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City of Providence
Providence Reform School Records
RG 145

The explosive growth of the city's population during the second quarter of the nineteenth century triggered an increase in the social ills that beset rapidly industrialized urban centers. Alarmed by a rising tide of juvenile delinquency, a group of Providence Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers members petitioned the Providence City Council in 1847 to create a school for the "confinement, instruction and reformation of juvenile offenders and young persons of idle, vicious or vagrant habits." Within a short time, the city acted on the petition by purchasing the Tockwotton House, a magnificent mansion located in the city's Fox Point section. The building, constructed in 1810 as a home for General James B. Mason (son-in-law of John Brown) had been purchased by the Providence and Boston Railroad Company in 1836 and for a time was used as a hotel to service its India Point Depot. In 1848, the railroad shuttered the hotel with the opening of a new passenger depot in the downtown and the city moved quickly to purchase the property for its new reform school.

Opened in October, 1850 the Providence Reform School was administered by a group of seven trustees that included the mayor and six members appointed by the City Council. The mixed population of boys and girls included those under eighteen years of age convicted of offenses in the courts or those over five years of age committed by their parents or guardians. The school housed approximately 100 inmates. During the 1860s a series of controversies dogged the facility. As casualties mounted during Civil War, charges were made that school administrators were being paid bounties by recruiters who were being allowed access to entice students to join the Union Army. A more serious scandal erupted in 1868 when a series of allegations were leveled against the administration and staff. The charges included cruel punishments including floggings and beatings, changing children's names to prevent them from being identified by their parents, "immodest and disgusting language" used by staff and misappropriation of school property. The city's growing Irish community was particularly incensed by the charge that the school was confiscating Roman Catholic catechisms and compelling inmates to attend protestant services.

Lengthy hearings conducted by the Board of Alderman proved inconclusive. Two supervisors, however, were dismissed and some improvements were initiated. The damage to the school's reputation, no doubt, was a factor in the State General Assembly assuming control of the school in 1880. A short time later, the Providence Reform School was closed and the remaining inmates were transferred to the new Sockanosset School for Boys and the Oaklawn School for Girls.

The Tockwotton House was demolished in 1889 and today the Vartan Gregorian Elementary School occupies the site.

Scope and Content
The collection consists of correspondence, bills and receipts for the period 1853-1880. There is also a bound volume of material relating to the investigation of 1868 as well as a daily journal and record book. See also the annual reports of the Providence Reform School (1850-1880) in City Documents as well as the Board of Aldermen Papers for that period.

The Rhode Island Historical Society Library also has records relating to the Reform School.

Size
2.3 linear feet

Inventory