| Creator | Roxbury Charitable Society (Boston, Mass.) |
| Title | Roxbury Charitable Society (Boston, Mass.) records |
| Dates | 1794-1919 |
| Identification | CC 24 |
| Quantity | 0.5 linear feet (1 manuscript box) |
| Collection Abstract | The records of the Roxbury Charitable Society contain annual reports dating from 1865 to 1919. Also included are three speeches that were delivered at the 1794, 1796, and 1808 annual meetings, two copies each of two printings of the constitution and other legislation, and a copy of the book published in 1894 for the Society's centennial celebration. |
| Historical Abstract | The Roxbury Charitable Society was founded in 1794 in Roxbury, MA, as a Christian organization dedicated to aiding the needy. It became a part of the Boston Provident Association some time after 1914 and by 1946 no longer existed as an independent agency. |
| Language | Material in English. |
| Location | Collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Archives staff for more information. |
Collection is open.
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question, unless otherwise designated.
Please contact the College Archivist with requests to publish any material from the collection.
[Identification of item: description and date], Roxbury Charitable Society (Boston, Mass.) records, CC 24, Simmons College Archives, Boston, MA, USA.
Transferred from the Simmons College School of Social Work Library, 1991
Accession number: 1999.056
Processed by Jill Cirasella, October 1999
Supervised by Claire Goodwin and Joan Gearin
This collection guide was encoded as part of the LEADS project by Annalisa Moretti, October 2012
The Roxbury Charitable Society organized in January 1794 and incorporated in February 1799, was founded to “impart a due proportion of the goods, with which [God] hath blessed us, towards the relief of the truly unfortunate, indigent, and helpless of our fellow-citizens.”(1); The Roxbury Charitable Society was a Christian organization but does not seem to have been affiliated with a specific denomination or church. The Society's aid to individuals and families included groceries, fuel, and housekeeping and childcare instruction.
The Roxbury Charitable Society was initially funded by membership fees and private donations, three quarters of which were invested and one quarter of which was distributed to the needy. In 1850, the Norfolk Bank, which then held the Society’s funds, folded. Financially crippled, the Society was almost dormant until it received the bequest of Horatio Davis in 1863. (Davis had added the RCS to his will when he had removed from it a relative who supported the Confederacy.)(2)
In 1869, the Roxbury Dispensary voted to merge into the Roxbury Charitable Society.(3) Sometime between 1914 and 1924, the Boston Provident Association became the agent of the Society. Beginning in 1946, the Roxbury Charitable Society was no longer listed as a separate social service, though the BPA was still noted as its agent and was still “doubly interested in Roxbury residents.”(4)
The records of the Roxbury Charitable Society contain annual reports dating from 1865 to 1919. Also included are three speeches that were delivered at the 1794, 1796, and 1808 annual meetings, two copies each of two printings of the constitution and other legislation, and a copy of the book published in 1894 for the Society's centennial celebration.
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
Collection is arranged into two series:
Part of the School of Social Work Library Charities Collection.
This series contains annual reports, summarizing the Society’s doings from October 1 of the previous year to October 1 of the year of publication. In each annual report, membership is listed, donations to the Society are enumerated, and the finances are explained. Also, each contains the self-report of Executive Committee (and sometimes other committees).
Box 1
This series contains three components: speeches, legislation, and a centennial book. The speeches were delivered at the annual meetings of 1794, 1796, and 1818 by Eliphalet Porter, John Bartlett, and Henry Maurice Lisle, respectively. The legislation is recorded in two copies of the Society’s Constitution and By-Laws, Act of Incorporation and List of Members, printed in 1862, and two copies of their Act of Incorporation, Supplementary Enabling Act, Certificate of Re-Incorporation, Original Pre-Amble, By-Laws Adopted February 6, 1912, and List of Officers and Members, printed in 1912. The final component is a commemorative book entitled Celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Roxbury Charitable Society, November 22, 1894, in the First Church, Eliot Square, Roxbury.
Box 1
