Raina Fox Research Assignment #1 Oral History and Community

Raina Fox
Research Assignment #1
Oral History and Community Memory
March 12, 2013
When did Gorham purchase its property on Adelaide Avenue? What other nearby
property was owned by the company and how was it used?
This paper will look specifically at the Gorham Manufacturing Company’s acquisition of
its Elmwood property at the end of the 1880’s, and explore some of the ways the company used
that land and its surroundings during the Plant’s early years. Through this analysis, we can better
understand the implications of Gorham’s Elmwood property for the company and its neighbors
at the time, while gaining context for the complex interactions between industrial development,
environmental issues, and community memory that continue to affect the neighborhood today.
Over the course of Gorham Manufacturing Company’s nearly two hundred year history,
the silver manufacturers grew from a small business that specialized in spoons to an
internationally renowned company. Opened by Jabez Gorham in 1831, the factory was originally
located in a small house at No. 12 Steeple Street. By the late 1880’s, however, Gorham realized
it could not continue to grow as a company on the original premises 1. The new Plant “was to be
by far the largest operation in the world for making fine silverwares” 2, and would also include
facilities for making silver flatware, hollow ware, electroplated wares, and bronze. 3
1
In 1878 sales were at a low of $521,000 but by 1890 they had grow to almost three million dollars. The
company knew it needed to expand its facilities in order to keep up with demand. (Carpenter, 1982, p
138)
2
Carpenter, 1982. p 138.
3
p. 138.
1
Gorham selected a plot of land in the Elmwood neighborhood that had been owned by
Charles E. Carpenter, a personal friend of the company’s then president, William Crins 4.
Providence’s 1882 edition of the city Atlas (Figure 1) indicates that Carpenter probably did not
actively use this part of his property. In addition to requiring no demolition of buildings, the site
was considered an ideal location because of its proximity to the city, easy access to roads and
trains, 5 and adjacency to Mashapaug Pond (also visible in Figure 1). Charles E. Carpenter and
his wife Ademine F. Carpenter officially sold the land “near to and southeasterly from
Mashapaug Pond” 6 in 1887 and 1888, as indicated in a series of deeds, to “Gorham
Manufacturing Company its successors and assigns forever.” 7 In addition, Gorham purchased
parcels of land “more or less to the southwesterly line of [the] New York Providence and Boston
Railroad Company’s land” 8 from the Russell and Anthony families. Dwight Russell’s wife
Mary, a widow, had inherited the land from her deceased husband Harris Carpenter, explaining
their ownership of the property, while the Anthony family’s connection remains unclear. The
full list of grantors can be found in the Deed index in Figure 4.
Despite beginning to purchase property in 1887, Gorham did not officially approve their
plans for the land until 1888. In his diary from May 19, 1888, Crins recounts the decision:
Board Meeting in the forenoon and after a full discussion on the plans for a new building.
Plan #14 was adopted. It was voted to put them in train for construction and empowering
me to make contracts which means much hard work for me.” 9
4
p. 140.
Carpenter, 1982, p. 201.
6
Providence City Archives, record of deeds. Figure 2.
7
Providence City Archives.
8
Providence City Archives, Figure 3.
9
Carpenter, 1982, p. 138.
5
2
Crins’ anxiety over the work involved in building the factory was warranted- in addition to
continuing to oversee the original Steeple Street location 10 he oversaw the building of one of the
most elaborate silver Plants of its time.
