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The narrative attributes growth and prosperity to industrial leadership, especially textile manufacturing, and highlights Providence’s national industrial ranking and the civic influence of bodies such as the Board of 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major changes did Providence experience between 1890 and 1920?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Providence shifted from horse-drawn transportation to automobiles and from coal and steam power to oil and electric power, alongside many changes in everyday technology and urban development.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"Why were textile manufacturers important to Providence’s growth?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Textile manufacturing, particularly cotton, is presented as central to prosperity, with mill owners and managers holding dominant influence in the city and state.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What role did the Providence Board of Trade play in local commerce?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The Board of Trade, made up of leading citizens, collected and distributed market data and shipping news, positioning Providence at the center of American and world 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PUBLICATION   \nPublished by  \nThe Rhode Island Historical Society110 Benevolent Street  \nProvidence,Rhode 1sland 02906-3152and printed by a grant from the State ofRhode island and Providence Plantations,Bruce G Sundlun,GovemotrBarbara M Leonard,Secretary of State.  \nMaurice A.Bissonnctte,presidentEdward1.Spargo.vice presidentNancy Fisher Chudacoff,sectetaryNancy K.Cassidy,assistant secretaryWilliam A.Mekrut,treasurerGrafton Willey IⅢ.,assistant treasurerAlbertT.Klyberg director  \nFELLOWs OF THE SOCIETYCarl BridenbaughSydney V.JamesAntoinette F.DowningRichard K.ShowmanGlenn W.LaFantasie  \nPUBLICATIONS COMMITTEEEdward J.Spargo,chairmanPedro BeadeJoel A.CohenNorman S.FieringRobert Allen GreeneLeonard Levinlames MarusakWillam MeKenzie Woodward  \nSTAFF  \nAlbert T.Klyberg,editorDenise 1.Bastien,graphies editorHilliard Beller,copy editorCarol Holscher,editorial assistant  \nThe Rhode Island Historical Societyassumes no responsibility for theopinions of contributors.  \nRhode Island History  \nVolume 51,Number 2  \nCONTENTS  \nProvidence:The Confident Years,1890-1920WILLIAM G.MCLOUGHLIN  \nWilliam G.MeLoughlin;1922-1992  \nPhota by lohn Foraste/Brown University  \nWILLIAM G,MCLOUGHLIN  \nThe late William McLoughlin was aprofessor of history at Brown University.This article was presented as a lecture atthe Rhode Island Historical Society on9 January 1979.  \n# Providence:The Confident Years,1890-1920\n\nToepostec an hopeful,and they hadevey cson to e n hose hirtyyears the population almost doubled,increasing from 130,000 to 238,000,andthe value of the city's capital investments and manufactures,its property val-ues,and its money in banks,trust companies,and insurance companies avail-able for investment more than tripled.In addition,Providence had developedfrom a city of wood to a city of concrete and marble;from an overgrown towndominated by church steeples to a modern city dominated by skyscrapers;from a community fueled by coal,operating on steam power,lighted by gaslamps,and cooking on coal stoves to a city fueled by oil,operating on electricpower,lighted by electric lights,and\"cooking with gas.\"In short,between1890 and 1920 Providence moved out of the horse-and-buggy era and into theera of the automobile,forever leaving behind its cobblestoned streets,itshorse-drawn streetcars,and its horse fountains,just as it exchanged its quillpens for fountain pens,hand-copying for typewriters,carpet sweepers forvacuum cleaners,corsets for girdles,mounted police for motorcycle cops,andlivery stables for gas stations.Some of us may question the benefits of thesechanges today,but during the Confident Years no one doubted that moderntechnology was rapidly leading the city and the nation into the millennium.  \nLike the rest of New England,Providence owed its growth and prosperity tothe foresight and business skill of its captains of industry,particularly thosein textile manufacturing.In 1890 Rhode Island was preparing to celebrate thecentennial of the beginning of cotton manufacturing in America,an industryborn at the old Slater Mill in Pawtucket.Cotton was king in New England,asit was in the South,and the shrewd millowners and managers who had builtthe textile mills of Providence were the dominant element in the city and thestate.Sharing their governing power were those who produced machinery,jewelry,silverware,steam engines,tools,and hundreds of other manufac-tured goods.It was boasted in those years that\"Providence manufactureseverything from a carpet tack to a locomotive,\"and the boast was true.Providence's factories were big not only by Rhode Island and New Englandstandards;they included some of the largest firms of their kind in the wholenation.In 1893 Providence had the largest cotton manufacturing plant inAmerica,the largest worsted and woolen firm,the largest steam engine firm,the largest sterling silver company,and the largest manufacturers of wire,offiles,and of screws.  \nIn 1912 the Boar","cbCaighOLsknrvAs","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaighOLsknrvAs","pdf",4601630,34,"English","# Providence: The Confident Years, 1890-1920\n## Urban transformation and technology\n## Textile manufacturing and industrial leadership\n## Providence commerce and the Board of Trade","[{\"question\":\"What major changes did Providence experience between 1890 and 1920?\",\"answer\":\"Providence shifted from horse-drawn transportation to automobiles and from coal and steam power to oil and electric power, alongside many changes in everyday technology and urban development.\"},{\"question\":\"Why were textile manufacturers important to Providence’s growth?\",\"answer\":\"Textile manufacturing, particularly cotton, is presented as central to prosperity, with mill owners and managers holding dominant influence in the city and state.\"},{\"question\":\"What role did the Providence Board of Trade play in local commerce?\",\"answer\":\"The Board of Trade, made up of leading citizens, collected and distributed market data and shipping news, positioning Providence at the center of American and world commerce.\"}]","Providence - The Confident Years, 1890-1920 | PDF",1791268895,52]