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Photographs of university properties

 Collection
Identifier: PG-19

Scope and contents

This photograph group contains still images related to the buildings, landscapes, and artworks owned by the university. These images are produced from digital photographs and through chemical photographic printing processes, such as prints, slides, and negatives. Other pictures and illustrations created through mechanical processes, such as postcards, are located in RG 19: Collection on university properties.

These photographs document the buildings - their design, structure, and maintenance - rather than the departmental functions that occur within those spaces. A small number of photos of architectural schematic designs, comprised of drawings and site models, are also incorporated. Materials documenting the historic specimen trees on campus were generated through an independent collaborative botany project in 1985. Additional materials surveying the condition of campus trees and buildings originated in 1991 to document the aftermath of Hurricane Bob.

The furniture and paintings described herein as artworks are original to the properties that were acquired by the university. Many of these items have subsequently been sold at auction. Sculptural works of more recent date have been installed by the university.

These materials are produced by multiple and often unidentified sources - both amateur and professional photographers. While the larger creation of this photograph group is generally attributed to amateur photographers, the employment of professional photographers is a more recent characteristic of the materials in this collection. The images created by professional photographers for institutional use document aerial overviews, property condition surveys, construction and renovation projects, and holdings of select artworks. Professional photographers are cited in individual building descriptive notes.

Also of note in this collection are several reproduction prints obtained from other institutions, such as the Providence Journal Company and the Rhode Island Historical Society. Identification of these images is cited in individual building descriptive notes. Copyrights to these reproductions are owned by the creator of the originating institution, not by Salve Regina.

This group of photographs generally ranges in date from 1947 to 2001, but specific dates of creation for many images are largely unknown. While some of the prints have descriptive captions on the back, the reliability of these postdated notations is questionable, and researchers should make independent confirmations of all caption information. The chronological identification of these images is an approximation; a relative order has been established through attention to physical changes in the content of the photograph as well as changes in the photographic processes. The researcher is advised to consult related materials to clarify any further questions about dates, captions, and image content.

A small number of early photographs reflect the personal design and use of a building by its original owners prior to acquisition and adaptation by the university. These images are identified in individual building descriptive notes.

Aerial photographs have been filed in one of two ways based on their content. Images featuring multiple buildings have been filed together in the subseries "Aerial overview, general campus." Images featuring an individual building have been filed with the subseries for that building.

Photographic formats

This collection contains photographic material in multiple formats and dimensions. Included are transparencies (slides and 35 mm and 120 mm negatives), photographic prints (3.5 x 5 in., 4 x 6 in., 5 x 7 in., 8 x 10 in., and oversize), and oversized prints of digital photographs.

All materials are housed in sleeves relative to their standard dimension. Characteristic of this collection are a number of (thin) flexible-card mounted prints and (thick) mat-type mounted prints which may require modifications to their housing. Mounted photographs that exceed a standard dimension were placed into a larger sleeve. Descriptive notes for this collection quantify materials by sleeve size not by physical print dimensions.

Dates

  • 1947-2001
  • Majority of material found within 1965 - 1999

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is not restricted.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

Various copying restriction apply, according to the Archives' use policy. Guidelines are available from the Salve Regina University Archives. Salve Regina University owns the copyright to material produced by employees and trustees of the University and work for hire. Requests for permission to publish material from the University Archives should be directed to the Archivist. See also the Archives' copyright and publication statement. Images produced by the Rhode Island Historical Society and the Providence Journal Company may not be reproduced.

Timeline of acquisition or new construction

1947 Ochre Court 1948 Mercy Hall 1950 Moore Hall 1955 McAuley Hall, Angelus Hall, Boathouse, Gatehouse, Marian Hall 1962 North and South Halls 1964 Founders Hall, Miley Hall 1966 Ochre Lodge, Ochre Lodge Annex 1967 O'Hare Academic Center 1969 Tobin Hall 1970 Wetmore 1972 Wakehurst, Munroe Center 1982 William Watts Sherman House 1986 Hunt Hall and Reefe Hall 1991 McKillop Library, Wallace Hall 1997 Young Building 2000 Rodgers Recreation Center 2002 61 Shepard Avenue 2007 87 Victoria Avenue

Historical note

Although Salve Regina College had received a charter from the State of Rhode Island in 1934, the school had no facility in which to operate until 1947. In that year, Robert Goelet donated the family's summer home, Ochre Court, to the Sisters of Mercy, and the college opened its doors to welcome the first group of students.

