Archives and Special Collections Sources - HIS 100 - Race and Slavery in Early New England

About the Providence College Archives and Special Collections

The Providence College Archives and Special Collections (ASC) supports the teaching, learning, and academic research community with access to collections which range from manuscripts, college archival records, rare books, photographs, film and audio, and objects. Please note that all materials in the ASC are for in-archives use only.

Providence College Archives and Special Collections hours: Monday through Thursday, 8:30am – 5:30pm and Fridays from 8:30am – 4:30pm. Collections access is by appointment.

The Fogarty Reading Room is open for drop-in hours Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30am-12:30pm and 2pm-5pm.

Stop by for research support and to use our reference collections. Please note that not all collection materials are available during drop-in hours, we recommend making an appointment to view specific collection materials.

Contact the Archives

Phone: 401-865-2377

Email: pcarchives@providence.edu

More about the Archives:
For more information about the archives, our collections, and how to access our resources please visit our website!

Special Collections in the PC ASC

The Providence College Archives and Special Collections holds many collections of primary source materials. Below is a list of relevant materials for this particular class. You can also visit our website for more information on our other collections and holdings.

The 11th United States Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment collection
The 11th United States Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment, an African American army regiment during the United States Civil War (1861-1865), was originally organized in 1863 as the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery Regiment (Colored). It was then redesignated the 8th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment in April 1864, and reorganized finally as the 11th in May 1864. The regiment was mustered out of service at Camp Parapet in New Orleans, La., on October 2nd, 1865. This collection features military records compiled by Allen F. Cameron (b. 1836), a white U.S. Army officer, originally from Canada, who served with the 11th and rose to the rank of Lieutenant. The bulk of the collection contains official documents created from 1863 to 1865 during Cameron’s time with the regiment, including equipage lists, enlistment rosters, general and special orders, and court martial records, which illustrate life in the Union Army as well as the treatment endured by African American troops from white officers. The rest of the collection dates from 1853 to 1913 and includes Cameron family correspondence and miscellaneous documents detailing Cameron’s activities during and after the war.
John Greenleaf Whittier collection
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate for the abolition of slavery in the United States. Devoted to social causes and reform, Whittier worked passionately for a series of abolitionist newspapers and magazines. His first book, Legends of New England in Prose and Verse, was published in 1831. For the next thirty years, until the Civil War, Whittier wrote essays, articles, and poems that were concerned with abolition. After the passage of the 13th amendment in the United States in 1865, Whittier turned his attention to topics of religion, nature, and rural life. His most popular work of poetry, Snow-Bound (1866) sold 20,000 copies upon publication. The John Greenleaf Whittier collection was compiled by Providence College professor, Dr. Bruce E. Graver. The collection consists of a series of correspondence composed by Whittier, copies of 19th century abolitionist newspapers, and various publications of Whittier’s poetry and writings. Some of this collection is available in our digital collections, see below.
John Greenleaf Whittier digital collection

Books and Publications in the PC ASC

The Providence College Archives and Special Collections holds many rare and non-circulating books and publications. Below is a list of relevant materials for this particular class. You can also visit our website for more information on our other collections and holdings. These publications are available for use in our reading room and cannot be checked out.

The Boston Gazette (facsimile/reprint)
Walett, Francis G, and Imprint Society (Barre, Mass.). The Boston Gazette, 1774. Barre, Mass.: Imprint Society, 1972.
American Broadsides, 1680-1800
Barnhill, Georgia Brady, and American Antiquarian Society. American Broadsides : Sixty Facsimiles Dated 1680-1800, Reproduced from Originals in the American Antiquarian Society. Barre, Mass.: Imprint Society, 1971.