| Item | Box 1XXX Box 1A Folder 1 |
"Living in Pre-War America: Questions of Complicity vs Responsibility" conference program Scope and Contents Sponsored by No Business as Usual and NYU World War 3 Theatre Group. The event featured Kurt Vonnegut, William Kunstler, Emile De Antonio, Sonia Sanchez, and Vietnam veterans. Includes event schedule and brief speaker biographies |
1986 October 4 |
| Series | Box 23-24 Folder 286-302 |
Lawrence Family George Lawrence's interest in local history most certainly extended to the history of his own family, an interest reflected in the materials contained in this Series. In apparent anticipation of writing a family history, Lawrence gathered together the sources of his family history in the form of diaries, ledgers, estate and business inventories, genealogical notes, and miscellaneous research notes. Of particular interest in this series are the diaries of Anna M. Mathewson, Lawrence's mother. In addition to daily observations about the weather, her diaries recorded the daily activities of a fairly well-to-do family in turn of the century Rhode Island. It is also clear from the diaries that prior to the age of radio and television the principal form of leisure activity was visiting neighbors and socializing. Also of interest are the estate inventories and appraisals of the businesses and homes of the Thurston family compiled in the first third of the nineteenth century. The Thurstons, Lawrence's ancestors and apparently owners of a dry goods/general store, left extensive inventories of their businesses and homes which Lawrence preserved. These inventories and appraisals reflect the diversity and value of items sold in a store of this type in the 1820's and 1830's. The estate inventory of the Thurston family home indicates the amount and type of household furnishings possessed by a fairly wealthy family in the early nineteenth century. The Series is arranged alphabetically by name of the person or business or by type of record |
1794-1949 |
| Series | Box 25-33 Folder 303-375 |
Ives Family George Lawrence's interest in local history is also reflected in this Series which contains receipts for household expenditures of Moses B. and Anne A. Ives of 37 and, later, 66 Power Street on Providence's East Side. Moses Ives, a merchant, co-owned the apparently successful Brown and Ives business on South Main Street in Providence, Rhode Island. Although Moses Ives died in 1857, the business continued to support his widow, Anne, in the manner to which she had become accustomed for the remaining twenty-seven years of her life. The Ives were wealthy by the standards of any age, and particularly so by the standards of the late nineteenth century. In 1856 and 1857, they spent nearly ten thousand dollars to refurnish their home at 37 Power Street. The receipts for that project can be found in the first folder of this Series. Even after Moses died, Anne Ives continued to spend large sums of money on oriental carpets, imported china, mahogany furniture, and silver tea services. Other expenditures which appear regularly over the eighteen year span represented are those for fine clothing, wine by the cask, imported champagne, ($15 a bottle in 1862), rare books, and fine jewelry. The Ives' library, for example, was extensive enough for Mrs. Ives to pay one R. A. Guild to organize it and prepare a catalogue for it in 1861. Yet another interesting receipt is one for a silver snuff box, purported to have belonged to Roger Williams, which Mrs. Ives purchased for $25 on June 19, 1860 from William's descendant Sarah Congdon. The receipts are arranged by the date of payment which is recorded on the back of the receipt, along with the name of the payee and the type of purchase. The receipts for the 1856-1857 remodeling of the 37 Power Street home are grouped together in chronological order at the beginning of the Series |
1856-1873 |