Grace Episcopal Church (Mss. Gr. 144)

Series 1. Subject Files, 1884-1999
19 box(es)
(19.5 linear feet)

Includes annual reports, minutes of meetings, the Act of Incorporation, event programs, guest books, parishioner transfer forms, sermons, parish membership lists and cards, church school registration cards, deeds to pews, and parochial reports.

Arrangement: The records in this series are arranged alphabetically by subject or type of record and chronologically within folders.

Series 2. Registers, 1830-1978
21 box(es)
(14 linear feet)

Contains the bound registers of church services, baptisms, marriages, confirmations, and burials. The registers include the date time number of worshippers and the name of the celebrant for each service held in the parish. The Parish Registers are divided into sections by the type of service performed, i.e. baptisms, burials, confirmations, and marriages. The quantity and type of information recorded varies with the type of service. For baptisms, it includes the name and date of birth of the person baptized, the date of the ceremony, the names of his/her parents, and the name of the officiating clergy. The marriage records include the date of the ceremony, the names and ages of the betrothed, their addresses, the names of the parents of both parties, and the name of the presiding clergy. Confirmation records include the dates and names of those confirmed and the name of the bishop performing the ceremony. The burial records include the name of the deceased, the date of death, the age at death, the cause of death, the date of the funeral, the place of burial, and the name of the presiding clergy. Individual entries within each section are arranged chronologically by the date of the service.

Indexes to the registers were created over a period of time; the amount of information recorded on the index cards varies. The index is incomplete and cannot be relied upon as the sole determinant of the existence of an entry. The cards are divided by type of service (baptism, burial, confirmation, marriage) and arranged alphabetically by the last name of the person baptized, buried, confirmed, or married (husband's name). Each of the index cards contains a name, the type of service, the volume number and page number of the Parish Register in which the entry can be found, and some, but not all, of the information contained in the entry. There are 14 boxes of index cards at the end of the collection.

Arrangement: This series is arranged in three divisions; the bound volumes containing the baptisms, marriages, confirmations, and burials and the bound volumes recording the record of church services as well as an overall index to the registers. The oversized volumes and index card boxes are at the end of the collection and numbered in sequence by format.

Series 3. Vestry / Corporation, 1829-1986
9 box(es)
(4.5 linear feet)

The vestry is a group of lay people elected annually by the parish corporation to administer the secular affairs of the parish. The records in this series document the activities of the vestry and the parish corporation in the administration of parish affairs. Included are agenda and minutes of meetings of the vestry, minutes of the annual meetings of the parish corporation, annual reports of the vestry, minutes and reports of vestry committees, consultant reports, and correspondence.

The minutes of the meetings of the vestry document the founding of the parish in 1829 and trace its growth and development over the following one hundred fifty years.

Arrangement: The records are arranged alphabetically by subject or type of record and chronologically within folders.

Series 4. Financial Records, 1834-1989
11 box(es)
(5.5 linear feet)

The Financial Records Series documents to some extent the financial history and development of Grace Church. Though there are some gaps in the series, the records provide a comprehensive record of the financial history and status of the parish.

Included are audit reports, budgets, check registers, cash journals, ledgers, endowment. estate, and trust records, financial statements, income and expense statements, investment and trust account reports, and treasurer's reports.

The records are arranged alphabetically by subject or type of record and chronologically within folders.

Arrangement: The records are arranged alphabetically by subject or type of record and chronologically within folders.

Series 5. Images, 1894-1972
4 box(es)
(2 linear feet)

Contains images of people, places, and events in some way significant to the history and development of Grace Church. The photographs are in a variety of formats, including prints, negative, and seventeen glass plates.

Images depict the exterior and interior of Grace Church, including the altar, bell, pulpit, and stained glass windows; other buildings in the parish complex, including the interior and exterior of the Parish House, the parish offices, and the World War II era Service Men's Club; prominent religious and lay members of the parish, including several former rectors and bishops of Rhode Island; church organizations; church services; and church sponsored fairs and other events and celebrations.

Arrangement: Arranged alphabetically by the name of the individual/organization depicted or by the subject and format of the image. Seventeen glass plates are housed at the end of the series and several oversize images are housed at the end of the collection.

Series 6. Cemetery Records, 1834-1983
12 box(es)
(7.5 linear feet)

The records in this series relate to the historic cemetery owned by Grace Church in Providence. Includes an alphabetic listing of people buried in the Grace Church Cemetery, committee and consultant reports concerning the cemetery, budgets for maintenance and upkeep of the cemetery, regulations governing the administration and operation of the cemetery, cemetery plot diagrams, cemetery plot deeds, receipts for the sale of cemetery plots, and correspondence.

An alphabetic card index of those buried in the Grace Church Cemetery contains: the name of the deceased, the number of the cemetery plot in which he/she is interred, the name of the undertaker, and usually the date of death. There are also occasional notes on the cards, as for example, a notation that a body has been disinterred for burial elsewhere.

Arrangement: Arranged in two subseries: Administrative Files and a Card Index of those buried in the Grace Church Cemetery. The Administrative Files are arranged alphabetically by subject or type of record and chronologically within folders. The cards are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the deceased and are housed at the end of the collection.

Administrative Files
3 box(es)
(1.5 linear feet)

Cemetery Index
9 box(es)
(4.5 linear feet)

Series 7. Scrapbooks, 1900-1988
6 box(es)
(5.5 linear feet)

Consists of fifteen scrapbooks documenting major events in the history of Grace Church. Bulk consist of clippings from local newspapers, also includes photographs, programs for events at Grace Church, and a variety of memorabilia. Significant is a scrapbook entitled "Saving Grace." It documents major fundraising campaign in 1988 to raise money for renovations to the church.

Arrangement: The scrapbooks are arranged chronologically by date. Oversized scapbooks are at the end of the collection.

Series 8. Newsletters and Sunday Bulletins, 1894-2000
10 box(es)
(10 linear feet)

Consists of bound copies of the Grace Church Sunday service bulletin and the parish newsletter, The Parish Helper.

Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by year.

Series 9. Yearbooks, 1882-1898
1 box(es)
(.5 linear feet)

Contains bound copies of the Grace Church parish yearbook dating from 1882. The yearbooks served as an expanded version of the parish's annual report, summarizing the activities of all the organizations, committees, and officers of the parish

Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by year