USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > The civic and architectural development of Providence, 1636-1950 > Part 27
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Jacob Conn, operator of a neighborhood theatre in Olneyville, erected the Metropolitan Theatre (Oresto DiSaia, architect) on Chestnut Street in 1932, intended primarily for motion pictures but equipped with a standard stage. It was not a financial success and after a few weeks of operation its regular productions were terminated. Its owner's loss proved, however, to be a benefit to the music-loving public for, under a new management, the theatre became available for a greatly needed concert auditorium (page 249), seating over 3,000 persons. Commencing in the fall of 1933 it was used for performances of the Boston Symphony Orchestra,32 the Providence Community Concerts Association, and other dramatic and musical entertainments.
The construction of business buildings in the downtown area suffered a recession following the active decade of the 1920s; in fact, the aggregate of new structures was greatly overshadowed by the extensive demolition of buildings to provide parking lots. The chief project was the Providence Journal Building on Fountain Street (Albert Kahn, Incor- porated, of Detroit, Michigan, architects) to which the newspaper was moved from its Westminster Street building (page 207) in 1934. There was a decentralizing trend in business toward the radial arteries and such neighborhood centers as Wayland Square, Olneyville Square and the Thayer Street area where new blocks of shops were erected. Modern materials and methods of construction were employed in many of these buildings, including veneerings of tile, porcelain enamel and panelboard for wall surfaces, structural glass partitions, and an extensive use of plate glass with trimmings of bronze, aluminum and stainless steel. The Medical Arts Building at Thayer and Waterman streets (B.S.D. Martin, architect, illustration, page 266) has an all-glass first story and continuous steel casements set in the limestone second story; and the First National Store on Hope Street, near Rochambeau Avenue, has a facade of black structural glass, pierced by first and second story windows that curve around the corners. The modern technique was employed, like- wise, in the reconstruction of store fronts on Westminster and Weybosset streets and in
31. A six-story building erected by Henry B. Drowne in 1848 for business purposes, later converted into a hotel.
32. Since leaving Infantry Hall in 1926 the Boston Symphony Orchestra had played five seasons in the Albee Theatre and two in Loew's State Theatre.
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the design of automobile service stations, restaurants and cocktail bars.33 Among the industrial buildings erected during this period were the Coca-Cola Bottling Company (1939) at 95 Pleasant Valley Parkway, a brick building of modern design with a grouping of windows in panels, and the California Artificial Flower Company (Albert Harkness, architect, 1939) at 400 Reservoir Avenue, a white brick building with three stories of continuous casements and a high octagonal tower (illustration, page 267).
In domestic architecture the trend reflected a transition toward modern technique. On the more conservative side is the Rice house (Albert Harkness, architect, 1932, illustration, page 271) at 25 Cooke Street with its high parapet partly concealing a hipped-roof. A dwelling at the corner of Taber and Hazard avenues (Philip Franklin Eddy, architect, 1935) has wings facing the two streets with a curved entrance tower in the center. A small house at 29 Manning Street has brick walls coated with white cement paint, a narrow cornice and metal casements (J. Peter Geddes, architect and owner, 1938). A flat-roofed stucco house overlooking Seekonk river at 323 Laurel Avenue (Barker and Turoff, architects, 1940), is modern in design (illustration, page 268).
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Medical Arts Building, 1938, corner of Waterman and Thayer streets.
Governor Green issued a proclamation January 1, 1936, designating that year Rhode Island's Tercentenary. Plans for a commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the settlement at Providence had been made by three independent agencies, namely, the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Tercentenary Committee, Incorporated,34 the Rhode Island Tercentenary Commission,35 and the Providence Tercentenary Committee.36
33. Following the repeal of the prohibition amendment (page 231) December 12, 1933, cocktail bars and lounges became an important feature of hotels and restaurants.
34. Established under auspices of the Rhode Island Historical Society in 1930, incorporated 1931, and later reorganized with officers including Ira Lloyd Letts, chairman, Arthur L. Philbrick, vice chairman and treasurer, and Mrs. Frank M. Adams, secretary.
