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https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/2346/archive/files/fbecf4e057446a0938287c3732497311.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=fC-Z3y0fLRXbo4O-8dIGRX3anRoOGGmHS6fz8EtgclSBDmb43RGzFyBs-ayL1hH2ScdItupgVI9vkBJsiay7zVvcAlsRw578kCCvgWJyxToAaHNatW%7EVIDno-hL7O6Egr6EJlDNKspredNUpe5arWYTwVVbkywO810B8LJjTgn3%7EucHA8gn6D5MpwZkwmahmJtQLi9FNVAh6rN2UpnmVP%7Ew8dvmjZgQSAPEQetyV2AHvLFLPQq85JLoeICfPLjRK6cK3hI-1sSMTFg2H8j5NnfdJGRgUxXRDF2cwTjnuw0p1LTYYprk%7EcREDocucQLeYoTJggAulHPl9WWLPfHo5%7EA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
f8d773ec7a50cecc072318cd604efb34
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Title
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Research papers
Description
An account of the resource
Students researched and wrote assignments on various topics related to Mashapaug Pond, the Gorham Manufacturing Company, and the Reservoir Triangle neighborhood.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Lucy Boltz
Ora Star Boncore
Hannah Burn
Ria Fulton
Adriana Isaza
Lizzy Landau
Jen Lawrence
Chang Lu
Katharine Mead
Araceli Mendez
Aditi Pinto
Julie Pittman
Maria Quintero
Anya Ventura
Anna Wada
Nate Weisenberg
Sarah Yahm
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The Gorham Manufacturing Company did not begin production of hollowware until 1850. The teapot, which became an integral part of Gorham’s production, was one of the first hollowware products created there. By 1910, the production of all hollowware products was both mechanized and done by hand.
Gorham’s success can be attributed to its highly mechanized process of silver production that made fine silverware more affordable. During the period around the turn of the century, Gorham was mainly producing pieces in their Art Nouveau and Athenic lines. There are no records specific to Gorham that outline the process of silver production. However, the mechanized processes of silver production are fairly similar across companies and have not changed dramatically in the past century. All hollowware products, including a tea set, were made using the same methods. First, a mixture of silver ore was put into a ceramic crucible that was then heated in a gas furnace for one to two hours. Historically, copper has been used to supplement the silver as a way to strengthen and increase the durability of the product. Once the silver mixture was molten, it was then poured into cast iron “ingot” molds, 10 inches long, 6 inches wide, and 1 ½ inches thick for hollowware pieces. After cooling, the silver mixture or “ingot” was removed from the mold, ready to be rolled out. Large silver ingots were generally rolled on two-roll mills, until the silver slab was .036 to .045 inches thick.
[See attached file for more information and bibliography]
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Title
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Gorham Hollowware Production
Description
An account of the resource
What was the process of creating a Gorham silver tea set in 1910?
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jen Lawrence
Gorham
Martelé line
silver
silverware
workers
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https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/2346/archive/files/f53486345cf0681ea9389bedfd695d87.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=Fp9Wh-H1ZkPt7oGrOkVeL5gvCZt1XGXhQQLf-32RXbP9aBgZN8PR85HMC3dBTgikIMcWjErn1IdXI-rbfpRyd2OLnE-l-SPuGgD0wDgddQWNQuAsX-yiKPzvtw7Uo8dHGjnFA2AbMArMLjDe4ivbmWyvdKZgzzQv0ZZLLPb6TIAqqvG3TxnioXpSuUUmKDAP3jbwk3XGI-XT33juF7%7Em5qg4V-gPdXswYATxMnl2r2C0ptRNrz5q-KZ-g%7E1YkTo6p0WGdRQtzhuHCmkuGBzRWRoZvk3rJ-MgP3KCUm3WT3Sv7PawRwCUmpOriHfmeRy%7ETlw74iKOfQ48e0g5kw1u2w__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
4a244c84bd05a07327e962f369efcc42
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Research papers
Description
An account of the resource
Students researched and wrote assignments on various topics related to Mashapaug Pond, the Gorham Manufacturing Company, and the Reservoir Triangle neighborhood.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Lucy Boltz
Ora Star Boncore
Hannah Burn
Ria Fulton
Adriana Isaza
Lizzy Landau
Jen Lawrence
Chang Lu
Katharine Mead
Araceli Mendez
Aditi Pinto
Julie Pittman
Maria Quintero
Anya Ventura
Anna Wada
Nate Weisenberg
Sarah Yahm
Document
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Text
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Today, Gorham Manufacturing Company’s Elmwood factory has vanished from the Providence landscape, as its Steeple Street location (now a parking lot)[1] did before it. The Elmwood site is most noteworthy today for the toxic environmental legacy it has left the neighborhoods near Mashapaug Pond. Yet Gorham’s presence in Providence remains strong, from its objects and monuments in silver, bronze, and stained glass to its records and papers in Providence museums and libraries...
