This postcard is unused, however the sculpture of the "Weaver"
doesn't appear to be present and that was sculpted and placed in 1920. The card was produced
in Great Britain rather than Germany
and is of the divided back type. That would indicate a date
for this card of somewhere between 1917
and 1920.
The Hazard Memorial Building
was constructed in 1889
and dedicated in 1891
in honor of Rowland Gibson Hazard,
(1801-1888).
The building was deeded by the Peace
Dale Manufacturing Company to three trustees in 1891
to be used for the benefit of the community. Funding for the trust was
initially provided by the Peace Dale Manufacturing Company and later by two
endowment funds set up by Caroline Hazard
in 1920 and Edith
H. Forbes in 1926.
See: 1840
Roland G. Hazard Letter & Bio
See:
Hazard
Family History
In 1920 a bronze sculpture named
"The Weaver" was
created by the famous sculptor Daniel French and placed on the front lawn
slightly behind the large white sycamore tree, (which I believe is the tree at
the extreme right of the picture). The sculpture was designed to honor
all weavers from prehistoric basket makers to the mill workers of the Hazard
textile era. Daniel French also sculpted the
Minuteman at Concord
Bridge in
Massachusetts and the seated Abraham Lincoln statue in the
Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, DC.
The building was initially used for a variety of local
activities including theatrical performances. The first floor of the building
initially housed the Peace Dale Library and also housed several classes
for the South Kingstown Public School District from
1941 to 1954. The Peace Dale
Library became the sole tenet of the building in 1970.