35. Created by act of the General Assembly, approved May 31, 1935, and composed of Very Reverend Lorenzo C. McCarthy, chairman, Frank E. Ballou, vice chairman, John Nicholas Brown, Judge Letts, Alfred G. Chaffee, Joseph P. Dunn, James H. Kiernan, and Horace G. Belcher, executive secretary.
36. Created by the City Council in 1935, including a representative of the council from each of the 13 wards, with David A. Dorgan, chairman.
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The most spectacular event of the year took place May 4 with a re-enactment of Rhode Island's declaration of independence in the Colony House on Benefit Street, arranged by the Society of Colonial Dames in Rhode Island and the Providence Tercentenary Committee. This was immediately followed by exercises at the State House, conducted by the Rhode Island Tercentenary Commission, at which Governor James H. Curley of Massachusetts presented to Governor Green of Rhode Island the Act of the Massachusetts General Court rescinding the decree of banishment imposed by the court October 9, 1635 upon Roger Williams (page I).
The Rhode Island Tercentenary Commission arranged for the issue on May 4 of a three-cent tercentenary postage stamp, designed by the Federal Bureau of Engraving and Printing, with a reproduction of the statue of Roger Williams at Roger Williams Park (page 148). It published several historical books and maps, sponsored a series of lectures, and showed a motion picture film, entitled "Colonial Rhode Island," prepared under direction of Mrs. Alice Collins Gleeson. It sponsored the erection of rustic highway portals where main roads entered the state, as well as log-cabin information booths at strategic
California Artificial Flower Company, 1939, 400 Reservoir Avenue.
locations on the principal highways.37 It erected 120 cement and aluminum markers at town lines on which were inscribed the respective town arms and a few lines of history. It conducted exercises at the State House on Italian Day, October II, at which time a tablet was presented by Luigi Scala, commemorating the visit of Giovanni da Verrazzano to Narragansett bay in 1524.3
The Providence Tercentenary Committee erected a "Colonial House" on City Hall Park which served as its headquarters. It put up a metal statue of Roger Williams on Exchange Place Mall with a placque on which were recorded the highlights of his career.39
37. The portals and booths were designed by the State Planning Board and erected by the Civilian Conservation Corps; the booths were serviced by men furnished by the Works Progress Administration.
38. Rhode Island Tercentenary Commission, Rhode Island Tercentenary, 1636-1936, p. 118 (Providence, 1937).
39. The statement on the placque that Williams was "born in Wales, England, 1603," caused both protest and ridicule for the double error; it is a matter of record that his birthplace was London (page 1), and that Wales is not a part of England. The statue was removed at the close of the tercentenary year.
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It arranged for the unveiling of a statue at Roger Williams Park entitled "The Pioneers;" and it sponsored a number of entertainments.
Among the activities of the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Tercentenary Committee were the issuance, March 5, of a commemorative half-dollar, designed by John Howard Benson and Arthur Graham Carey and authorized by Act of Congress in 1935; the publication and distribution of a pictorial historical map of Rhode Island, drawn by William A. Perry under direction of the State Planning Board; the reprinting of A Key into the Language of America by Roger Williams, first published in London in 1643; the conduct of an industrial exposition in the State Armory September 1I to 19; and the purchase of the site in East Providence where Roger Williams made his first settlement after his banishment from Salem,40 which was dedicated November 8 as a public park. Finally, as a monument in perpetuity, the committee sponsored the project of the Roger Williams Memorial Association to erect a monument to Williams on Prospect Terrace.41
The memorial had its inception in 1850 when the Providence Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers raised the sum of $100 which was deposited in a Providence bank as a
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323 Laurel Avenue, 1940.
nucleus to a monument fund. In 1860 the Roger Williams Memorial Association was organized and accumulated a small fund. In 1865 Stephen Randall, a direct descendant of Roger Williams, deposited $1,000 in the Peoples Savings Bank and executed a deed of gift for the erection of a monument to be erected on Prospect Terrace. No further action was taken until 1934, when the General Assembly incorporated a new Roger Williams Memorial Association with authority to erect a monument to the founder of the state.42 In the summer of 1936 the association's executive board conducted a competition, with F. Ellis Jackson as architectural advisor, resulting in the selection of the design submitted by Ralph W. Walker of New York.
