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@rihistoricalsociety
Have you seen this bibliography of books owned by John Brown House residents, created by one of our spring RIHS interns?
These books come from a catalog compiled in 1980 by Nadia McIntosh, which contains books that were in the possession of either John Brown (1736-1803), his wife Sarah (1738-1825), their son James (1761-1834), their daughter Sarah, or other daughter Sally Brown Herreshoff (1773-1846).
Just another example of some of the unique holdings in the RIHS collections!
Original artwork by local Providence artist and tattooer Mike Brousseau for our upcoming Lovecraft Readathon on August 23, 7-10pm.
PPL and RI Historical Society are co-hosting a birthday celebration for HP and inviting you to take part in live readings of his short stories and poetry. We’ll also have musical performances from amazing RI bands. Plus you’ll be able to buy some swag with this awesome artwork inspired by “The Tomb”. Buy your tickets at www.lovecraftreadathon.com! (at Providence Public Library)
We are very excited about this collaboration! This promises to be an excellent event, featuring a broad cast of local readers, and music from Ian Fitzgerald, Haunt the House, and Vudu Sister!
The following is a guest post by RIHS intern Jessica Chandler.
Pictured here in her mountaineering uniform in 1908 is Annie Smith Peck, a remarkable woman who died 79 years ago this July 18. Born in Providence in 1850, she graduated from both Providence High School and Rhode Island Normal School, a school for teachers that’s now known as Rhode Island College. When she was denied entrance into Brown University based upon her gender, Miss Peck took her education to the University of Michigan, graduating with a Masters in Greek and Classical Languages.
But her journey did not stop there. Miss Peck taught languages in both Providence and New Jersey before going to Germany to study music. In 1885, she became the first woman to study at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. That same year, she discovered her love for mountaineering, climbing Cape Misenum in Italy and other mountains in Switzerland between 1885 and 1886.
Along with climbing, Miss Peck was still well-known for teaching, and by 1892 gave regular lectures on archaeology. She continued to give these lectures as she hiked in Europe and in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. When she did, controversy sparked in the press over her mountaineering costume, in which she wore a tunic, climbing boots, and pants.
Starting in 1897, Miss Peck climbed in South America, including Mount Orizaba and Mount Popocatepetl in Mexico; in 1904, she climbed Mount Sorata in Bolivia.
The photograph of Miss Peck pictured here is when she became the first woman to climb Mount Navado Huascaurán in Peru in 1908. For many years afterward she continued to climb, even well into her old age.
A pioneer in more ways than one, a Rhode Island native, and R.I.C. graduate, Miss Peck is buried in Providence’s North Burial Ground.
Works Cited
Kimberley, Scialdone Hannah. “Peck’s Bio.” Annie Smith Peck: A Woman’s Place is at the Top. Wordpress, 2012. Web. June 2014. <http://anniesmithpeck.org/pecks-bio-4/>
Providence, Rhode Island. Ca.1860-1880.
Can you identify the locations in these photos?
The following is a guest post by RIHS intern Jessica Chandler.
RHiX17551. Flag of the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery.
Happy Flag Day! In celebration, this post is dedicated to this cotton flag that dates back to 1865.
It belonged to the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, Rhode Island’s black regiment in the Civil War. The regiment formed in 1863, recruiting at least eighteen hundred black soldiers and seventy-seven white officers from Rhode Island and surrounding states such as Connecticut and New York.
Soldiers felt most loyal to their regiment, and flags represented a great deal to them. Not only would they protect the flag with their lives when face to face with enemies, but it was a rallying point for the soldiers. On the chaotic battlefield once-organized formations quickly became scattered. Guns fired, cannons blasted, and many other noises prevented the men from properly hearing one another. When their sense of direction became lost, they looked towards the flag and instantly knew where their regiment was.
