(2.12) The Providence Archives and the Providence City Council invite the public to the opening of a new exhibit with a celebration of black history. This year’s exhibit will include a new interactive experience: Tell Your History. (Facebook event.)
“ Pillars on Race: The Story of Race in Providence From 1935 to Today” which takes a look at the Black/African-American community in 20th-century Providence through four pillars of progress and stagnation – Housing, Education, and Development, Structured Racism, and Gentrification. . .
Throughout the exhibit, you will see some highlights, like a feature on housing activist Maria Lopes and some low-lights, such as community redlining beginning in the late 1930s and community displacement that occurred during the redevelopment era of the 20th century. Also, featured are neighborhood highlights such as Fox Point, Lippitt Hill, and the Southside. Workforce and education integration and labor unions such as the Longshoreman are also featured.
5pm to 6pm — Join City Archivist Caleb Horton and Councilwoman Mary Kay Harris for guided tours.
6pm to 8pm — City-wide Black History Month celebration on the second floor of City Hall.
Horton provided this photograph of a Fair Housing demonstration, circa 1963. (The Soldiers and Sailors monument was in a different location at that time.)
Free and open to the public, starts 5pm, Wednesday, February 12, City Hall, 25 Dorrance Street, (directions)