Chester Smolski Photographs
Dublin Core
Title
Chester Smolski Photographs
Subject
Urban Georgaphy, Urban Renewal, Redevelopment, Architecture, Urban Planning,
Description
Rhode Island College Professor Chester Smolski retired in 1994 after a successful 41 year career at the college. Professor Smolski co-developed and coordinated the Rhode Island Geographic Education Alliance, a project of the National Geographic Society, and was an acknowledged expert on urban geography, urban history and city planning. He contributed over 370 columns for The Providence Journal and Providence Business News.
In 2009, the Smolski family donated almost 8,000 slides and 370 Op-Ed columns to the James P. Adams Library permanent collection at Rhode Island College. Both the slides and the Op-Ed columns are authored by Professor Smolski. They reflect the international nature of his research and his commitment to using that work to inform public discussion on Rhode Island's place in history and the world. The Adams Library has committed itself to maintain this outstanding collection and to place the Smolski Collection on its Digital Commons because of its educational value for urban studies, geography, architectural history and city planning.
The early phase of the digitization project was supported in part by a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities and with financial support from the Smolski family.
In 2009, the Smolski family donated almost 8,000 slides and 370 Op-Ed columns to the James P. Adams Library permanent collection at Rhode Island College. Both the slides and the Op-Ed columns are authored by Professor Smolski. They reflect the international nature of his research and his commitment to using that work to inform public discussion on Rhode Island's place in history and the world. The Adams Library has committed itself to maintain this outstanding collection and to place the Smolski Collection on its Digital Commons because of its educational value for urban studies, geography, architectural history and city planning.
The early phase of the digitization project was supported in part by a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities and with financial support from the Smolski family.
Creator
Chester Smolski
Date
aprox: 1960-2000
Rights
Rhode Island College
Format
Digitized slide film
Language
English
Collection Items
Federal Hill
The Federal Hill neighborhood is home to approximately 8,000 residents and has been the traditional center of Rhode Island
Greece: Village Near Corinth
This photograph was taken in Greece during the Greek military junta of 1967-1974. It was a time of unrest, military rule, and violence in Greece. Smolski notes,
Georgia: The Westin Peachtree Plaza, Atlanta
Built in 1976, the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel stood 73 stories tall as Atlanta
Providence Downtown & CVS Facade
The Westminster Street shopping area was closed to vehicle traffic in the early 1960s in an effort to bring shoppers back to downtown Providence. The buildings in the area varied in architectural style. Some buildings have been removed, yet…
Historic Thomas Howard Heirs House, Benefit St. 1835
Benefit St. is the home of many of Rhode Island
Historic Stephen Hopkins House (1974)
In 1743, Stephen Hopkins purchased a home built in 1707. Hopkins attached his own two-story house to the structure, built with a single ground floor room on either side of a central hallway and two chimneys
Historic East Side
The East Side of Providence is populated with historic homes. The area known as College Hill and Benefit Street are particularly ripe with historic homes built in the late 18th century, before and after the American Revolution. The federal style of…
John G. McIntosh House
207 Morris Avenue was built by John George McIntosh in 1892, and is known as the John G. McIntosh House. McIntosh purchased the plot of land in 1887 for $10 and built his home on the East Side. The house is pictured on the left of the…
Randall Square Mills after Fire
Randall Square was a site of dense industrial complexes which included these mills that were destroyed. Most of the land in this area was either underused or vacant much like many lands in Providence during the late 1960
Athenaeum Row
Athenaeum Row located on Benefit Street, designed and constructed by Tallman & Bucklin in 1845. The row housing was built for Thomas Poyton Ives and provided income for his heirs.
