past Cape Hatteras and suddenly swooped into Long Island and New England, the most populous region in the Western Hemisphere. The result was death and destruction, with more than 500 lives lost, 57,034 homes destroyed or damaged, and a property loss that extended into hundreds of millions of dollars.

The path of the hurricane was approximately 400 miles but only the 200-mile long arm which extended eastward from New York to the Upper Cape did extensive damage. The high pressure area to the west kept the main force of the storm confined to New England instead of letting it sweep over New York City, Philadelphia and the New Jersey cities.

The hurricane was estimated to have killed between 682 and 800 people, damaged or destroyed over 57,000 homes, and caused property losses estimated at US$306 million ($4.7 billion in 2012). Even as late as 1951, damaged trees and buildings could still be seen in the affected areas. It remains the most powerful, costliest and deadliest hurricane in recent New England history, eclipsed in landfall intensity perhaps only by the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635 and the more recent 2012 Hurricane Sandy.


Arrangement: The series is arranged by title then chronologically.

Irish Reunification, 1949-1955
1 box(es)
(7 folders)

This series consists of news clippings, from the early 1950s, of articles containing opinion pieces and reporting on events concerning the efforts to unify Ireland.
The debate over a unified Ireland has gone on for decades and has been both peaceful at times and violent - leading to the imprisonment and death of hundreds of individuals.

The partition of Ireland in 1921 stemmed from demographic, economic, religious and political factors. In demographic terms, the six counties of Northern Ireland contain a unionist and mostly Protestant majority that favors continued union with Britain. The twenty-six counties of the Republic contain a very large Roman Catholic majority that rejected British rule and became independent in 1922. In political terms, the British government was reluctant in the 1920s to withdraw its jurisdiction from the whole of the island for strategic reasons; its policy since 1921 has been to agree to Irish unity by voluntary consent.

While Irish governments have pursued the goal of a united Ireland throughout the 20th century, the prospect of a united Ireland assumed particular importance following the outbreak of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s. All major political parties in Britain and in both parts of Ireland now accept the principle that a united Ireland can be achieved only with the consent of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland.

All major political parties in the south favor a united Ireland, as do the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland. A united Ireland is mostly opposed by the unionist parties and loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. The UK Government is committed under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to following the wishes of the majority of the Northern Ireland population.

The small number of clippings within this collection represents only a very small amount of material available for the researcher on the topic and should not be construed as comprehensive in any way.


Arrangement: The series is arranged chronologically.

World War I, 1914-1919
1 box(es)
(34 folders)

This series contains newspapers reporting on events taking place during World War I.
In late June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia. An escalation of threats and mobilization orders followed the incident, leading by mid-August to the outbreak of World War I, which pitted Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire (the so-called Central Powers) against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy and Japan (the Allied Powers).

The Allies were joined after 1917 by the United States. The four years of the Great War--as it was then known--saw unprecedented levels of carnage and destruction, thanks to grueling trench warfare and the introduction of modern weaponry such as machine guns, tanks and chemical weapons. By the time World War I ended in the defeat of the Central Powers in November 1918, more than 9 million soldiers had been killed and 21 million more wounded.

The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, determined post-war borders from Europe to the Middle East, established the League of Nations as an international peace organization and punished Germany for its aggression with reparations and the loss of territory. Tragically, the instability caused by World War I would help make possible the rise of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and would, only two decades later, lead to a second devastating international conflict.


Arrangement: The series is arranged by newspaper title then chronologically.

Miscellaneous Newspapers & Clippings, 1935-1957
2 box(es)
(2 microfilm reels; 12 folders)

This series consists of microfilm and originals of select historical newspapers and clippings.

Arrangement: This series has no particular assigned arrangement.