Located next to the Cliff Walk on Ochre Point, Salve Regina's campus has grown to encompass several historic estates and commands a desirable position in Newport. The campus spans 75 acres and more than two dozen structures, including many architecturally significant buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries that have been sensitively adapted to meet the university's needs. Several other facilities were constructed to serve the needs of a modern university while blending with the architectural environment. The grounds are also significant, featuring rare imported trees and designs by some of the country's foremost landscape architects.

The university continues to act as a steward of this heritage and is actively engaged in preserving the splendor of its Gilded Age properties, while also adapting them for educational use. In 1999, the National Trust for Historic Preservation presented Salve Regina with a National Preservation Honor Award for ongoing education programs and campus restoration.

For additional information about individual buildings and the campus overall, please see the brochure "A Walking Tour of Salve Regina University: From Gilded Age Estates to Inspired Education." A copy is located in Folder 1 of the first box in the RG 19 manuscript collection.

Notes on individual buildings

Owned buildings Angelus Hall - Originally designed by Peabody and Stearns and built between 1882 and 1883 for service as a carriage house and servants' quarters on Vinland estate, this red sandstone Romanesque Revival-style structure features a central overhang in the form of a haylift characteristic of European rustic architecture. This structure was expanded during further construction on Vinland estate between 1907 and 1910.

Boathouse - Originally built between 1882 and 1883 for service as a potting shed on Vinland estate, this modest rectangular building of red brick has served a number of institutional functions over the years, notably as a snack bar and college pub.

Founders Hall/Althorpe - Designed by Peabody and Stearns and built between 1889 and 1890 as a residence on Althorpe estate, this Colonial Revival-style structure features a wraparound porch, hipped roof with pedimented dormer windows, turrets, and cornices with dentils.

Gatehouse - Designed by Peabody and Stearns and built between 1882 and 1883 for service as a gatehouse on Vinland estate, this red sandstone Romanesque Revival-style structure features turrets, gables, and a wrought-iron lantern.

Hunt Hall and Reefe Hall - Designed by Robinson Green Beretta in 1982 and constructed between 1984 and 1985 for service as a university dormitory, these postmodern structures feature a shingle and clapboard exterior accented with red brick, and roofline gables suggestive of the Queen Anne Revival style.

Marian Hall - Designed by Peabody and Stearns and built in 1910 for service as a caretaker’s residence on Vinland estate, this Colonial Revival-style cottage features a clapboard exterior, gambrel roof, and an open veranda.

McAuley Hall/Vinland - Designed by Peabody and Stearns and constructed between 1882 and 1883 as the principle residence on Vinland estate, this red sandstone structure features heavy rustication and rounded arches characteristic of the Romanesque Revival style. Inspired by Longfellow's poem about Vikings, "The Skeleton in Armor," exterior architectural elements feature carved belt courses and window casings with motifs drawn from old Celtic manuscripts. Interior architectural elements reflect the stylistic influence of the Arts and Crafts movement. A mural frieze created by painter Walter Crane has since been removed and sold (1987). Landscape architect Ernest Bowditch designed the grounds. The house was enlarged considerably between 1907 and 1910, with new interiors appointed by Ogden Codman.

McKillop Library - Designed by Robinson Green Beretta and constructed on part of Wakehurst grounds between 1989 and 1991, this postmodern structure features a pale gray granite exterior with Gothic lines reminiscent of nearby Gilded Age mansions. Decorative elements include gabled peaks with finials, mullioned windows, and a lead-coated copper roof.

Mercy Hall/Ochre Court Carriage House - Designed by Richard Morris Hunt and built in 1889 for service as a carriage house for Ochre Court estate, this Queen Anne-style structure features a tower, and a red brick and painted wood trim exterior evocative of an 18th-century continental stable.

Miley Hall/Whiteholme - Designed by Maginnis, Walsh, and Kennedy and constructed between 1963 and 1964 on what was formerly the site of the Whiteholme estate (a Neo-Baroque-style structure designed by John Russell Pope which was built between 1903 and 1904, and demolished in May, 1963), this International Modern-style structure features a functional exterior of brick and steel characteristic of postwar architecture.

Moore Hall/Madame A. C. Acosta House - Designed by John Dixon Johnston and built between 1881 and 1882 as a residence for Madame A. C. Acosta of Maryland, the exterior of this eclectic Queen Anne-style structure features a wraparound veranda, classical columns and shingled surfaces combining 17th and 18th century design elements.

Munroe Center/Wakehurst Stables - Designed by Dudley Newton and constructed between 1888 and 1889 for service as a stable on Wakehurst estate, the exterior of this rusticated granite structure features Gothic lines characteristic of the English Manor style. Additional renovations were undertaken between 1986 and 1987.