River Relocation Construction
River relocation in progress. Waterplace Park is being developed with its bridges (Exchange St., Francis St., and pedestrian walkways) built or under construction. Memorial Boulevard is for now a construction site. The Westin Hotel is being erected…
Union Trust Company Building
A 12-story, brick and stone sheathed, steel frame office building. Finished with a melange Renaissance and late Georgian Revival detailing. Corinthian column entrance, bas-relief figures of an Indian and a Puritan, carved by Daniel Chester French,…
Armory District: Cranston Street Armory
Ebenezer Knight Dexter bequeathed this large parcel to the Town of Providence upon his death. In the 1840s, this was only a 10-acre tract for militia training. At the turn of the century it was supplanted by the new building seen today. It is by far…
Transformation of Capital Center
This image shows the transformation of Capital Center in progress. Francis Street construction is complete up until the over-passed train tracks and the bridge over the Woonasquatucket River. The former train tracks have been removed, but the land…
Portland: Street Scene
A street scene of Old Port, the historic waterfront district in downtown Portland, Maine. The neighborhood is popular for its waterfront views, galleries, and restaurants. As of 2016, this storefront located at 9 Moulton St is occupied by Mexicali…
Providence: Downtown
Downtown Providence in the early 1970s. Bovi's Records was an independent record store, owned by Bob Bovi, who was a contributor to the underground music scene in Providence in the 70s. He also ran a label called Bovi Records, owned another music…
Quincy Market
Faneuil Hall in Boston was expanded in 1826 to include Quincy Market, which was designed in the Greek Revival Style and later named after Major Josiah Quincy. The market became run-down in the mid 1900's, but was revitalized by Jim Rouse, architect…
Downtown Woonsocket (Aerial)
Downtown Woonsocket in 1979, featuring a view of Harris Pond and the Blackstone River. The Oak Hill Cemetery and the World War II Veterans Memorial Park can also be seen from the photo. Around the time this photo was taken, Woonsocket became the host…
Boston Landscape and Skyline (Aerial)
An aerial photo showing the skyline of the city Boston and the cloudy Quincy Bay to its right.
Milhaus Condos
The Millhaus at Mansfield is a condominium community near downtown Mansfield, Massachusetts. Built in the early 1970s, the community exemplifies a stage of urban development in Mansfield when the town was being urbanized and community housing…
Milhaus Condos
The Millhaus at Mansfield is a condominium community near downtown Mansfield, Massachusetts. Built in the early 1970s, the community exemplifies a stage of urban development in Mansfield when the town was being urbanized and community housing…
Milhaus Condos
The Millhaus at Mansfield is a condominium community near downtown Mansfield, Massachusetts. Built in the early 1970s, the community exemplifies a stage of urban development in Mansfield when the town was being urbanized and community housing…
Milhaus Condos
The Millhaus at Mansfield is a condominium community near downtown Mansfield, Massachusetts. Built in the early 1970s, the community exemplifies a stage of urban development in Mansfield when the town was being urbanized and community housing…
Milhaus Condos
The Millhaus at Mansfield is a condominium community near downtown Mansfield, Massachusetts. Built in the early 1970s, the community exemplifies a stage of urban development in Mansfield when the town was being urbanized and community housing…
Milhaus Condos
The Millhaus at Mansfield is a condominium community near downtown Mansfield, Massachusetts. Built in the early 1970s, the community exemplifies a stage of urban development in Mansfield when the town was being urbanized and community housing…
Apartment Building and Store in Mansfield, MA
An apartment building with a convenience store on its first floor. This fusion of living and consumerism perhaps exemplifies a stage of urban development in Mansfield when the town was being urbanized and community housing encouraged.
Milhaus Condos
The Millhaus at Mansfield is a condominium community near downtown Mansfield, Massachusetts. Built in the early 1970s, the community exemplifies a stage of urban development in Mansfield when the town was being urbanized and community housing…
South of Boston (Aerial)
An aerial photo showing a housing subdivison located to the south of Boston, Massachusetts.
South of Boston (Aerial)
An aerial photo showing scattered housing located to the south of Boston, Massachusetts. The photo seems to overlook the town of Brockton, with Waldo Lake and Thirtyacre Pond at the top of the frame and with what is now the West Middle School at the…
Providence: Prescott O. Clarke House
This 2 1/2-story Tudor Revival house was designed by Prescott O. Clarke. Clarke was a principal in the architectural firm Clarke & Spaulding and designed the home for his own residence. The home was one of the first Tudor Revival houses in Providence…
Connecticut: Historic Saltbox House
A historical saltbox house in Litchfield, Connecticut. The saltbox style is a Colonial design that originated in New England in around 1650. They are characterized by having two stories in the front of the house and only one in the back, with a small…
Saint Basil Academy (Formerly Jacob Ruppert's Private Estate)
Jacob Ruppert Jr.'s private estate at Eagle's Rest, in Garrison, NY. After his death in 1939, the estate was converted into a school for at-risk children called Saint Basil Academy, opening in 1944. Long before Ruppert or the Academy, the property…
Rural North Carolina
Smolski described this as being part of the "rural slums" of North Carolina. In the 1970s, rural North Carolina was poverty-stricken and held the larger populations of African-American families. This photo is an example of the economic distress and…
Cornelius Vanderbilt II House (The Breakers)
The Cornelius Vanderbilt II House was designed by Richard Morris Hunt in 1895 after its destruction in a fire in 1892. This home was originally a wood-frame house named The Breakers designed by Peabody and Stearns in 1877 and owned by Pierre…
Blackstone: Single Family Home in Winter
A single family home in the Blackstone neighborhood on Providence’s East Side, photographed during the winter of 1974. The East Side is the oldest, and most affluent section of Providence, containing some of the states earliest settlements.
