Limited Edition Collectible Ornament featuring Knight Memorial Library from Providence Preservation Society

We are delighted to announce that Providence Preservation Society has produced a unique keepsake ornament to mark the centennial of our historic Knight Memorial Library. This limited edition, commemorative ornament is hand-crafted in Rhode Island and available for purchase by our library users. Proceeds of the sales of this beautiful item made by Community Libraries of Providence will help support our libraries. Supplies are limited, so order now!

All proceeds from the book will go to Community Libraries of Providence!

Please note: ornament purchases are not tax-deductible, but any additional amount would be.

About this ornament

2024 marks the centennial of Knight Memorial Library. In 1924, the grand building on Elmwood Avenue provided a new home for the Elmwood Public Library Association. Designed in the Beaux Arts style seen in both the Boston Public Library and Providence Public Library, architect Edward L.Tilton incorporated an open floor plan and shifted book storage to three levels of cast iron stacks below ground level. A lower floor housed a separate children’s library and a spacious auditorium.

Built from Indiana limestone, Knight Memorial’s copper-clad hip roof has an ornamental cresting of Greek acroteria, and massive doors approached by a stone staircase. The main interior is patterned after the architecture of a Roman atrium, and features fluted columns crowned with volutes of Ionic design, a coffered ceiling and skylight. Casts of the famous frieze from the Parthenon in Greece decorate the walls above the columns. High arched windows and stained glass panels add further grandeur.

The opulent building was given in memory of Robert and Josephine Louisa Webster Knight by their children, Edith Knight, Webster Knight, Clinton Prescott Knight, and Sophie Knight Rousmaniere. The Knight family were among Elmwood’s most prominent citizens. Robert and his brother, Benjamin Brayton Knight, established one of the world’s largest cotton manufacturing enterprises, operating 21 mills in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. For 100 years, Knight Memorial has served its diverse and vibrant neighborhood, and, since 2009, has been operated by the Community Libraries of Providence.