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In a commission unlike any other in his career, Norman M. Isham designed this small granite building on a high basement. If its countenance seems tomblike, that’s appropriate, for in addition to housing the incunabula and painting collection that Rush C. Hawkins collected throughout his lifetime, this is also the final resting place of Hawkins and his wife, for whom the building was named. The incunabula collection was removed to the John Hay Library, but paintings (more than a few are later copies of Old Masters) and a military collection remain for the public viewing on weekdays. Originally donated to the City of Providence, it was given to Brown in the mid-twentieth century. Annmary Brown Hawkin’s sister, Carrie Mathilde Brown Bajnotti, was also memorialized by her husband – in Carrie Tower on the main campus and at the Bojnotti Fountain in City Hall Park (Kennedy Plaza).

– 2003 Guide to Providence Architecture

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© 2025 Guide to Providence Architecture. All rights reserved. Design by J. Hogue at Highchair designhaus, with development & support by Kay Belardinelli.