Rhode Island. State Public Welfare Commission (1917-1935)
Organization
Dates
- Existence: 1917-1935
Historical Note
By 1917, as Governor R. Livingston Beekman described it in his annual message, a commission to investigate the various public welfare programs in the state (the State Public Welfare Commission) found that the missions of the State Board of Charities and Corrections and the Board of Supply and Control overlapped, and seemed at times to be in conflict. To solve this problem the government replaced the two boards with the Penal and Charitable Commission, which was renamed the State Public Welfare Commission in 1923.
This Commission formed the managerial layer of the state’s welfare system. The commission’s personnel included a Chairman, a secretary, a Director of State Institutions, and a Director of Mother's Aid. These individuals oversaw the work of the state's Penal, Charitable, and Reformatory Institutions, which were comprised of the State Workhouse and House of Corrections; the State Hospital for Mental Diseases; a State Infirmary; a State Prison; the Providence County Jail; and the State Reform School for Boys and Girls (the Sockanosset and Oaklawn schools.)
The commission took over the State Board of Charities and Corrections’ buildings and property in Cranston and, therefore, has sometimes been referred to as the State Institutions in Cranston. In addition, the commission took over responsibility for two institutions managed since 1912 by the Board of Control and Supply - the Exeter School and the State Home and School, including their real estate and property. Below the commission, the personnel included superintendents for each of the institutions, except for the Providence County Jail and the State Prison, which a warden oversaw. In addition to allowing for administrative and clerical staff, and religious instructors, the law required the appointment of a resident physician and an “agent of defectives and dependents.” This agent’s function was to examine individuals to determine which of the state institutions was most appropriate for them. Finally, the founding statute required the engagement of a secretary who was designated to keep accurate records of meetings, and also to record “the name, residence, sex, age, and nativity, occupation, condition, and date of entrance or commitment of every inmate patient, or pupil.”
In its first years, the commission set as its mission the promotion of cooperation among the member institutions “to work for the benefit of the individual regardless of the circumstances which led to his position of dependency…”The Commission also set a goal of building new facilities and improving existing ones. State Public Welfare Commission aka Penal and Charitable Commission. First Annual Report, 1917-1918.
Public Law 1917, ch. 1470; Public Law 1922, ch. 2230.
This Commission formed the managerial layer of the state’s welfare system. The commission’s personnel included a Chairman, a secretary, a Director of State Institutions, and a Director of Mother's Aid. These individuals oversaw the work of the state's Penal, Charitable, and Reformatory Institutions, which were comprised of the State Workhouse and House of Corrections; the State Hospital for Mental Diseases; a State Infirmary; a State Prison; the Providence County Jail; and the State Reform School for Boys and Girls (the Sockanosset and Oaklawn schools.)
The commission took over the State Board of Charities and Corrections’ buildings and property in Cranston and, therefore, has sometimes been referred to as the State Institutions in Cranston. In addition, the commission took over responsibility for two institutions managed since 1912 by the Board of Control and Supply - the Exeter School and the State Home and School, including their real estate and property. Below the commission, the personnel included superintendents for each of the institutions, except for the Providence County Jail and the State Prison, which a warden oversaw. In addition to allowing for administrative and clerical staff, and religious instructors, the law required the appointment of a resident physician and an “agent of defectives and dependents.” This agent’s function was to examine individuals to determine which of the state institutions was most appropriate for them. Finally, the founding statute required the engagement of a secretary who was designated to keep accurate records of meetings, and also to record “the name, residence, sex, age, and nativity, occupation, condition, and date of entrance or commitment of every inmate patient, or pupil.”
In its first years, the commission set as its mission the promotion of cooperation among the member institutions “to work for the benefit of the individual regardless of the circumstances which led to his position of dependency…”The Commission also set a goal of building new facilities and improving existing ones. State Public Welfare Commission aka Penal and Charitable Commission. First Annual Report, 1917-1918.
Public Law 1917, ch. 1470; Public Law 1922, ch. 2230.
Found in 18 Collections and/or Records:
Agent of State Charities and Corrections and State Probation Officer annual report, 1926
Sub-Series — Box: Agent of State Charities and Corrections and State Probation Officer annual report 1926 (C#1049)
Dates:
1926
Annual Report of the Penal and Charitable Commission to the General Assembly at its January Session
Series — Folder: 22. Annual Report of the Penal and Charitable Commission to the General Assembly at its January Session (1636-1032)
Identifier: 1636-1032
Dates:
1918-1919, 1921-1923
Charities and Correction reports and records
Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: C#00524-2015-28
Abstract
The State Board of Charities and Correction records consists of various documents related to the Board its successor organizations. Items include individual case files from the Oaklawn School for Girls, newspaper clippings, financial reports, correspondence of the Board, and other material related to the work of agencies that reported to the Board.
