Just a reminder that Stages of Freedom, the state’s only African American Museum and Bookshop, is right downtown on lower Westminster Street by the river. And, as the sign in the window says, “All for a good cause.” That would be the Swim Empowerment program which provides free swim lessons for low-income BIPOC youth. But …
And better than ever. I stopped by Stages of Freedom recently and found they had enhanced the displays and expanded the inventory — so much more to see, and much of it is for sale (lots of used books, including vintage juveniles). Co-founders Ray Rickman and Robb Dimmick were both on hand to show off …
For a number of years, musician and historian Joey La Neve DeFrancesco has been on a mission to educate Rhode Islanders about their slave-trading past. His effort continues today in the Providence Journal with “It’s time to rethink the Gaspee Affair.” For one thing, he wants to disabuse us of the notion that the attack …
Joey DeFrancesco — Let’s Rethink The Gaspee Affair Read More »
(4.30) History buffs will enjoy this trip back in time through Roger Williams Park. Join docent Mike McGinity this Tuesday for the Lost Park Tour. Go back in time with docent Mike McGinity on a motorized tour through Roger Williams Park. Long lost park treasures and missing monuments will be revisited at their original locations …
(6.14) Remember when we were all British? This was our flag. This particular flag can be found in the Royal Charter Museum on the first floor of the Rhode Island Statehouse. The wall text beneath the display states, “Flag from the ship that brought the 1663 Charter, c. 1663” This is a replica of the …
And why doesn’t Google Maps do gangways? So what is this weird little street. It is the first left when leaving the parking lot behind the Wild Colonial Tavern and it is ridiculously narrow. Given that today is Mardi Gras and people might be throwing doubloons around we decided to look into it. The text …
(1.21) The innovative Park Service crew running the Roger Williams National Memorial have instituted their own version of Throwback Thursdays — four dates altogether from January through April. This week Roger Williams’ 1679 letter ‘To the Town of Providence’ will be on display and the public is invited to have a cup of coffee and …
Although . . . his story could make for a very terrible television show. (Mild-mannered historian by day/Perfumed fop-rocker by night!) Signed copies of Ted Widmer’s new book “Brown: The History of an Idea” are available at the Brown Bookstore. Thumbs up from Tony Horwitz so that’s all you need to know. “Through the wobbly …
Welcome to the Independence Trail of Providence. History buffs hoping to learn more about the Burning of the Gaspee on June 9th, 1772, might check out this point of interest at Planet and South Main Streets, the site of the Sabin Tavern where Rhode Island patriots planned the attack. All you have to do is …
At least while we tend to the latest cohort of returning veterans . . . let’s have a few decades to catch up. A message from Michael McPhearson, executive director of Veterans for Peace, founded in 1985. “Our message for Memorial Day is to remember all who have died in war and to understand that …
(6.21) More good weather queued up for this weekend so head down to the Roger Williams National Memorial for some edification and music. First at 5pm — Character actress Jessa Piaia (seen here as Mary Dyer) will portray Elizabeth Brown, wife of Chad Brown, proprietor of Lot 7. (You remember Lot 7 . . . …
(6.14) Gaspee Days continue in Warwick today with the parade. And the fireworks were postponed to Saturday, June 14th. Get up to speed on the Burning of the Gaspee here. HMS Gaspee and her hated commander, Lt. William Dudingston, were sent by King George III to Rhode Island waters in March of 1772 to enforce …
Family coming to visit this weekend? What to do . . . what to do. One nearby attraction of interest to American history buffs and Baptists is the Roger Williams National Memorial (RWNM), a 4.5 acre park operated by the National Park Service, complete with real live park rangers. And no bears. The visitor center …
And now for something completely different. Books can teach us much about the life of the earliest colonial settlers, but there are some things they can’t do. Sine Nomine sets out to explore a question that is rarely asked: What did this world sound like? What sounds were in the air that the early Pilgrims …
Sine Nomine Performance Saturday — The Puritan Playlist Read More »
The Rhode Island State House Visitor Center opened last December just down the hall from the Charter Museum. While the shop carries the expected assortment of postcards, prints, and state-themed tchotchkes, the bookshelves are overwhelmingly devoted to the works of “Historian Laureate”* Patrick T. Conley; I counted at least 15 different titles in large multiples. …
(1.29) “Cosmopolitanism and the Cult of the Martyrs in Late Antique North Africa” will be the topic Wednesday at Brown University. Archaeologist and historian, Richard Miles, is the senior lecturer and research director for the Department of Classics at the University of Sydney, and author of several books including “Carthage must be Destroyed.” Best known …