[See attached file for more information and a map of locations]
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Gorham Sites in Providence
Description
An account of the resource
Where, in the city of Providence, are objects and papers produced by the Gorham Company? Include libraries, museums, and archival holdings as well as outdoor spaces. Include a map of locations.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Nate Weisenberg
Bronze Division
City of Providence
Gorham
Gorham archive
silver
Stained glass
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https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/2346/archive/files/679f6123bed2275a0254528bea4cf22e.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=YOW5XdtHG8-CZyq30ZYTJ9rrhm5Waq2THtHnvRor7tbBJGjqJfzzLVvRAZF%7EFXTM1279f0GWkgmPv3i2%7EH7JhX%7EtoarbD3Stw0V5ejuCvDXWyjam75UBzhyFY6VCviDITFoeFFrpen2kWg5ZgGGXfneC%7EJ4bWaLNZMNU-G0Sky6pn3aRsmSXSlnKCTmvux2BnVA4%7EZn0xGiVMEsoxfdXTt07jUA0znrpH2f5E0WURBhkqFZ9cTN789AUeE4sMcERf4xgfHbPkQhn-IYxUm87HfNSKWl02nLwdd2wanKXBh2oU4I8CIP1oR5c17tLzgvzWk9FF9W5GRds6hbMmI8bwQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
e11a053b182941eb6be76a5c8517e800
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Research papers
Description
An account of the resource
Students researched and wrote assignments on various topics related to Mashapaug Pond, the Gorham Manufacturing Company, and the Reservoir Triangle neighborhood.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Lucy Boltz
Ora Star Boncore
Hannah Burn
Ria Fulton
Adriana Isaza
Lizzy Landau
Jen Lawrence
Chang Lu
Katharine Mead
Araceli Mendez
Aditi Pinto
Julie Pittman
Maria Quintero
Anya Ventura
Anna Wada
Nate Weisenberg
Sarah Yahm
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
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While paying for my microfilm printouts at the research desk at the public library, the librarian and I chatted about the decline of Gorham: "Time’s have changed,” she told me. “When I got married I got fine silver, when my daughter got married she got stainless steel. It's easier - steel you just throw it in the dishwasher. Fine silver you have to polish, and who wants to do that anymore?" I agreed, but pointed out that Gorham wasn't the only factory in RI that downsized in the 80's, fired their American workers and shifted their operations to China. After a brief chat, we concluded that Gorham was both exceptional and ordinary; a unique case and a representative example of the decline of US and RI manufacturing in general. Throughout this paper I’m going to briefly outline the unique reasons Gorham failed (the rising price of silver, the declining markets for finely made handcrafted high end goods) and the ways their failure is representational of larger trends in US manufacturing.
First, the down and dirty on Gorham’s different incarnations: Jabez Gorham founded the company in 1831 at 12 Steeple Street, they moved to Adelaide Avenue in 1890 and remained “family-owned” until 1967 when they became a subsidiary of Textron. Textron downsized in 1985, sold the Adelaide property and moved the remaining workers and manufacturing out to Smithfield Rhode Island.[1]
[see attached file for further research and bibliography]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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The Rise and Fall of the Gorham Empire
Description
An account of the resource
At the dawn of the twentieth century, the Board of Trade and other boosters of Providence, Rhode Island proclaimed that the city contained the “Five Industrial Wonders of the World” – one of them, the nation’s leading producer of silverware, the Gorham Manufacturing Company. How did such a large and important company disappear? [quote from John K. Towles, “Factory Legislation of Rhode Island,” American Economic Association Quarterly, 2 (Oct, 1908). [volume 9, number 3]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Sarah Yahm
change
Gorham
manufacturing
silver
silver market
strike
The Gorham Perspective
workers
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https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/2346/archive/files/58ecd8f3706c9b91524f86c1b3dd71b5.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=PIasW8MaO466GwGbjx4-wVoAFBtKFEgQik7eRfXgQRouQ0jhwepO2OpNlapIGZZRG5lwd-35K2i6zMbUHT%7ESUov7ItJWd3JcC0Qg5BuMkjBEgQ1p68X7gBjosJ%7ExnGLSzANpLHtmqiTOmFYTpFKWMSkHklrf0jafUdyXdnxvIrxPvSdOoPAecUP6WdDxOGd4ZgMc0GNkQ6Dz2kXRgL1Y0s7zwU0Uos%7EVk6EACV6aSXd97Z5ELzRJNlYtlP6tX4Ctu-%7EMHXl7SBe%7EAenNIYLmLzCxNzZGnSEArJV4QXmmTGQzmGfWaudpfqtQC4CgI%7ER03a4TNRMoLdiM9kp2JOPTIA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
756e4cfe5b2b68595d9a33446f7ed910
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Research papers
Description
An account of the resource
Students researched and wrote assignments on various topics related to Mashapaug Pond, the Gorham Manufacturing Company, and the Reservoir Triangle neighborhood.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Lucy Boltz
Ora Star Boncore
Hannah Burn
Ria Fulton
Adriana Isaza
Lizzy Landau
Jen Lawrence
Chang Lu
Katharine Mead
Araceli Mendez
Aditi Pinto
Julie Pittman
Maria Quintero
Anya Ventura
Anna Wada
Nate Weisenberg
Sarah Yahm
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Text
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The Gorham Manufacturing Company complex, formerly located at 333 Adelaide Avenue, dominated the physical landscape of the Elmwood section of Providence from its construction in 1890 until its demolition in 1997. Even now, in its absence, the complex exerts a powerful influence over the community, by way of the sustained environmental damage created by its operation.
