Materials from Ade Bethune's Social Justice Activities Available

The Ade Bethune Collection web site now contains finding aids for the first series processed as part of a CLIR grant-funded project, the Catholic Social Action Access Project (CSAAP).  [For more on the grant and the CSAAP see here and here.] The two series relate to Ade Bethune's social justice activities in her adopted home of Newport, Rhode Island.

Church Community Housing Corporation (CCHC)
Ade Bethune was a co-founder of this organization, and held several positions on its Board of Directors, including president.  The CCHC is a non-profit organization providing affordable housing to residents of Newport County, RI.  In addition to CCHC administrative and organizational documents collected by Bethune, it also contains architectural drawings and other materials related to designs she did for many new homes and rehabilitation projects.  These include a large number of items (one of which is a model) surrounding the design and construction of the first solar-heated house in Newport.

The size of this series is 31 boxes (or 15 linear feet) of materials, plus an additional 8 cubic feet of oversized drawings, plans, and one architectural model.  Materials span the years 1954 to 2000, with the bulk covering the period 1969-2000.
Guide to the Church Community Housing Corporation Materials

Star of the Sea / Harbor House
For more than the last decade of her life Ade Bethune was devoted to a project that became Harbor House, what she called an "intentional community" for active seniors.  Along with members of the CCHC, in 1991 she incorporated Star of the Sea as a non-profit to develop this community.  They focused on an abandoned property that had first been an Auchincloss family estate and later a Cenacle convent and retreat center.  After years of planning and fundraising, which also included obtaining zoning approval and community support for the project, Harbor House opened as a senior housing community in February 2002--with Ade Bethune as one of its first residents.

This series is contained in 17 boxes (8.3 linear feet), along with 2 flat file drawers of oversized materials and 19 sets of rolled architectural drawings.  It spans the years 1985 to 2002, with the bulk covering 1991-2002.
Guide to the Star of the Sea/Harbor House Materials


These 2 series form the bulk of Ade Bethune's community involvement.  But she was active in a number of other organizations in Newport, RI as well, including the Point Association, the Citizens Advisory Committee, and the Foundation for Newport.  Materials in the Ade Bethune Collection related to these activities are also being organized as part of the CSAAP and finding aids for them will be available once they are completed.

CLIR Grant Update

Halfway through the 2-year grant period for processing parts of the Ade Bethune Collection and making the finding aids available on the Catholic Portal, the MLIS graduate assistants are finishing work on the first two sets of materials.

Church Community Housing Corporation

The Church Community Housing Corporation (CCHC) is an organization in Newport, RI, begun in 1969 as a grassroots effort to address the need for low- and moderate-income housing, and still active today. Materials relate primarily to activities of the CCHC and its Board of Directors, but there are also materials collected by Ade Bethune based on her personal interest in issues of concern to the CCHC, such as neighborhood planning and energy efficiency. The collection is mostly made up of organizational documents, pamphlets, architectural drawings, newspaper articles, photos and slides, and supporting literature. The currently processed portion (just over 8 linear feet) includes administrative records, files for individual housing projects, and materials related to the funding, design, and construction of the first solar-powered house in Newport. The remainder—primarily records pertaining to derivative corporations of the CCHC, Bethune's own research materials, photographs, and architectural drawings—is partially processed.

Materials document the Church Community Housing Corporation's activities from its inception. The most complete documentation exists for the 1970s when Bethune was a very active member and served in various executive positions on its Board of Directors. Organizational materials of interest include a copy of the CCHC’s by-laws, correspondence with local church leaders and governmental agencies, project proposals for the purpose of securing funding, timelines and other summaries of accomplishments, lists of board members and founders, meeting minutes and agendas, and memos.

Items of particular interest uncovered in the collection also include a large number of materials relating to the Solar House. They provide an historical snapshot of solar and alternative energy issues, organizations, and supply companies in the mid-1970s. The Solar House project also reflects an intersection of the social justice and environmental movements of that decade. There are issues of "In the Heart of the City," a publication that includes artwork and writings of those helped by the emergency, temporary, and low income housing provided by one CCHC project, 50 Washington Square. And the many photographs, slides, and architectural drawings provide insight into home construction and rehabilitation in the Newport area.

Star of the Sea / Harbor House

Ade Bethune was to devote the final decade of her life to developing Harbor House, an "intentional community" for the elderly.  In 1991, she and several CCHC board members formed a non-profit corporation called Star of the Sea (SOS) to purchase unused property and the buildings on it to preserve and renovate for the project.  Following ten years of fundraising, project re-definition, and construction, Harbor House opened as a senior housing community in February 2002.  Materials cover the incorporation of Star of the Sea including corporate changes, fundraising initiatives, and design and development of Harbor House.  They include business and administrative records, correspondence, catalogs, publicity materials and architectural drawings.   Processing of the collection is complete and the finding aid is nearly done.

The collection contains correspondence with prominent individuals: William F. Buckley, Jr., Representative Patrick Kennedy (son of Ted Kennedy), Senator John Chafee and Lieutenant Governor Robert A. Weygand, as well as Catholic Church officials and other state and municipal officials on the East Coast.  There is documentation of the many foundations, state programs and other entities that support and assist community groups and corporations in completing housing and other service projects.  Materials related to the purchase, design, and renovation of the Auchincloss Estate/Cenacle-by-the-Sea Convent property are also included in the collection; they underscore the scope and nature of such a large historic preservation, restoration, and redefinition of purpose building project.