40. See page 3. The surroundings were landscaped by the East Providence Tercentenary Committee.
41. Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Tercentenary Commission, Inc., Commemorating Three Hundred Years (Providence, 1936).
42. The association organized with an executive board consisting of Addison P. Munroe, president, John Nicholas Brown, vice president, Albert A. Baker, secretary, Arthur L. Philbrick, treasurer, Howard M. Chapin, Elizabeth A. Moulton, John W. Haley, and Winfield S. Solomon.
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The memorial was erected above the retaining wall of Prospect Terrace, commanding an extensive view of the west side of the city. It consists of a statue of Roger Williams (Leo Friedlander of New York, sculptor) 14 feet high, standing upon a projecting pedestal and framed by a colossal portal (illustration below). Dedicatory exercises were held June 29, 1939. The presence of a delegation of Narragansett Indians in traditional costume, men in Colonial military uniform, and a squad of the First Light Infantry Regiment provided a colorful spectacle. The statue was unveiled by Mrs. William C. Schuster, a descendant of Williams, and the remains of the founder of the colony, enclosed in a steel casket, were placed for permanent enshrinement in a recess of the monument.43
In 1938 the Market House (page 48) was condemned as unsafe by the commissioner of public buildings and its tenants, including the Providence Chamber of Commerce, were ordered to evacuate.44 The work of reconstructing and modernizing the building was under-
Roger Williams Memorial, 1939, Prospect Terrace.
taken that year as a Works Progress Administration project under sponsorship of the Public Buildings Department. This involved the demolition of the upper part of the walls and the roof, the rebuilding of the walls and floors, and the construction of a steel trussed roof.45 In response to a recommendation by the Rhode Island Chapter of the American
43. Roger Williams died in 1683 and was buried in a grave in the rear of his home lot on the Towne street, later the Dorr estate on Benefit Street. The grave was opened in 1860 and the remains transferred to a tomb at North Burial Ground.
44. The chamber established new offices at 162 Westminster Street and later removed to 36 Exchange Place.
45. Whether the Market House was as unsound structurally as alleged is a matter of conjecture. It is interesting to note that the roof was in process of demolition, and the condemned oak rafters partly exposed, when the 1938 hurricane struck Providence; yet in spite of its vulnerable condition the building withstood the storm.
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Institute of Architects Mayor John F. Collins (1939-41) suspended building operations soon after his inauguration in January, 1939, and ordered the preparation of revised plans to provide for a more authentic restoration of the building. Plans were redrawn by City Architect B. G. V. Zetterstrom with members of the Chapter acting as consultants. Work was resumed in the summer of 1939 and the exterior was substantially completed a year later.46 Certain interior partitions and stairways were erected in 1941, after which work was again suspended, and the building remained idle until 1950 (page 276).
From Annual Report of City Plan Commission, 1931
War Memorial (1927), showing facing of railroad viaduct as proposed in 1931. Drawing by Frederick L. Ackerman.
On the afternoon of September 21, 1938, Rhode Island experienced the worst storm in its history when a hurricane of sub-tropical origin struck through the heart of the state, taking a death toll of over 300 persons and causing damage estimated at 100 million dollars. A tidal wave flooded the central area of Providence to a depth of more than 13 feet above mean high water, this being about two feet higher than the flood line of the
46. A bronze tablet was put up on the building with the legend "Restored by Works Progress Administra- tion of Rhode Island, 1939-1940" (removed in 1950).
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storm of 1815 (page 81). The business area was under water from North Main Street westerly to Mathewson, with a depth of over six feet above the pavement of lower West- minster Street. Many shops and their contents were ruined, safe deposit vaults suffered great damage, street cars and automobiles were submerged in the streets (illustration, page 82). The wind blew down thousands of trees throughout the city and caused extensive property damage. All power and telephone lines died and the city was without light for several days. Business was at a standstill for a period, and the Providence Journal was printed on presses outside the city for over a week. Martial law was established in sections of the city and curfew rules were put in effect. Reconstruction work soon was undertaken and employment was provided for an army of men in the succeeding months in the removal of trees and other clean-up projects.