This particular flag saw action in Narragansett Bay and Texas; later, as the 11th U.S. Heavy Artillery regiment, in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
Works Cited
“The 14th RI.” The 14th Rhode Island Re-enactor Program. Living History Inc., n.d. Web. May 2014. <http://14thri.org/the_14th_ri.htm>
The life and art of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet (1890–1960), RISD’s first graduate of color, is again the focus of attention. Delicious Sensations of Rightness – an ongoing exhibition of her work – is on view at the John Brown House Museum and It Is Just Defiance, a dramatization of her...
The Burning of the Gaspee
The following is a guest post by RIHS intern Jessica Chandler.
RHiX3119. The Burning of the Gaspee.
When the Gaspee, an armed British Navy ship, became grounded in the waters near Providence, John Brown called everyone to action. His plan? To attack and destroy. Many hated the ship, and after meeting in Sabin’s Tavern at nine o’clock on June 9, 1772, the group headed out to the long boats. As they set off, sailing silently into the waters, all held weapons and a hatred for the British. It was at midnight that the British noticed the long boats, and from there the attack begun. The 1856 painting above commemorates the event, which is considered one of the first acts of war in the American Revolution.
From there, two things happened. First, Joseph Wanton, Governor the Colony of Rhode Island at the time, released this proclamation on June 12, informing citizens of the burning while also putting out a one hundred pound reward for those involved with the act.
RHiX17563. A Proclamation.
Second, also appearing in 1772, was this “New Song Called the Gaspee,” a rhyme that details what happened that night on June 9. One of the verses reads:
Then set the men upon the land,
And burnt her up we understand,
Which thing prokes the king so high,
He said those men shall surely die.
The purpose of the song might have been to spread the word so more men involved in the incident would be caught, due to the four verses at the end which detail the rewards set by the Proclamation.
RHiX17320. New Song Called the Gaspee.
These, along with many other items, are a part of the Rhode Island Historical Society’s collections, and serve as a reminder of this momentous event that occurred 242 years ago this June 9.
Works Cited
Bucklin, Leonard H. “The Story of the Gaspee Attack.” Gaspee Info. History. Joseph Bucklin Society. 2009. Web. 26 May 2014. <http://www.gaspee.info/history/GaspeeStory.htm>
Bucklin, Leonard H. “Order of Events.” Gaspee Info. History. Joseph Bucklin Society. 2009. Web. 26 May 2014. <http://www.gaspee.info/history/eventsOrder.htm>
One of our favorite Rhode Island websites is posting the scanned daily accounts of Eileen Harris of Centredale, RI from her 1915 diary on their Facebook page. Does she end up with the elusive Jack or the reliable Dutchie? It’s like a soap opera!
Very cool!
The RHODI directory went live in October 2013. We spent the last months of the year finalizing the RHODI white paper (download PDF here), which we made available in January 2014. The early months of 2014 have been spent fine-tuning the website in an effort to continually evaluate and increase...
Learn more about the progress RHODI is making in Rhode Island.
Our summer walking tour schedule is now available!
This year we will be revisiting our popular Benefit Street: A Mile of History walk Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and adding two brand new thematic walks: Benefit Street: Women Who Made a Difference on Wednesdays, and Benefit Street: Literary Walk on Fridays.
We'll also be hosting three special walking tours: Summer on South Main, Wayland Square Walk, and an H. P. Lovecraft Literary Walk.
Full details are on our Walking Tours webpage, or on the RIHS Calendar of Events.
NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL - NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND
There’re a million movies about the 1960s. In more than a few, you hear about or see the Newport Folk Festival—the concert series that reignited Newport, Rhode Island’s flame after the light of its Gilded Age mansions guttered out during the Depression. It’s the festival you probably associate with Bob Dylan, whether it be his ‘63 acoustic performance with Joan Baez or his galvanizing electric set in ‘65.
While it went on a hiatus during the ’70s and early ’80s, the festival was resurrected in 1985 and has run continuously since. Fans flock to Newport each year at the end of July. They come to see the new acts as well as the old, and maybe they turn out to recapture something from that first decade of concerts. The might not say it out loud, but people look at that stage and think about Bob Dylan or Son House or Pete Seeger. They want to hear the echo of that history.
