Providence Preservation Society Slide Collection

Collection

Identifier: 139-03

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Providence Preservation Society architectural slide collection, with corresponding digital surrogate JPG files, consists of 10,955 35mm slides that were photographed between 1970 and 1999 which document Providence architecture. The slides document dwellings, commercial structures and other-use buildings built between the 18th and early 19th century to the end of the 20th century. By capturing long-standing Providence properties as well as a visual record of architectural demolition and construction from the 1970s to the 1990s, the slides offer insight into how Providence and its neighborhoods developed and changed in the second half of the 20th century.

Dates

1970 - 1999

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are available for research.

Conditions Governing Use

PPL shares copyright with the creator of this collection under Creative Commons license 4.0.

Biographical / Historical

The Providence Preservation Society (PPS) is a non-profit organization that was formed in 1952 in response to proposed demolitions of 18th and early 19th century houses on College Hill and the East Side of Providence. These neighborhoods, historically linked to Brown University and settlement land plots allocated in the 17th century, are a traditional base for PPS’ place-based programming. Place-based programs, awareness initiatives around endangered properties, and workforce readiness programs in the preservation trade are all a part of PPS’ advocacy around neighborhood preservation and reinvestment in the city of Providence. In the aftermath of strategic planning informed by widespread racial justice protests around the United States in 2020, PPS committed to an advocacy focus with critical attention onto historic neighborhoods outside of College Hill and the East Side, many of which are pictured in this collection.

Extent

10955 Photographic Slides (Photographic slides are housed in 11 boxes. Digital surrogates include 10,450 files; 26.1 GB in storage. )

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically by street name. Boxes are labeled with the first and last street names that they contain, for example Bainbridge Street to Benefit Street. The names of some properties, especially public squares and parks, are at times substituted for street names, for example Abbott Park. Slides are labeled with property addresses, for example 43 Abbott Street, and are numerically arranged. Slides without a property address are grouped together at the end of their street name.