Gladys E. Bolhouse worked as the Newport Historical Society’s Executive Secretary and Curator of Manuscripts for nearly fifty years, from 1946 to 1992. She is known for being an authority on Newport history and was appointed by the Newport City Council as the first Newport Historian in 1985.
When the Historical Society received an anonymous submission to its recent Online Database Naming Contest someone suggested naming the database “Gladys” after this legendary figure, the staff knew it was a perfect match.
“Gladys is the ideal name for our online database,” the Historical Society’s Executive Director Ruth Taylor explains. “Mrs. Bolhouse was an authority of Newport’s history. When someone had a question about Newport’s history they would ask Gladys. Naming our online database after her allows us to honor her memory and continue to ‘ask Gladys’ because she’s always with us.”
The NHS database was launched 2011 and remains the only Newport institution to offer online collections access. To “Ask Gladys”, click here.