The electors of Providence, at a special election November 7, 1939, approved a new city charter which was granted by the General Assembly at the January session, 1940 and became operative in 1941.47 A movement for charter reform had been agitated for several years by the Charter League which drafted an act that was presented to the assembly in 1939. On May 5 of that year the assembly created a Charter Revision Commission of 11 members with Charles P. Sisson chairman and ex-Mayor Gainer secretary. That commission filed its report with the Board of Canvassers September 30, 1939, embodying a new charter for submission to the voters. Under its provisions the mayor was given increased appointive and administrative powers, and the Board of Aldermen and the Common Council were superseded by a unicameral council of 26 members comprising two representatives elected from each ward. Dennis J. Roberts was inaugurated first mayor of Providence under the new charter in January, 1941.
47. P.L., 1940, chapter 832.
Rice house, 1932, 25 Cooke Street.
27I
Air view of Civic Center, 1951.
Courtesy of City Pan Commission
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CHAPTER 20 1940 - 1950
W ORLD War II had its inception in Europe when Germany invaded Poland September 1, 1939. The United States' participation in hostilities commenced with the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese December 7, 1941, and ended with Japan's surrender August 14, 1945. A draft act was adopted by the Congress December 19, 1941, under provisions of which all men from 20 to 44 years of age registered for military duty February 16, 1942, followed four months later by registration of youths from 18 to 20.1 The principal war bases in Rhode Island were the Naval Operational Base at Newport, the Naval Air Station at Quonset Point, the Naval Construction Training Center at Camp Endicott, Davisville, and the Hillsgrove Army Air Base at the State Airport.
Many Rhode Island men and women joined their comrades from other states in the various branches of the service in America, Europe, Africa, and the Pacific theatre. Others were engaged in phases of war industry. The State Guard was mobilized for state duty December 9, 1941. A State Council of Defense was created by the General Assembly, with branches in cities and towns, under which voluntary civilian groups were organized as airplane spotters, air-raid wardens, and other activities of responsibility. Air-raid alarm drills were held from time to time, with accompanying blackouts. By an army order a dim-out regulation went into effect in May, 1942, to prevent sky-glow at night, and was continued for 18 months. A State Emergency Defense Act gave extraordinary powers to Governor J. Howard McGrath.
A War Production Board was created by the Congress in January, 1942, under direction of which certain structural materials were frozen except for essential work. By that order private building construction was virtually suspended. Another Federal bureau, the Office of Price Administration, organized in May, 1942, established ceiling prices for rentals and certain commodities, and instituted systems of rationing for fuel oil, gasoline, automobiles, tires, and articles of food and clothing. During a period of acute fuel-oil shortage many users of oil for heat were forced to convert to coal; a temperature ceiling of 65 degrees was ordered, and public buildings, schools and business establishments were placed on a five-day-week schedule. The restricted use of automobiles precluded pleasure driving. There were periodic drives for war bonds and stamps, and organized collections of scrap metal and waste paper. Daylight saving time was established on a year-round basis.2
Numerous canteens were established by local institutions, providing refreshment and entertainment for thousands of men in the armed forces visiting Providence. Railroads were jampacked with service men, watched over by military police, and the passenger station was active at all hours with arriving and departing soldiers and sailors. Navy men, stationed at Newport and Quonset, made frequent visits to Providence by the bus lines.
The Field's Point area was the scene of extensive activity during the war. Under the agency of the Work Projects Administration in 1941 about 35 acres of city-owned property
I. Rhode Island registrations included 84,487 in the first draft and over 2,000 in the second draft.
2. Daylight saving time had been in effect from spring to fall in Providence and other communities since 1920 (page 233). State-wide daylight saving from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in September became effective April 24, 1946 and was extended to the last Sunday in October in 1954.
