Patricia Ann Raub

Patricia died at home on October 29 after a brave struggle with the symptoms of a major brain tumor. She faced her final illness with unflinching acceptance and quiet stoicism. In her last few months, Patricia never lost interest in what was happening in the world. She followed the news, nationally and locally, and continued to believe in the possibilities of social change until the end.

Patricia spent her life quietly working for social change and--often against great odds-- achieved the implementation of important reforms that continue to benefit many people today. She was the major figure behind the Library Reform Group that fought off closures of local libraries and eventually led to the creation of CLPVD (Community Libraries of Providence), now the largest library system in Rhode Island. She served as President of its board (from 2018 to 2021) and chaired several sub-committees. She was also an active supporter of the Friends of Wanskuck Library.

Patricia became a devoted advocate of providing adequate public transport for Rhode Island and worked hard as a member of RI Transit Riders and co-chair of their Steering Committee. She found time to serve with the Board of Trustees of Providence Preservation Society, and belonged to both the RI History Society and the RI Labor History Society.

Her education was in American Studies, and she earned several degrees, starting with a B.A. at Barnard College where she was moved by witnessing the protests at Columbia in 1968. She was awarded an M.A.T. in History at Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT and an M.A. in American Studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. She completed a Ph.D. in American Culture at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, where she met her future husband, Rob Goff.

Patricia taught American Studies at UMass, Boston, including courses on the U.S. in the Twenties, U.S. in the Thirties, and Men and Women in American Society and Culture from European Settlement to the Civil War. She was part-time instructor at Providence College in the American Studies Program and the School of Continuing Education, teaching courses that included the History of Rhode Island, Providence Architectural History, and the History of Documentary Photography. She also team taught with her husband the Interdisciplinary Social Science Seminar in the Bachelor of General Studies program at the University of Rhode Island, covering such topics as urban problems, the news media, and work in America.

She published Yesterday's Stories: Popular Women's Novels of the Twenties and Thirties and numerous scholarly articles on a wide range of subjects, including ones on the portrayal of urban ethnicity in the National Geographic Magazine, media images of the St. Louis Gateway Arch, and essays on Rhode Island tourism, triple-decker housing, and the history of libraries in Providence for Rhode Island History. At the time of her illness, she was working on a book about the development of libraries in Providence up to the present.

Patricia Raub was born on September 11, 1946, in Lexington, North Carolina. Her parents were Mildred (Thomas) Weaver, a secretary, from Tennessee and William Andre Weaver, an accountant, from North Carolina. "Andre" Weaver died suddenly of a brain aneurism when she was an infant and her mother later moved to New London, CT, where she married Joseph L. Raub who became Patricia's step-father. She is survived by her husband, Rob Goff, her sister Susan Raub Rosen, her brother-in-law, Michael Rosen, her American nephews, Jonathan and Zack Rosen and her English nieces and nephews, Helen Hobson, Clare Goff, Simon Goff and Philip Goff and sister-in-law, Marie Goff.

Patricia was buried privately at Swan Point Cemetery on November 4. A remembrance of her life will be held at Wanskuck Library, Providence, on November 20 at 5pm. Anyone who has memories of Patricia is welcome to be there. Donations to Wanskuck Library in Patricia's memory are also welcome and may be sent to Wanskuck Library, 233 Veazie Street, Providence, RI 02904