North Hall and South Hall - Designed by Peabody and Stearns and constructed between 1884 and 1885 for service as a henkeeper's residence and a hennery for Vinland estate, these Shingle-style cottages are joined by a large wooden central archway on which a coop-like structure sits atop a spire.

Ochre Court - Designed by Richard Morris Hunt and built between 1888 and 1891 as a summer residence for the family of Ogden Goelet, this French Flamboyant-Gothic structure features a limestone exterior with high roofs, turrets, whimsical gargoyles, and tall chimneys. Other decorative elements reflect an emergent transition from sharp, heavy Gothic lines to softer, lighter Renaissance details as seen in rounded arches and lacy ornamentation. The interior of this 50-room mansion features a Great Hall that soars upward for three stories, off of which ground-floor reception rooms radiate. The grand staircase showcases a 15th century medieval stained glass window from the Spitzer Collection in Germany. Numerous rooms have been appointed with imported antique fireplaces and lavish wallcoverings. The Goelets' social position and patronage of the arts and learning is evident throughout the property in spirited details, including classical ceiling paintings, royal heraldic devices, carved emblems and statues, and colorful antique stained glass.

Ochre Lodge and Ochre Lodge Annex - Designed by Dudley Newton, a premiere local architect of the time, for Julia B. Eldridge, and built between 1882 and 1883, this structure incorporates characteristics of both the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles. Featured are a decorative mix of facing materials - granite and bluestone on the lower story and rustic wood shingles on the upper stories, as well as playful structural elements including balconies, alcoves, and verandas.

O'Hare Academic Center - Designed by E. James Kurtz and Associates and constructed between 1964 and 1967, this International Modern-style structure features a geometric functionalism characteristic of postwar architecture. The exterior incorporates plate glass, industrial block, and stainless steel elements into a grid-like pattern suggestive of Bauhaus design. The interior space integrates a series of three rectangles with a central hall. Featured is a circular cantilevered staircase. Installed outdoors adjacent to the east terrace is a bronze and stone sculptural work, "The Vision of Pythagoras," by former faculty member William P. Haas.

Rodgers Recreation Center - Designed by Robert A. M. Stern architects and built by Robinson Green Beretta between 1999 and 2000 for service as a recreation and athletic facility, this structure features a shingle-style exterior with painted wood-framed windows, gables, and cupola, as well as a series of verandas with flaring roofs. An innovative interior plan places one of two building levels below ground.

Tobin Hall - Designed by Peabody and Stearns and built between 1884 and 1885 for service as a gardener's residence on Vinland estate, this Colonial Revival-style structure features a shingled exterior, gambrel roof, and open veranda.

Wakehurst - Designed by English architect and stained glass artist, Charles Eamer Kempe in 1882, and built by local architect, Dudley Newton between 1884 and 1887 for the Van Alen family, this English Manor-style structure replicates Wakehurst Place, a 16th century Elizabethan manor house in rural Sussex, England. Exterior elements include dramatic rooflines and pitch, copper and lead detailing, and large slate tiles, as well as diamond-paned bay windows. Several interior spaces - the English Jacobean long hall, the Dutch Renaissance den, and the Bruges dining room, designed by Robert Adam - were created and built in England and installed in Newport. An auxiliary building originally built in 1910 for service as a gardener's cottage, and which more recently served as the athletics office, was demolished in 2000 to open up the site for the construction of Rodgers Recreation Center.

Wallace Hall - Designed by Frank Furness, of Furness and Hewitt, and built between 1874 and 1875 for service as a carriage house for Fairholme manor, this Tudor Revival-style structure features a stucco and stick-style wooden-beamed exterior and enormous arched openings that once provided access for large horse-drawn carriages.

Watts Sherman House - Designed by Henry Hobson Richardson and built between 1874 and 1875 for William Watts Sherman and his first wife, Annie Wetmore, this shingle and stucco-faced structure incorporates Medieval European, Renaissance English, and Colonial American elements into an architectural form that has been widely regarded as a prototype for the Shingle Style in American architecture. Exterior features include the use of rusticated stone on the lower story and weathered shingles on the upper stories, massive chimneys, and a unifying broad gable. Interior spaces follow an innovative arrangement characterized by an English living hall and a fluid plan of functional open spaces. Original treatments in the Jacobean Revival style remain in all but three spaces, which were redecorated by Sanford White. A utilitarian extension was added in 1969 when the residence served as the Baptist Home of Rhode Island.

