Garrett Byrnes' Research on Field's Point

File — Box: Multi-Collection Box

Identifier: 161-03

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Includes research done by Garrett Byrnes in preparation to write a four-part article that ran in the Rhode Islander magazine on September 12, 1971. The collection consists of newspaper and textbook copies, hand-drawn maps on tracing paper, photographs, Byrne’s notes, correspondence to and from Byrnes related to Fields Point, event programs and drafts of the articles.

The research materials document Field's Point from the colonial period when it was settled by Thomas Fields in the 1690s through the 20th century industrialization of the site and subsequent pollution. They also document the adjacent Starve Goat Island, also known as Sunshine Island, as the site of a floating hospital for infectious patients.

Of particular interest are correspondence with former residents of Field's Point as well as a recipe for clam chowder from Colonel Atwell's Shore Dinner Hall.

Dates

1907 - 1971

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

PPL does not claim copyright to this collection. Users of this item are responsible for determining copyright restrictions.

Biographical / Historical

Garrett D. Byrnes (1904-1985) was a journalist and editor of the Rhode Islander magazine. Born in New Jersey, he graduated from Brown University in 1926 and began a career at the Providence Journal as a writer, art critic and editor. He created and edited the Rhode Islander Sunday magazine which was distributed with the Sunday edition of the newspaper. He retired in 1974 and co-wrote "The Providence Journal: 150 Years".

This collection includes materials collected by Byrnes for a series of Rhode Islander articles on the history of Field's Point, Providence from the colonial period to the 20th century including the use of the location as a farm, a recreation site and eventually an industrial zone. Also included is information about Starve Goat Island and the role of the Floating Hospital.