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were reclaimed, by the erection of a dike, extending from the south end of the quay wall (page 219) westerly to the shore at the Providence-Cranston line, and by filling the water area behind it. In March, 1942 the United States Maritime Commission selected the Field's Point waterfront as a site for a shipbuilding plant and awarded to the Rheem Shipbuilding Company the contract for developing the plant and building 32 Liberty ships. The site included IOI acres comprising a section of the filled land, north of the dike, and land and water areas south of the dike in Cranston. Construction work was started immediately, including the filling and grading of the water areas and the erection of piers and buildings.3 The first Liberty ship, the William Coddington, was launched November 28, 1942. The shipyard was taken over by the Walsh-Kaiser Company February 28, 1943, and in the ensuing 18 months the remainder of the Liberty ships were constructed in addition to 32 combat-cargo ships. The final launching was the U.S.S. Zenobia July 6, 1944.4
Large sections of the Field's Point estate, including Fort Independence Park (page 222), were leased in 1942 to the United States Navy and the Army Air Corps. The grading operations which ensued involved the abandonment of a part of New York Avenue and other highways and the leveling of Fort Independence.
The Colonial Line to New York discontinued service in March, 1942, upon the requi- sitioning of its steamers by the War Shipping Board, thereby terminating all passenger service by water to points outside Rhode Island. Sailings from Providence to Block Island were suspended during the war, to be resumed for a few years, after its close, in the summer months. Year-round service to Block Island was instituted from the state pier at Galilee.
The abandonment of the steamboat lines, and the concentration of shipping in the Allen's Avenue area, left the shores of the upper harbor in a condition of obsolescence. The old wharves north of Point Street Bridge were decaying and the shores were weed-grown.5 The south shore of the Neck, from Fox Point easterly to India Point, was a scene of desola- tion. The only surviving buildings were the abandoned sheds of the New York boats. Near the former Merchants and Miners docks (page 106) ships were being scrapped for salvage of sheet metal. Off Bold Point were the sunken remains of two or three river steamboats. Scores of rotting piles at India Point were sole reminders of trade with the East Indies (page 57).
On the night of September 14, 1944, Rhode Island was swept by another heavy gale. Although less severe than the hurricane of 1938 (page 270) and unaccompanied by loss of life, property damage was serious, particularly along the coast. The sustained wind velocity in Providence reached 43 miles per hour with gusts double that speed. The water was knee- deep in Exchange Place as a result of a rainfall of over five inches and a tidal rise of five feet above mean high tide.6
During the war years Brown, like most American universities, added a summer semester to its regular curriculum, and held Commencements three times each year. In addition to its courses for civilian students and the Reserve Officers' Training Corps the university cooperated with the War Department in the instruction of Army Air Force
3. The fabricating shop was destroyed by fire December 31, 1942 and was rebuilt.
4. The shipyard estate was acquired by the Barton Trading Company in 1950 and was known thereafter as Harborside Industrial Park. A portion of the estate became headquarters of United States Army units. A drive-in theatre was opened in another section in 1957.
5. In 1954 the State condemned about 35 acres on both sides of Providence river for incorporation in the freeway project (page 282) to include waterfront highways in replacement of the old steamboat wharves. 6. Providence Journal Almanac, 1945, p. 218. Following subsequent hurricanes on August 31 and Septem- ber 11, 1954, various plans for hurricane protection were considered by Federal, State and City agencies.
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enlisted men in pre-meteorology and the drilling of Navy enlisted men under the Naval College Training Program. Military reviews were held periodically on the college green, centering at the flagstaff.7 By the fall of 1945 student enrollment had exceeded 5000,8 the majority of whom were war veterans. Temporary quarters providing 84 family units for married students were established in reconstructed navy barracks, erected on the Sessions Street playground site9 in 1946, adjacent to Marvel Gymnasium and currently known as "Brown Town."
At the close of the war Brown undertook a housing and development program (Perry, Shaw and Hepburn of Boston, architects) which involved an ultimate $10 million expendi-
Courtesy of Brown Alumni Monthly
Sharpe Refectory, opened January 28, 1951, first completed unit of Wriston Quadrangle, Brown University.
ture. The initial projects were two academic buildings erected in 1946-47. Whitehall, a modern brick-and-glass classroom building, was built adjacent to Marston Hall on Brook
7. The flag pole originally was the mast of an American cup defender, built in the Herreshoff plant in Bristol. It was blown down, its top broken off, in the 1938 hurricane. When it was put back in the following year a base was erected by the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, a gift to the university from residents of the United States whose family origins were in Greece, as a memorial to Samuel Gridley Howe of the class of 1821 in recognition of his services to Greece.
8. Student enrollment had dropped to one-half of that number by 1950.
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