Guide to George Peabody Wetmore papers on Newport Hospital, 1909-1917 (bulk

1916-1917

)


The Preservation Society of Newport County
424 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: 401-847-1000
museumaffairs@newportmansions.org

Published in 2024

Collection Overview

Title: George Peabody Wetmore papers on Newport Hospital
Date range: 1909-1917, 1916-1917
Creator: Wetmore, George Peabody, 1846-1921
Extent: .208 linear feet
1 half-width document case
Abstract: Correspondence, clippings, and documents related to George Peabody Wetmore's service as a trustee of Newport Hospital, especially in an intense period of fundraising in summer 1917.
Language of materials: English
Repository: The Preservation Society of Newport County
Collection number: PSNCA.H.029

Scope & content

This collection includes administrative papers, clippings, and correspondence between Wetmore and other community members, such as Jane Parsons Swan, president of the Women's Aid Association for Newport Hospital. It is not an exhaustive view of all the hospital donors' activities. Other hospital activities are not represented in this collection.

Access Points

Subject Names Geographical Names Subject Topics Document Types

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in much the same groupings in which it was found. It is described as a single series and inventoried at the folder level.

Historical note

Former Rhode Island governor and senator George Peabody Wetmore served as a trustee for the Newport Hospital from at least 1909 to 1920. This series of papers includes correspondence with donors, community members, and newspapers; lists of subscribers (donors); and notes and administrative documents related to fundraising for the hospital.

During the summer of 1917, Newport Hospital faced a financial deficit for the fiscal year ending June 30. Plans for construction of new children’s and maternity wards halted in June due to increased costs of materials and labor due to World War I, to be paid for by subscription funds raised the previous summer collected by Dr. Charles Easton. At the same time, the hospital expanded its administrative building. Major funds raised for the hospital in the summer of 1917 included a bequest from writer Eliza Woolsey Howland (a sister-in-law of architect Richard Morris Hunt) and a Children’s Fair.

The hospital’s leaders encouraged local pastors to appeal for donations during church services, and the local newspaper agreed to publish the names of new subscribers. In a letter to the editor of the Newport Mercury and Weekly News, Wetmore explained the hospital’s costs, exacerbated by an outbreak of diphtheria, and described the support it received from other groups like the Women’s Aid Association of the Newport Hospital. Wetmore corresponded with Jane Parsons Swan (Mrs. James Andrews Swan), the Women’s Aid Association President, during this time. By September, the deficit had been reduced from over $17,000 to around $3,000.

Several folders in the collection relate to fundraising efforts for the Nurses’ Home and the operation of the hospital’s heating plant, dated earlier than the major fundraising campaign of 1917.

Access & Use

Access to the collection: The collection is open to the public, and there are no restrictions on access. However, the collection can only be seen by scheduled appointment.
Use of the materials: All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the PSNC Archives and Special Collections are requested to contact the archivist, prior to reproducing, quoting, or otherwise publishing any portion or extract from this collection. Although the Preservation Society has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim copyright ownership. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the copyright and to obtain any necessary permission from them.
Preferred citation: George Peabody Wetmore papers on Newport Hospital, Box 1, Folder #, Preservation Society of Newport County, Newport, RI.
Contact information: The Preservation Society of Newport County
424 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: 401-847-1000
museumaffairs@newportmansions.org

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION  
Acquisition: Papers were found in Chateau-sur-Mer in 2022. The Preservation Society of Newport County acquired the house in 1969.
Accruals: Additional accruals are not expected.
Processing information: Papers were arranged in a blank book, with sections of empty pages dividing materials. No pages in the bound volume bore any writing. The folders represent these groupings within the original book. Archivist Genna Duplisea removed the papers from the blank book and rehoused them, alphabetizing by subject and performing minimal reprocessing.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID  
Encoding: Finding aid encoded by Genna Duplisea, Archivist, November 22, 2024
Descriptive rules: Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS).

Additional Information

Related material:
  • The Preservation Society holds materials related to Chateau-sur-Mer, Wetmore's estate.
  • MSS 798: George P. Wetmore papers, Rhode Island Historical Society.
  • MS 548: Wetmore family papers, Yale University Archives. https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/12/resources/2988
Bibliography:
    The following newspaper sources are listed chronologically to facilitate following the progress of the hospital fundraising efforts.
  • "Hospital Extension Proceeding," Newport Mercury and Weekly News, Saturday, June 3, 1917, p.1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/16208943/. Accessed November 12, 2024.
  • "Building Deferred," Newport Mercury and Weekly News, Saturday, June 3, 1917, p.4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/16208946/. Accessed November 12, 2024.
  • "Extending Its Labors: Hospital Increases Work as Funds Permit," Newport Mercury and Weekly News, Friday, July 13, 1917, p. 1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/16203317. Accessed November 12, 2024.
  • "Local Legacies: Newport Hospital, $4,000; Emmanuel Church Poor, $2,000," Newport Mercury and Weekly News, Friday, July 27, 1917, p. 1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/16203333/. Accessed November 12, 2024.
  • Fair for Children: A Successful Affair for the Benefit of Newport Hospital," Newport Mercury and Weekly News, Friday, August 10, 1917, p. 8. https://www.newspapers.com/image/16203356. Accessed November 12, 2024.
  • George Peabody Wetmore, "Cause of the Deficit," Newport Mercury and Weekly News, Friday, August 10, 1917, p. 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/16203353. Accessed November 12, 2024.
  • William Safford Jones, “Needs of Hospital: Servant of Higher Life of Community Should Be Supported,” Newport Mercury and Weekly News, Friday, August 17, 1917, p. 3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/16203359. Accessed November 12, 2024.
  • Jane Swan, William P. Buffum, and Harry Jennings Knapp, "Deficit of $3,081.52: Individual and Church Receipts Amount to $14,208.65." Newport Mercury and Weekly News, Friday, September 14, 1917, p. 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/16203393. Accessed November 12, 2024.

Inventory

Series 1
Box 1, Folders 1-13

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 1 Deficit fundraising -- Administrative documents, clippings, and notes
 1917
Box 1, Folder 2 Deficit fundraising -- Church affiliations
 1917
Box 1, Folder 3 Deficit fundraising -- Correspondence -- d'Hauteville, Frederic Grand
 August 1917
Box 1, Folder 4 Deficit fundraising -- Correspondence -- Newspapers
 1917
Box 1, Folder 5 Deficit fundraising -- Donations -- Appeal
 1917
Box 1, Folder 6 Deficit fundraising -- Donations -- Clippings and lists
 August 1917
Box 1, Folder 7 Deficit fundraising -- Donations -- Correspondence
 August-September 1917
Box 1, Folder 8 Newport Hospital Annual Report
 1916
Box 1, Folder 9 Newport Hospital heating plant
 1913
Box 1, Folder 10 Newport Hospital nurses' home -- Clippings
 1909
Box 1, Folder 11 Newport Hospital nurses' home -- Correspondence
 1907-1909
Box 1, Folder 12 Newport Hospital nurses' home -- Donations and correspondence
 1909
Box 1, Folder 13 Notes
 1916-1917