Mobile Home / Camper in Cape Cod
A Winnebago RV camping in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. A transportable residence, different from Smolski's usual documentation of permanent and non-moveable urban homes.
Bath: The Paragon
A street of Georgian townhouses in the city of Bath, in Somerset, England. The Hay Hill Baptist Church is on the left.
The layout of the city of Bath was established by John Wood the Elder from 1728 to 1775, where he and then his son, John Wood the…
The layout of the city of Bath was established by John Wood the Elder from 1728 to 1775, where he and then his son, John Wood the…
Street Scene in Copenhagen, Denmark
Example of a Copenhagen street scene, with a dairy shop on the far right and a wholesale agency next to it. The grey building on the far left belonged to the bicycle company Simonsen & Nielsen. The Danish movie director Jøneth Leth most likely filmed…
Royalton: Village of South Royaltown in Vermont
Aerial image of the downtown village of South Royalton in Royalton, Vermont from Interstate 89. Royalton is known for the Vermont Law School (Vermont's only law school) as well as being home to beautiful scenery such as the Kent's Ledge hiking trail…
Massachusetts: Nantucket Island (Aerial)
An aerial view of Nantucket Island and its harbor, in Massachusetts. Nantucket lies thirty miles south of Cape Cod, and is approximately fifteen miles in length. The town of Nantucket includes Nantucket Island as well as Tuckernuck Island, Muskegat…
Massachusetts: Nantucket Island (Aerial)
An aerial view of Nantucket Island and its harbor, in Massachusetts. Nantucket lies thirty miles south of Cape Cod, and is approximately fifteen miles in length. The town of Nantucket includes Nantucket Island as well as Tuckernuck Island, Muskegat…
Ray, Aerial Photography Pilot
Ray, the pilot who flew for (at least some of) Smolski's aerial photography.
Massachusetts: Nantucket Island (Aerial)
An aerial view of Nantucket Island and its harbor, in Massachusetts. Nantucket lies thirty miles south of Cape Cod, and is approximately fifteen miles in length. The town of Nantucket includes Nantucket Island as well as Tuckernuck Island, Muskegat…
Massachusetts: Nantucket Island (Aerial)
An aerial view of Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. Nantucket lies thirty miles south of Cape Cod, and is approximately fifteen miles in length. The town of Nantucket includes Nantucket Island as well as Tuckernuck Island, Muskegat Island, and a…
Massachusetts: Nantucket Island (Aerial)
An aerial view of Nantucket Island and its harbor, in Massachusetts. Nantucket lies thirty miles south of Cape Cod, and is approximately fifteen miles in length. The town of Nantucket includes Nantucket Island as well as Tuckernuck Island, Muskegat…
Massachusetts: Nantucket Island (Aerial)
An aerial view of Nantucket Island and its harbor, in Massachusetts. Nantucket lies thirty miles south of Cape Cod, and is approximately fifteen miles in length. The town of Nantucket includes Nantucket Island as well as Tuckernuck Island, Muskegat…
Aerial: Lake Ontario from Rochester, NY
A view of Lake Ontario and Rochester, NY in the early 1970s. Lake Ontario is the fourteenth largest lake in the world, and one of the Great Lakes of America -- Rochester, NY is often called a Great Lake City for this reason.
Willingboro Plaza
The Willingboro Plaza in Levittown, New Jersey was a 614,000-square-foot regional shopping center that was built as a centerpiece of the city. After 7 years of construction, Willingboro Plaza was completed in 1967 with featured stores like Acme,…
Levittown Shop-a-Rama
The Levittown Shop-a-Rama, originally called the Levittown Shopping Center, was a pedestrian shopping mall, planned and developed by William Levitt, the then-president of Levitt and Sons, a real estate development agency responsible for building the…
Collection Tree
- Chester Smolski Photographs