This collection contains over 1100 glass plate negatives and 201 print photographs created by and/or collected by James N. Arnold. Arnold's professional work as a historian and writer began in earnest in the 1880s. Arnold traveled throughout Rhode Island collecting and transcribing local church records, pension rolls, burial records and town papers. The images in the collection depict scenes across Rhode Island including beaches, farms and landscapes as well as activities and community events such as ice skating, parades, football games and community gardens.
Image shows an interior view of a dining room. A potted plant sits on a round dining table in the center of the room. A china cabinet is filled with table ware on the left side of the room. Decorative plates are hung around the room and above the mantel of a fireplace. Lace curtains hang in the windows.
Image of a group of people, possibly a family including young children, digging potatoes up from the field. Baskets full of potatoes are seen on the ground.
Image of a woman standing on a road outside of the Diamond Hill Reservoir gatehouse. The gatehouse is a small granite building with a prominent chimney and tower which operated as part of the Pawtucket Water Works. Original box label read "Dia. Hill-99".
Image of a house with clapboard siding identified as the Dexter Farm House in North Providence in which James Newell Arnold lived. A person in a white gown is seen looking out of one of the windows.
Image taken from the bleachers of a large group of girls in uniform in rows and columns on an athletic field. Original box label read "B.U. Pageant, 1914"
Image taken from the bleachers of a large group of girls in uniform in a large ring around an athletic field. Original box label read "B.U. Pageant, 1914"
Image taken from the bleachers of a large group of girls in uniform in a large ring around an athletic field. Original box label read "B.U. Pageant, 1914"
Image taken from the bleachers of a large group of girls in uniform in a large ring around an athletic field. Original box label read "B.U. Pageant, 1914"
Image taken from the bleachers of a large group of girls in uniform in a large ring around an athletic field. Original box label read "B.U. Pageant, 1914"
Image of the Daniel Congdon house in Cranston showing a small clapboard sided building with small trees in the front lawn. Note reads "Daniel Congdon house in State Inst. Grounds."
Image shows a vast stretch of croplands. A variety of crops are planted in rows and sectioned, and span into the distance. A residential area is visible behind trees that line the cropland. Original box label read "G.P.S.C., 1918"
Image shows crops growing in rows in a field. The crops in the center of the photograph are sparse. The crops to the left and right are more dense. Original box label read "G.P.S.C., 1918"