The business that would eventually give rise to this complex began its life as a small jeweler’s shop founded in 1818 by Jabez Gorham, Jr. and located at 56 Benefit Street.[1] By 1831,
Gorham had expanded his business to include the manufacture of silver spoons; in partnership with Henry Webster, Gorham and Webster began operation at 12 Steeple Street in Providence.[2] At the time of Gorham and Webster’s founding, all silversmithing was done by hand, but mechanization was gradually incorporated as sales grew and technology became increasingly available. The company was incorporated in Rhode Island in 1863, and by this time, Gorham had transformed into a complex of workshops, furnaces, and forges, with renowned gold-and silver- smithing operations.[3] By 1868, a mere five years later, Gorham was grossing $1 million in sales annually.[4] Gorham’s operations continued to expand over the next several decades –new departments manufacturing statuary and memorial works in silver, gold, brass, bronze, stone, and wood, coupled with new technologies in the form of steam engines which “powered machines for rolling, shearing, punching, shaping, embossing, dyestamping; for lathes, drills, planning machines; and for the foundry,” necessitated new facilities.[5] As a result, plans were made to build “the largest and most modern plant in the world for fine silverwares.”
[see attached file for further research and bibliography]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Gorham Manufacturing Company Building Complex
Description
An account of the resource
How did the physical plant of the Gorham Company change over time? When and why did the Gorham manufacturing buildings get demolished?
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ria Fulton
Gorham
Gorham site
silver
Textron
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/2346/archive/files/de841bad9d0222c644c2caceca83ab01.m4a?Expires=1712793600&Signature=mNq4qW7Q-2XkKpR70ARt5XRgY8RQsiAMT%7E0Jz-gao3ljjoq1rA5dTgmmdDSdg9I-Z-SWsS46Mr9f60psImA7lMSCE9d%7Eca2t4xHLie-Q46w4QqeUysz401J8Mte-W0ZgXfMo9u0HNbyMhKRVDr6k6Yb%7EkuztP-1-DFu4JnPtea7eMKbKgrfZrXLgcjui-%7EdQiJgcW0EhqFsvswvMzv2-miHzfHSUrACwXA00W3yfNb-TinNJnop%7EqkXaPh6ecnW4pcRK049X7Jqw413IVOn4hYQZwLKlMNoWtTm3gAwSZyVKsgsFish8t9Tm1343C1jNuMCVH42k%7ElZ10JNVQ3t%7EgQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
c9a07528ad5774ae3edbbe9402d02507
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
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Oral history interviews
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of excerpts from oral history interviews conducted by Brown University students in the class Oral History and Community Memory during the fall of 2011. We interviewed past and present residents of the Reservoir Triangle neighborhood and others with connections to Mashapaug Pond and the Gorham Manufacturing Company site.
Please check back often, since we will continue to add new clips to the site.
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Jennifer Lawrence
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Jeffrey Herman
Location
The location of the interview.
West Warwick, RI
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
Jeffrey Herman: A few years ago a potential customer came to my shop from Mystic Seaport. And, he brought a long a couple of trophies. One of these trophies was about 18 inches tall. And, it had, it was covered with a flannel bag. And, first I was excited by the size of it. But even though I hadn’t seen it I was just thinking that this was going to be something spectacular.
So he started to lift up the covering. And, the first half inch I saw I knew it was Martelé because it was a certain style. The hand fabricating of the feet. And as he’s bringing it up, I see coy going around the base. And he’s bringing it up a little bit higher probably another six inches or so there are three horse heads coming out of the center. And as he keeps bringing that, the flannel bag up there are three maidens that are, that are… winding up to the top of a bowl. A huge bowl. And, I remember, I can still feel today the hair on the back of my neck standing up. It was just, I was going absolutely nuts because it was probably the most incredible piece of Martelé I had ever seen.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
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A name given to the resource
Interview with Jeffrey Herman
Description
An account of the resource
Jeffrey Herman has been a silversmith for over 35 years. In 1981 received a BFA in Silversmithing and Jewelry Making from Maine College of Art, Portland. After college, Herman went on to work at Gorham Manufacturing Company as a designer until 1983. In 1984, Herman left Gorham to pursue an independent career, starting a business in silver restoration and conservation. Since starting his own business, Herman has restored many Gorham pieces. In addition to his connection with Gorham, Herman has also been a resident of the Reservoir Triangle area for a number of years.
In this excerpt, Herman describes a trophy from Gorham’s Martelé line that was brought into his shop for restoration. Martelé products were crafted completely by hand, making them incredibly valuable.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
October 27, 2011
Gorham
Martelé line
silver