The plan for the Gorham site was ambitious, and considered “the most modern and
efficient in the world for the making of silverwares and bronzes.” 11 Completed in 1890, the
factory buildings occupied six acres of land, and were fully integrated to allow for every stage of
the silversmithing process to take place on site– from sterling-alloy melting facilities to
production of the wood cases used to package the silverwares. The details of the factory’s work
in its early years, including images, are explained in detail in the company’s 1892 publication
“Views, Exterior and Interior of the works of the Gorham Manufacturing Company
Silversmiths.” Figure 5 shows a map from this book, reflecting the original floorplan of the new
factory as well as detailing the dimensions and uses of each part of the space. In addition to the
silversmithing facilities themselves, the Elmwood Plant included a stable, an office (which
included a museum and library), a railroad station, and a carriage house. Over time, the contours
of the factory’s land and buildings changed, developments which are outlined in Ria Fulton’s
2011 Research Essay. 12
In addition to the original facilities mentioned above, a great point of pride for the factory
was its self-sufficiency in terms of water, heating, electricity, and fire resistance - all of which
relied heavily on Mashapaug pond. In the 1892 viewbook, Gorham boasts that most of the water
they required for these operations was “obtained from a large pond near the Engine House,
which furnishes a never failing supply” 13. In order to utilize this water, they also built “a two
10
p. 138.
p. 203.
12
Fulton, 2011.
13
Gorham Manufacturing Company, 1892.
11
3
story brick pump and fire apparatus house” on the banks of Mashapaug (Figure 6) which
delivered water from the pond to hydrants surrounding the building. In addition, pumps in the
engine room drew water from the pond (up to thirteen thousand gallons of water) to supply the
plumbing for the factory, and drinking water was drawn from “the three Artisan Wells under the
Pump House” 14. As these descriptions reveal, while Gorham’s property did not technically
include the pond, it was very much a part of their operations. The 1895 edition of the Providence
Atlas –published five years after the new Plant had opened- demonstrates the proximity of the
factory to the pond itself (Figure 7). In addition, Gorham was proud of its ventilation: “the
leakage of air from the rooms is outward, thereby avoiding the admission of foul odors and
impure air.” 15 Figure 8 shows one such airy window-filled room where artisans could work in
relative comfort and safety. Although in retrospect we are able to identify a number of health and
environmental hazards within the factory, at the time Gorham was considered, as Historian Sam
Hough explains, “one of the good safe jobs to have in the city”. 16 He adds that “back then,
[pollution] wasn’t something anybody thought about. There was so much space, ‘just dump it in
the fields.’ 17 By both relying on the pond for their water supply and waste disposal, we see that
Gorham considered the pond to be both part of and apart from their property.
In addition to the six acres of factory buildings, Gorham owned seven acres of land
comprising the grounds. While some of this land included trees (as can be seen in the 1892
drawing of the land, Figure 9) much of it was groomed as lawn. Robin Taglieferri, the
granddaughter of one of Gorham’s groundskeepers, describes her grandfather’s experience
mowing the lawns:
14
Gorham Manufacturing Company, 1892.
Gorham Manufacturing Company, 1892.
16
Landau, 2011, p. 3.
17
Landau, 2011, p. 5.
15
4
He would hear some chinky noises. He would stop the lawn mower and low and behold
he would find on the ground silverware. Forks and knives and spoons and probably
things that people in the factory were tossing out and maybe they would go and pick it up
on their way home from work, and make themselves maybe a set of silverware in time. [.
. .] They would be odd things here and there that someone would toss out the window and
he would find them because they would jam in the lawnmower. 18
In addition to the lawn space being used as a potential dumping ground for unwanted silverware,
staff publications such as The Silver Tongue 19 indicate that workers participated in sports
leagues, which may have utilized the grounds space.
While Gorham officially owned the parcel of land described above (and viewed in the
map in Figure 7), it is worth mentioning that many Gorham workers lived in the surrounding
neighborhoods as well. Details of the neighborhood’s connections to Gorham through private
home ownership are outlined in Anna Wada’s 2011 research paper “The Demographics of the
Reservoir Triangle. 20”
While this paper outlines the specifics of Gorham’s 1887-1888 purchase of the Elmwood
property and some of their original use of the land, the company continued to build, expand, and
change until the end of the 20th century. Despite its demolition in 1997, the Gorham factory
continues to affect the Elmwood neighborhood today - not only through the pollution it caused to
Mashapaug, but through the many memories people carry of the factory and its relationship to
the community.
18
Quintero, 2011, p. 6.
The Silver Tongue, Gorham Perspective, Mettle, Contact, Harmony, and Gorham Textron Perspective
are some of the periodicals the company put out for staff and other stakeholders over the years, which
span topics from suggested marketing strategies, to staff sports leagues, to staff announcements of new
babies. All can be found at the John Hay Library at Brown University.
20
Wada, 2011.
19
5
Bibliography
Carpenter, Charles Hope. Gorham Silver: 1831-1981. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1982.
Conley, Patrick T. and Paul R. Campbell. Providence: A Pictorial History. Donning Company
Publishers: Norfolk. 1982.
Fulton, Ria. “How did the physical Plant of the Gorham Company change over time? When and
why did the Gorham manufacturing buildings get demolished?” Reservoir of Memories.
2011. https://repository.library.brown.edu:8443/fedora/get/bdr:240430/bdr
sdef:pdf/getPDF.
The Gorham Company, Mettle. The Gorham Company: Providence, Vol. 2, No. 4. July 1927.
The Gorham Company, The Silver Tongue. Volume 1, No. 1. December 1, 1924.
Gorham Manufacturing Company, Views, Exterior and Interior of the Works of the Gorham
Manufacturing Company Silversmiths. Providence, R. I. 1892.
Hall, Joseph D. Biographical History of the Manufacturers and Business Men of Rhode Island at
the Opening of the Twentieth Century. J.D. Hall & Co: Providence, R.I., 1901.
Hopkins, G.M. Atlas of the City of Providence and Environs. G.M. Hopkins, C.E.: Philadelphia.
1882.
Judson, J. E. et al, New Topographical Atlas of Surveys Providence County Rhode Island. Everts
& Richards: Philadelphia, 1895.
Landau, Elizabeth. Interview with Sam Hough. Brown University Library: Digital Production
Services, 2011.
Providence City Archives, Record of Deeds, Index, January 1, 1887 to January 1, 1890.
Providence City Archives, Record of Deeds, Volume 343, January 1, 1887 to January 1, 1890. P.
156- 163.
6
Providence City Archives, Record of Deeds, Volume 345, January 1, 1887 to January 1, 1890, P.
433 - 440.
Quintero, Maria. Interview with Robin Tagliaferri. Brown Digital Repository. 29 Jan 2013.
Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, Providence Industrial Sites: Statewide
Historical Preservation Report P-P-6, Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission,
July 1981.
Townsend, Horace. A Touchstone for Silver. The Gorham Company: New York, 1917.
Wada, Anna. “The Demographics of the Reservoir Triangle”. Reservoir of Memories. 2011.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/fedora/get/bdr:251206/bdr-sdef:pdf/getPDF
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Images
Figure 1. Elmwood in 1882, before the Gorham Factory had purchased the property.
(Hopkins)
8
Figure 2. Deed granting Gorham full ownership of Carpenter’s former property,
describing in detail the contours of the property (Providence City Archives).
9
Figure 3 Deed transferring property from the Russell Family to Gorham (Providence City
Archives).
10
Figure 4 Reference for deeds, indicating list of people from whom Gorham purchased
property (Providence City Archive).
11
Figure 5 Map and floor plan of Gorham original factory (Gorham Manufacturing
Company, 1892).
12
Figure 6 View of fire department facilities on Mashapaug pond (Gorham Manufacturing
Company 1892).
13
Figure 7 1895 Atlas showing the Elmwood area, now including Gorham (Judson, et al,
1895).
14
Figure 8. The “case department” at work, surrounded by windows. This image is also
notable for depicting several female workers (Gorham Manufacturing Company, 1892).
15
Figure 9 Artist Depiction of Gorham Elmwood Plant in its early years (Gorham
Manufacturing Company 1892).
16