The Providence Visitor

The old folks had a saying whenever a new person took over something, like a new-hire principal in a school: “A new broom sweeps clean,” they would say. I think it makes for an appropriate introduction to this story. Roberta Stevens – affectionately known as Bobbie – in semi-retirement from Portsmouth Abbey and long identified with the library services of both the school and the monastery, recently brought a “new broom” to the monastic library. She has segued from the School library to the monastic library, and this story begins with her. The monastic library proper is rarely visited by those outside the cloister, and perhaps in places is prone to the gathering of dust. A lot of cleaning has been going on since the summer, with Bobbie helping put our collections into better order. A fortuitous, 97-year-old discovery made by Bobbie has become for us a topic of historical discussion. What makes this particular piece of journalism important to us is that it published, as front-page news and above the fold (a prime news position even today), a two-column-wide headline: Benedictines to Found School in Portsmouth. It is part of the original four full pages of The Providence Visitor newspaper, dated Friday, January 29, 1926. The Visitor, forerunner of the current Diocese of Providence weekly periodical, R.I. Catholic, proudly boasted in its masthead that it was “America’s largest and best Catholic newspaper.” Some years ago, a keen-eyed monk clear across Narragansett Bay from the city, most likely the late Fr. Leonard Sargent, folded this particular printing of the now-brittle paper and filed it for safe-keeping. Last month, in an e-mail sent to Bobbie on Sept. 5, a correspondent wrote, “You’re right, the newsprint is extremely fragile since it was never meant to withstand almost a hundred years in storage. Newspapers like this in general were only meant to be ephemeral.” For us, it is now a piece of history.

As is typical in Benedictine history, it is the monastery that is founded first, allowing the monks to gain a foothold in a new territory, country, or continent. Planning for a new school takes time and resources, and the actual founding and opening of their academic institution takes place later, seven years later in the case of Portsmouth. Portsmouth Priory, as it was known in its early days, was founded in 1919 and celebrated its centenary in 2019, just as several St. Louis monks were making their way east to Aquidneck Island to join the community. In a few years, Portsmouth Abbey School, known for much of its first half-century as Portsmouth Priory School, will mark its own centennial in 2026. The Visitor article, 1400+ words in length, provides us with reporting in a Catholic paper contemporary with its creation. The feature is perhaps more in-depth than the way it might have been presented in the secular press at the time. Fearful of the brittle pages literally flaking to pieces, Bobbie carefully scanned the story which appeared on two separate pages. From those scans, the story and headlines were transcribed into a document we later shared with Rev. Robert W. Hayman, the Diocesan Historian, whose office and collections are in the Chancery Office Building next to the Cathedral in Providence. In his reply of gratitude, Fr. Bob wrote, “I thank you particularly for the copy of the article from the Visitor. It is one that I missed. I have a collection of articles on the school, the monastery and obituaries of the men who lived there.” (Potential future archives material for us, we might note.)

Below the main prominent headline, in typical typographical fashion of the time, follow a number of sub-headlines highlighting the article’s main points: Institution in Providence Diocese Will be First in Country. – Will Open in September; Project is Approved by Bishop Hickey; and School to be Exclusively for Boys. – Members Coming Over From Scotland to Teach. The length of the story necessitated intermittent headings: A Boy’s School; A Downside Foundation; Fr. Sargent Acquires Property; Aims Not Changed; Beginning To Be Small; and The Teaching Staff.

In making reference to Fr. Leonard, the article mentions what eventually became the bailiwick of Bobbie Stevens, identifying her first predecessor in the position: “The Priory has thus far been identified with Fr. Leonard Sargent. The property was acquired by him. Its present excellent condition, the equipment of the buildings and the very interesting and serviceable library are due to him, and it was he who encountered, sometimes almost alone, the inevitable difficulties and troubles of the Priory’s pioneer years.” The report identifies three principal reasons Fr. Sargent gave for the foundation of his community: the public recitation of the Divine Office, some form of contribution to ecclesiastical scholarship, and hospitality to priests and laymen who desire spiritual rest and refreshment. By the time the School was created, the article claims, “a considerable part of this program has already been carried out,” though “few people” were then yet aware of its development.