1939 Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition

The RISD Museum of Art held the Rhode Island Architecture exhibition 1939 June 18-December 5. Architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Jr. developed the exhibition under Director Alexander Dorner with Museum Assistant Barbara Wriston. The exhibition surveyed 300 years of RI buildings with much of the photographic material coming from architectural historian and preservationist Antoinette Downing's 1937 work "The Early Homes of Rhode Island" and the Historic American Buildings Survey. The exhibition's photograph panels came under the purview of the Museum's Education Department, which loaned them to local and national educational and civic institutions. The RI Historical Society acquired the panels sometime after 1953 and transferred them to the RISD Archives in 2011. View the RIAMCO finding aid for more information.
This collection is part of RISD Archives, hosted by Rhode Island School of Design.

Items in this collection

Watts-Sherman House

Watts-Sherman House

Rhode Island School of Design

exterior; Photograph exhibited in Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.

Watts-Sherman House

Watts-Sherman House

Rhode Island School of Design

interior; Photograph exhibited in Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.

Watts-Sherman House

Watts-Sherman House

Rhode Island School of Design

interior; Photograph exhibited in Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.

The Breakers

The Breakers

Rhode Island School of Design

exterior; National Historic Landmark, designated 1964. National Register of Historic Places, designated property 1971, National Historic Landmark District Contributing Property, designated 1972; Photograph exhibited in Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.

Roger Williams Church

Roger Williams Church

Rhode Island School of Design

interior; Cranston Street Roger Williams Baptist Church acquired by Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1969; Photograph exhibited in Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.

Rhode Island hospital Trust Company

Rhode Island hospital Trust Company

Rhode Island School of Design

exterior, upper stories; Designated U.S. National Register of Historic Places October 22nd, 1976. Designated U.S. Historic District contributing property February 10th, 1984. Originally erected as a banking building for the Rhode Island Hospital Trust to manage Rhode Island Hospital's financial affairs in 1916. Acquired by Bank Boston in 1985. Bank Boston acquired by Fleet Financial Group in 1999 becoming FleetBoston Financial Group. Fleet Financial donates building to Rhode Island School of Design in 2002, building opened in 2005 as RISD Fleet Library, Portfolio Cafe, and a residential hall; Photograph exhibited in Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.

Rhode Island Architecture 1939 Exhibit Sign

Rhode Island Architecture 1939 Exhibit Sign

Rhode Island School of Design

Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.

John Nicholas Brown House, Windshield

John Nicholas Brown House, Windshield

Rhode Island School of Design

interior, music room; Destroyed by fire in 1973; Photograph exhibited in Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.

John Nicholas Brown House, Windshield

John Nicholas Brown House, Windshield

Rhode Island School of Design

exterior, land side; Destroyed by fire in 1973; Photograph exhibited in Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.

John Nicholas Brown House, Windshield

John Nicholas Brown House, Windshield

Rhode Island School of Design

interior, study; Destroyed by fire in 1973; Photograph exhibited in Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.

John Nicholas Brown House, Windshield

John Nicholas Brown House, Windshield

Rhode Island School of Design

exterior; Destroyed by fire in 1973; Photograph exhibited in Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.

John Nicholas Brown House, Windshield

John Nicholas Brown House, Windshield

Rhode Island School of Design

exterior; Destroyed by fire in 1973; Photograph exhibited in Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.

Houses, Glendale

Houses, Glendale

Rhode Island School of Design

exterior neighborhood view; Photograph exhibited in Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.

Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul

Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul

Rhode Island School of Design

interior; Photograph exhibited in Rhode Island Architecture Exhibition, 1939, RISD Museum. Curated by RISD Museum Director Alexander Dorner (tenure 1938-1941) and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock.