(5.5) The HiFi (Historical Fiction) Collaborative, in partnership with the Providence Public Library and the Providence Athenaeum, presents “The Craft of Historical Fiction Forum,” with authors Adam Braver, Ann Hood, Thomas Cobb, and Taylor Polites.

Local historical fiction authors Braver (Misfit), Hood (The Obituary Writer), Cobb (There Will be Blood in Their Eyes), and moderator Polites (The Rebel Wife), will discuss their recent works and explore the fine line between literature and history, creative expression and scholarly research, poetic license and factual accuracy.

The HiFi Writers’ Collaborative — a writing group in which participants explore the challenges of historical fiction writing and critique each other’s work — meets one weeknight a month, alternating between Providence Public Library and The Providence Athenaeum.

Free and open to the public, 2:30pm to 4:30pm, Sunday, May 5, Providence Athenaeum, 251 Benefit Street

We were the first. On this date in 1776 Rhode Island issued The Act of Renunciation repealing its prior allegiance to the British Crown and becoming the first colony to declare independence.

. . . whereas George the Third, King of Great Britain, forgetting his dignity, regardless of the compact most solemnly entered into, ratified and confirmed, to the inhabitants of this Colony, by his illustrious ancestors, and till of late fully recognized by him—and entirely departing from the duties and character of a good King, instead of protecting, is endeavoring to destroy the good people of this Colony, and of all the United Colonies, by sending fleets and armies to America, to confiscate our property, and spread fire, sword and desolation, throughout our country, in order to compel us to submit to the most debasing and detestable tyranny, whereby we are obliged by necessity, and it becomes our highest duty, to use every means, with which God and nature have furnished us, in support of our invaluable rights and privileges; to oppose that power which is exerted only for our destruction.

The handwritten Act of Renunciation is housed at the state archives.

(4.30) This just in from Sparkle Bryant (and if you’ve got a better name I’d like to hear it) who works for the National Park Service at the Roger Williams National Memorial.

In the John Carter Brown Library is a book, the margins of which are filled with a mysterious code, or shorthand, long believed to be the writing of Roger Williams, the seventeenth-century theologian and founder of Rhode Island. Although the shorthand went undeciphered for over three hundred years, in 2012, a team of Brown University undergraduate researchers, with the support of several faculty members, was able to crack the code. Contained within the shorthand was a previously untranslated essay written by Roger Williams late in his life, titled, “A Brief Reply to a Small Book Written by John Eliot,” which was part of an ongoing Protestant theological debate between those who believed the Bible supported the baptism of infants and those who were certain that adult baptism was the only biblically defensible practice.

The Brown University team will describe the methodology used to crack Roger Williams’ code as well as share the new light it sheds on Williams’ views of baptism and Native American conversion. The presenters are: Lucas Mason-Brown, math concentrator, Brown University; Stanley Lemons, Emeritus Professor, Rhode Island College; and Linford D. Fisher, Assistant Professor of History, Brown University. (Event page here)

Free and open to the public, 6pm, Tuesday, April 30, First Baptist Church of America, 75 North Main Street, directions

Okay Howard, big smile for the camera. The Rhode Island Historical Society is hosting two H.P. Lovecraft events this week.

Thursday, March 21st, 6:30pm, free — Lecture by Niels S. Hobbs, “Gods”: Atheism and the Cthulhu Mythos. (More about Hobbs.)

Niels S. Hobbs will explore the world-renowned literary mythology created by Providence’s own author of ‘weird fiction.’ This mythology was not one Lovecraft personally believed in, quite the opposite, though many have since tried to present it as reality. However, this mythos was directly born out of his own bleak world-view, itself the product of a long-standing fascination with advances in science, exploration, and cosmological thought that occurred over the course of his life.

Saturday, March 23rd, 11am to 12:30pm, $10 — H.P. Lovecraft: A Literary Walk.

Join us for our annual walking tour to commemorate the death of H.P. Lovecraft, Providence native and master of horror stories and weird tales. The walking tour focuses on sites and events from the Providence-based story, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and many letters written by the author to family and friends.

John Brown House Museum, 52 Power Street, directions

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1937 of famed Providence resident and fantasy writer H.P. Lovecraft. The Swan Point Cemetery crew knows to expect visitors to the grave site on this day, people often wearing black who respectfully leave little bits and bobs and coins on the stone. To some extent this goes on all year, and it seems to be well-tolerated by the proprietors, but they do have to keep things neat for the “neighbors” and occasionally curate the offerings.

Phil Eil at the Phoenix has a great interview this week with Lovecraft scholar, and much-beloved west end character, Niels S. Hobbs who will be giving a lecture — “Gods”: Atheism and the Cthulhu Mythos — on March 21st at the RIHS. Also on tap for Lovecraftians,

On March 23, the RIHS will host a “literary walk” pointing out significant landmarks from Lovecraft stories. On April 7, the H.P. Lovecraft Commemorative Activities Committee will hold its annual tribute service on the lawn of Brown’s Ladd Observatory, followed by a march to Swan Point Cemetery and Lovecraft’s legendary “I AM PROVIDENCE” headstone.

Hobbs is also one of the organizers of NecronomiConProvidence 2013 to be held in town this August. And go check out the article for a picture of the bronze bust that will soon find a home in the Providence Athenaeum.

We seem to be having a Lincoln moment right now so why not recall the time that presidential hopeful Abraham Lincoln cruised through Providence the day following his famous Cooper Union speech. (He was still campaigning for the republican nomination at the time.) Horace Greeley’s New York Tribune hailed it as “one of the most happiest and most convincing political arguments ever made in this City. . . No man ever made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience.”

Lincoln spoke to the people of Providence on February 28th, 1860, in the former Railroad Hall, currently the site of the federal court building downtown.

(2.1) It’s hard to say which is more mind-blowing, the fabulous engravings in “The Festive City” exhibit at RISD or the historical events they depict. Learn about both at the Friday Salon at the Providence Athenaeum — “Curating the City: Temporary Installations, Permanent Impressions” Part 1. Join Providence Preservation Society Executive Director James Hall in a conversation with collector Vincent Buonanno on Buonanno’s contributions to the exhibit “The Festive City.”

Hall and Buonanno discuss a different role for architecture, that of temporal marker and narrative device. The prints Buonanno loaned to the show depict the 18th century Chinea Festivals in Rome, in which enormous architectural constructions were featured as the festivals’ centerpieces and then ceremoniously destroyed by fire at their conclusion.

Festival prints from other collections are featured in the exhibit as well. This was how popes, princes, and doges all broadcast their wealth and power to the world, and they knew how to party.

Elaborate festivals transformed European cities from the 16th to 18th centuries. Occasions such as coronations and royal visits, civic and religious processions, and carnival races used public spaces as an interactive backdrop on a scale rarely seen today — replete with dazzling ephemeral architecture and decorations (giving artists and artisans a steady supply of work), impressive firework displays, musical and theatrical interludes, and free food and drink. The Festive City brings together rarely seen festival prints and books, among our only traces of these staggeringly expensive but fleeting events.

The RISD exhibit will be on display through July 14th at which time the curators will pack the museum with fireworks and blow the whole thing up. Well, probably not. But that is Bastille Day, they should do something.

Even if you can’t make the salon, do not miss this exhibit. You won’t believe your eyes.

Salon, 5pm to 7pm, Friday, February 1, Providence Athenaeum, 251 Benefit Street

C-Span2 recently visited Providence to film several segments for its BookTV and AmericanHistoryTV features. Seen here is the interior of the Providence Athenaeum on Benefit Street.

Other BookTV segments take you inside the John Hay Library, the Rhode Island Historical Society Library, Cellar Stories Bookstore; there are also talks from local authors and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse expounding “On Virtues.”

The AmericanHistoryTV segments cover topics ranging from the Gaspee Affair to The Mob.

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January 1st marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The National Archives in Washington D.C. is hosting a series of events including Watch Night festivities and an opportunity to view the original document.

A tradition began Dec. 31, 1862, as many black churches held Watch Night services, awaiting word that Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation would take effect amid a bloody Civil War. Later, congregations listened as the president’s historic words were read aloud. (abc6)

Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862 announcing that if rebel states did not cease fighting and rejoin the Union by January 1, 1863, all slaves in the rebellious states would be declared free from that date forward. According to NPR,

The document was reproduced widely. “Several publishers published small versions … pocket versions [seen here] of the Emancipation Proclamation to be given to soldiers and officers,” Bunch says. He says the tiny documents were read to slaves.

The Rhode Island Black Heritage Society reminds us that 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. King’s momentous “I Have a Dream” speech. Similarly, five decades have passed since the Birmingham campaign and King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and they want to hear from local residents who may have personal stories from their experiences during the civil rights movement.

The Rhode Island Black Heritage Society is seeking to identify people from Rhode Island and Massachusetts who participated in the 1963 March on Washington or other events of the civil-rights movement and are willing to tell their stories. We will be mounting an exhibit and recording oral histories. The sharing of personal experiences will bring life to this monumental occasion.

The Society is seeking information from people who were active during that period or who knew individuals that were involved. Please send contact information, email address and/or the names of those who participated to riblackheritagesociety@gmail.com.

Further, January 1st will signify not only a new year, but also the sesquicentennial of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln.

(Seen here: March on Washington, August 28, 1963, photo from the National Archives.)

It may be too late to arrange for this year, but you might want to broach the idea around the table during a lull in the conversation. Edward Winslow wrote in his first-hand account of that first Thanksgiving,

. . . many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three dayes we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five Deere, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governour, and upon the Captaine and others.

Three days of fish, fowl, beer, foot races, and wrestling. (Keep in mind, the Pokanokets may not have worn much clothing. Samoset had been described as “stark naked” when he blithely sauntered into the settlement, in March.) What a scene.

In his book Mayflower: a Story of Courage, Community, and War, Nathaniel Philbrick informs us that even though the Pilgrims had pulled all the furniture outside for the celebration, ” . . . most of the celebrants stood, squatted, or sat on the ground. . . ” and would have been eating with their fingers and a knife.

So for a truly traditional Thanksgiving dinner, drag all your furniture out to the yard (actually, my uncle did that once), squat on the ground, and tear at the food with your hands. When you are done just rake everything to the curb.

(10.24) Author, presidential speechwriter, director of the John Carter Brown Library, and adviser to Hillary Clinton on affairs of state, Edward “Ted” Widmer, a.k.a. Lord Rockingham, will read from “Listening In: The Secret White House Recordings of John F. Kennedy” with a book signing to follow.

In July 1962, in order to better gauge the viewpoints and strategy delivered in meetings, President John F. Kennedy had hidden recording devices placed in the Oval office and the Cabinet room. Now, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy administration, historian Edward L. Widmer and the John F. Kennedy Library have carefully selected the most compelling and important of these remarkable recordings for release.

Gwen Ifill of PBS recently interviewed Widmer for the book. Kennedy happened to have installed the recording equipment just prior to the start of the Cuban missile crisis. Says Widmer, “. . . the result is we have a nearly perfect record of all of the meetings and what people were saying and their shifting opinion. So it’s very important for historians that we have these tapes.” (Speaking of which, “Cuban Missile Crisis: Three Men Go To War” airs tonight, Tuesday, October 23 at 8pm, on PBS. Among those interviewed for the program, Rhode Islander Sergei Khrushchev. More at NYT)

Widmer reading and book signing, 5:30pm, Wednesday, October 24, Brown Bookstore, 244 Thayer Street

(10.13) On Saturday, October 13, the Rhode Island Historical Society hosts its first-ever What Cheer Day, a fun-filled day of history taking place at four sites.

When Roger Williams crossed the Seekonk River to found Providence, the Narragansetts greeted him with “What cheer, netop?” A common greeting in the 17th century, “What cheer?” or “What news of cheer do you bring?” is similar to a 21st century expression, “What’s new?” “Netop” is a Narragansett word for friend.

Ever since the Narragansetts are said to have hailed Roger Williams with “What cheer, netop?” the phrase “What Cheer” has been quintessentially Rhode Island: you can find it on street signs and storefronts, and it’s even the motto of Providence. Discover your history on What Cheer Day!

There’s even a cool T-shirt, after the jump.

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Become a registered voter at the only surviving home of a Rhode Island signer of the Declaration of Independence, Stephen Hopkins.

For the first time, the Colonial Dames and the League of Women Voters have teamed up in a collaboration of historic and modern-day patriotism. From 10am to 4pm on Saturday the 29th of September, the League will register voters at the 1707 home of Stephen Hopkins, Signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Current election information will be available, registered voters may make changes of address, and the Stephen Hopkins House regular guided tours will be offered throughout the day.

Hopkins figures prominently in the book “Sons of Providence” by Charles Rappleye — brother to TV’s Bill Rappleye — where Hopkins is described as an “. . .  iconoclast, a complex and often contradictory figure who loomed large in the life of the colony, of Providence, and of the Browns.” In 1775 John Adams joined him on the Naval Committee at the Continental Congress, and noted in his diary.

“He kept us in conversation till eleven and sometimes twelve o’clock. His custom was to drink nothing all day nor til eight o’clock . . . and then his beverage was Jamaica spirit and water. It gave him with, humor, anecdotes, science and learning. He had read Greek, Roman and British history . . .  and the flow of his soul made all his reading our own.”

Ideal candidate for Pub Quiz.

10am to 4pm, Saturday, September 29, Benefit Street at the foot of George Street (next to the Superior Court House) map

“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” So opens the L.P. Hartley novel The Go-Between. If true, then who better to advise Secretary of State Hillary Clinton than the former Lord Rockingham of 90’s rockers the Upper Crust, a.k.a. Ted Widmer.

Widmer steps down today from his current position as director and librarian of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University and according to the Brown Daily Herald will now

. . . serve as assistant for special projects to President Christina Paxson and as senior adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to a University news release. Widmer will divide his time between the two roles — advising Paxson on various initiatives, including planning commemorations of the University’s 250th anniversary and providing analysis for the U.S. State Department.

“I would just say that I’m excited to be taking on some new challenges, and proud to be at Brown,” Widmer wrote in an email to The Herald. He could not be reached for a longer comment because of a commitment in Washington.

Widmer is no stranger to the Clinton clan having served as Bill’s foreign policy speechwriter from 1997 to 2001. We wrote him up before when his book “Ark of the Liberties: America and the World” dropped. And should Hillary ever wonder ” What would Martin van Buren do?”  Widmer’s your guy.

My favorite Upper Crust video “Let Them Eat Rock” after the jump. And Widmer performed just a few years ago on New Year’s as Edward van Mente so this side of him is still in there. Let’s hope his unique perspective informs our foreign policy.

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(8.16) Lecture Thursday at the Brick School House; the topic will be the South Elmwood area (to be followed by the ‘Walk the Walk’ part on August 23rd). The Providence Preservation Society (PPS) presents the third in its ‘Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk’ series.

From June to September, Executive Director James Hall will be taking preservation from the classroom to the taproom. Join him for a lively lecture, and again for an illuminating tour, ending at a notable neighborhood pub, that is also a preservation success story.

Each of the Talks and Tours is $10 for non-members, free for members.

5:30pm, Thursday, August 16, PPS Brick School House, 24 Meeting Street (directions)