Wetmore/Chateau-sur-Mer Stables – Originally designed by Seth Bradford as a carriage house for the Chateau-sur-Mer estate, this brick structure was significantly enlarged by George Champlin Mason & Son between 1882 and 1883. The building was renovated substantially in 2007.

Young Building/Fairlawn - Originally designed by Seth Bradford and built between 1852 and 1853 as the residence on Fairlawn estate, this three-story brick and wood-frame structure was subsequently expanded over the next thirty years by Richard Morris Hunt, McKim Mead and White, and Peabody and Stearns. Featured are a decorative roofing pattern, porticos, a veranda, and wrought-iron gate.

Leased buildings Carey Mansion/Seaview Terrace - Designed by Howard Greenley in 1924 and built between 1927 and 1929 as a sprawling residence for the Bradley family on Seaview Terrace estate, this French Renaissance manor house incorporated the Elizabethan-style structure known as Seaview (originally built circa 1870 by George Champlin Mason and remodeled in between 1887 and 1888 by John Dixon Johnston) into its form. Exterior features include turrets, stained glass windows, high, arching doorways, and shell motifs adorning the façade. An auxiliary structure of rusticated stone and wood shingles likely served as a carriage house on Seaview Terrace estate.

Pell School - Built in 1888 as a summer residence for William H. Osgood of New York, this Romanesque Revival-style structure was leased by the university to house the nursing school between 1981 and 1991.

Narragansett Hall - This Colonial Revival-style structure features a front porch, pedimented dormer windows, upper porticos, and modillions.

Sold buildings Conley Hall/Faxon Lodge - Designed by Sanford White and constructed by Frank K. Sturgis in 1900, this English Tudor-style structure is noted for its symmetry and design. This property was initially purchased by the university in 1969, sold in 1986, and subsequently leased for continued use as a dormitory between 1988 and 1991.

Queen Hall/Belmead estate - This property was purchased by the university in 1959 and sold in 1972.

St. Joseph's Hall/Elisha Dyer estate - This Colonial Revival-style brick structure features elegant neoclassical elements, including a prominent entry portico, quoins, keystone lintels, modillions and dentils. This property was purchased by the university in 1962 and sold in 1972.

Extent

21.05 Linear Feet (18 binder boxes and 1 oversize flat storage box (approximately 1250 photographs))

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Photographic material related to the buildings, landscapes, and artworks owned by the university.

Item arrangement within subseries

The primary physical arrangement of images within a subseries follows a hierarchical scheme related to size and format of the materials. The smallest formats (slides and negatives) are ordered first, with each successive format (prints) increasing in size. Secondary attributes related to chronology and architectural form/space then establish a sequential order across each unit of materials. An exception to this scheme pertains to aerial photographs - aerial photographs of individual buildings, typically larger in size, are ordered at the beginning of an arrangement because they offer an overview of the larger structure.

Within each subseries related to a building, exterior images are introduced first (elevation by elevation with detailed elements interfiled), to be followed by interior images (space by space with detailed elements interfiled), to then be followed by any supplementary images. A generous measure of flexibility exists in arranging such variable materials, as no two buildings are photographed in quite the same way over time. Any exceptions within a scheme are reflected in the descriptive notes for that subseries.

The physical organization of images within an enclosure is ordered chronologically and moves in a counterclockwise arrangement, starting in the upper left corner of a sleeve. Slips of archival paper have been placed in each insert to visually separate elevations and underlying images. These slips also help to minimize the transfer of harmful agents that may cause further deterioration of the materials (acidic mat-type mounts, adhesive residue, stickers, etc.).

Arrangement

The images in this photograph group are divided into four subgroups which correspond with related manuscript materials. The subgroups are further divided into series and subseries.

Subgroup 1: Individual buildings Series 1.1: Owned buildings Series 1.2: Leased buildings Series 1.3: Sold buildings Subgroup 2: Landscapes and trees Series 2.1: Campus tree survey project Series 2.2: General campus grounds Subgroup 3: Neighboring areas and Cliff Walk Subgroup 4: Associated people

Physical access

Photographic materials of standard size are housed in polypropylene archival enclosures in O-ring binder boxes, and oversized materials are housed in polypropylene archival enclosures in a larger flat storage box.

Related material in the Salve Regina University Archives

RG 19: Collection on university properties Tom Flanagan’s records (Rodgers Recreation Center and Young Building)

Title
Guide to the Photographs of university properties, 1947-2001 (bulk 1965-1999)
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Salve Regina University Archives Repository

Contact:
McKillop Library
100 Ochre Point Ave.
Newport RI 02840 USA
401-341-2276
401-341-2951 (Fax)