Images by Jon Creamer
° ° °
Jon Creamer is a teacher and photographer, currently on sabbatical from the Groton School in Groton, MA, based in Providence, RI between his travels. More of his work can be seen at his website and on tumblr at years-of-indiscretion.tumblr.com.
Join us this Saturday, May 3, for a free Jane's Walk around the Arcade in Providence, RI!
Jane’s Walk is a movement of free, locally led walking tours inspired by Jane Jacobs. The walks get people to explore their cities and connect with neighbors.
The Arcade, proudly placed between Westminster and Weybosset Streets, commands attention in Providence as an anchor of a downcity block in the Financial District and as the gateway to the city’s historic commercial neighborhood.
Originally thought of as a “folly” of Cyrus Butler, one of the Arcade’s original owners, the Arcade has invented itself again and again since it was built in 1828. But it is built of granite, solid and strong, and the Arcade is here to stay.
It has always been a curiosity, a destination, and a place to talk about. The Arcade is a place to go and to gather. On May 3, join friends and neighbors and those who love urban spaces to have a conversation about the streets and the block. Who is there? What is there? What is happening and why? Imagine the Arcade as it was. Imagine the neighborhood as it will be. Be a part of the story.
This event is free and open to the public.
Learn more at rihs.org & janeswalk.org.
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: Rhode Island Black Artist
As part of Gallery Night Providence, on Thursday April 17, The Rhode Island Historical Society,in partnership with the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, hosts an opening reception for an exhibit on Rhode Island sculptor Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, RISD’s first African American graduate in 1918. The multi-sensory exhibit draws on artifacts from Rhode Island College, RISD, Brown University’s John Hay Library, the Newport Art Museum and the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, using photographs, letters, art and audio selections from Prophet’s Paris dairy. A replica of Prophet’s studio and a pedestal with unmodeled clay will allow viewers to be aspiring sculptors. Museum goers may also explore 1920s Paris and Providence through items from the Society’s collection. The exhibit is funded by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities and sponsored by Opera Providence.
Upon graduating from RISD, Prophet attempted exhibiting in regional galleries, but when her skin color became a bar to entrance, Prophet chose to go Paris to study sculpture at L’Ecole des Beaux Arts under financial assistance from Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. After twelve years and international acclaim, Prophet returned to the states to teach art at Spelman College in Atlanta. In 1945, coming back to Rhode Island, she attempted to revive her career, but other than an exhibit at the Providence Public Library, she was forced to resort to domestic work and died in obscurity.
For more information about the exhibit, visit rihs.org email [email protected].
For more information about the Gallery Night guided tours, see Gallery Night Providence.
One of the most daring special operations in the Revolutionary War took place at Prescott Farm — the capture of British Gen. Richard Prescott by a small group of American soldiers in 1777.
A great feature in the Providence Journal on Christian McBurney's book "Kidnapping the Enemy."
McBurney will discuss the book at the John Brown House Museum this Wednesday, April 2 at 6:30pm. Email [email protected] to RSVP or ask any questions. We hope to see you Wednesday for a great discussion!
Part 2 of the History of Little Fanny. See how these historic paper dolls worked.
Don't forget to keep an eye out here and at www.rihs.org to learn more about the activities we have planned for What Cheer Day at the John Brown House Museum in October 2014 - including a station where you can make your own paper dolls!
(See Part 1 here.)
Stay tuned to see more of The History of Little Fanny, an 1812 paper doll book from the Rhode Island Historical Society's collection.
We're showcasing this piece as we prepare for What Cheer Day, which will take place Saturday, October 25 at the John Brown House Museum in Providence. One of our featured activities will be a paper doll making station.
A few photos from our March 1 walking tour of Providence's historic Elmwood neighborhood. The still-cold weather didn't stop nearly 40 members of the community from meeting at the front steps of the Knight Memorial Library to join us for an overview of the neighborhood's history and historic architecture.
Many thanks to the Friends of the Knight Memorial Library and the Elmwood Neighborhood Association for working with us to make this walk the wonderful event that it was.
