Revolutionary War Privateers and the British Slave Trade

September 24, 2022 | Donna Grady Revolutionary War Privateers and the British Slave Trade John Brown of Providence was a wealthy and powerful merchant. He had financed slaving voyages. He also had experience financing privateers— privately-owned vessels licensed by the government to capture and sell enemy vessels and their contents. After the Continental Congress prohibited importation of […]

George E. Matteson: The Man and His Maps

October 19, 2022 | Donna Grady George E. Matteson: The Man and His Maps Born in Scituate in 1902, George E. Matteson was a forest ranger for decades. But he is best remembered as an extraordinary map maker who embedded the folklore of rural Rhode Island into his precise and exquisitely detailed maps. Paul St. Amand, […]

Museum Celebrates its 130th Anniversary

During our annual Trash or Treasure fundraising event at the Dunes Club on September 25, 2022, State Senator V. Susan Sosnowski presented our Board of Trustees with a Rhode Island Senate resolution congratulating the museum on its 130th anniversary. Pictured left to right are appraiser Thomas Tomaszek, Senator Sosnowski, Board of Trustees President Lisa Fiore, […]

The Memory Pile Tradition

November 26, 2022 | Donna Grady The Memory Pile Tradition On Thursday, December 1, anthropologist Timothy Ives will talk about the many historical written descriptions of memory piles and their implications for archaeology. Dr. Ives, formerly the Rhode Island state archaeologist, will consider why this practice has long fascinated European-American observers. Since early colonial days […]