Dates:
1903-1961
Exeter School annual reports, 1925-1926
Sub-Series — Box: Exeter School annual reports 1925-1926 (C#1049)
Dates:
1925-1926
Governor's Message and Report of Commission to Investigate the State Public Welfare Commission and all Departments Thereunder, 1929
Item — Folder: 9. Governor's Message and Report of Commission to Investigate the State Public Welfare Commission and all Departments Thereunder, 1929 (1636-1216)
Identifier: 1636-1216
Scope and Contents
From the Sub-Series:
Gubernatorial Messages of Governor's of Rhode Island to the General Assembly: 1866, 1896, 1878, 1879, 1898, 1902 (two copies), 1904, 1910, 1914 (two copies), 1928-1934 (two copies of 1929, 1931 & 1933), 1936, 1938-1939, 1941-1946, 1948-1949, 1950-1951, 1956, 1958-1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1972-1974, 1976, 1981, 1986-1988, 1995.
Dates:
1929
Mothers' Aid annual report, 1926
Sub-Series — Box: Mothers' Aid Annual Report 1926 (C#1049)
Dates:
1926
Mother's Aid Annual Report of the State Public Welfare Commission to the General Assembly
Series — Folder: 20. Mother's Aid Annual Report of the State Public Welfare Commission to the General Assembly, 1923-1935 (1636-1030)
Identifier: 1636-1030
Scope and Contents
Mothers' Aid Bureau Annual Report of the State Public Welfare Commission to the General Assembly At its January Session, 1923, 1926, 1927, for the Fiscal Year December 1, 1927 to November 1928, for the Seven Months Fiscal Period December 1, 1929 to June 30, 1920, for the Fiscal Period July 1, 1931 to June 30 1932, July 1, 1933 to June 30 1934 and July 1, 1934, to June 30, 1935.
Dates:
1923-1935
Oaklawn School for Girls annual reports, 1925-1926
Sub-Series — Box: Oaklawn School for Girls annual reports 1925-1926 (C#1049)
Dates:
1925-1926
Public Welfare Commission annual reports
Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: 1636-1606-C#01878
Dates:
1919-1935
Purchasing Agent annual report, 1926
Sub-Series — Box: Purchasing Agent annual report 1926 (C#1049)
Dates:
1926
Sockanosset School for Boys Annual Report, 1926
Sub-Series — Box: Sockanosset School for Boys annual report 1926 (C#1049)
Dates:
1926
State Board of Charities and Corrections lantern slides, 1883-1938
Sub-Series
Identifier: 2015-28
Abstract
The State Board of Charities and Corrections lantern slides includes glass lantern slides of images of the State Institutions, primarily the Reception Hospital and related activities, c. 1914.
Dates:
1883-1938
State Hospital for Mental Diseases annual reports, 1922-1935
Sub-Series — Folder: 16 Hospital for Mental Diseases annual reports 1922-1935 (1636-933)
Identifier: 1636-933
Dates:
1922-1935
State Psychiatrist annual report, 1925
Sub-Series — Box: State Psychiatrist annual report 1925 (C#1049)
Dates:
1925
State Public Welfare Commission estimated budget
Item — Volume: State Public Welfare Commission estimated budget, 1933-1935 (C#00300)
Identifier: C#00300
Abstract
To recapitulate expenditures for fiscal year 1933 and estimate requirements for fiscal year 1935. Contains name of bureau or division, line number from the budget, expenditure classification, expenditures for fiscal year 1933, appropriations for fiscal year 1933 and 1944, estimated requirements for fiscal year 1935, explanation of any changes in proposed budget, total expenditures for each division.
Dates:
1933-1935
State Public Welfare Commission scrapbook
Series — Volume: State Public Welfare Commission scrapbook, c. 1930
Identifier: 1998-121
Abstract
The State Public Welfare Commission scrapbook includes black-and-white photographs (5 1/2" x 3 1/2") of properties at the State Farm, State Asylum, and the House of Corrections at the Howard complex in Cranston, Rhode Island.
Dates:
c. 1930
State Public Welfare Commission scrapbook photographs, c. 1930
Item
Identifier: 1998-121
Abstract
The State Public Welfare Commission scrapbook includes black-and-white photographs (5 1/2" x 3 1/2") of properties at the State Farm, State Asylum, and the House of Corrections at the Howard complex in Cranston, Rhode Island.
Dates:
c. 1930
State Reformatory for Women annual report, 1926
Sub-Series — Box: State Reformatory for Women annual report 1925-1926 (C#1049)
Dates:
1926
- Rhode Island Department of State
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