The monthly bulletin for the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission (RIHPHC) is live! Some featured events, grants, and projects can be found below.

Supporting Local Preservation Programs

The RIHPHC wishes congratulations to the recipients of the 2023 Certified Local Government grants. The recipients for the 2023 year are:

  • Coventry: 10,000 to survey Arkwright, Harris, and Greene Villages
  • Cranston/Preserve Rhode Island: $16,000 to prepare a National Register Historic District (NRHD) nomination for Garden City
  • Cumberland: $12,000 to prepare an NRHD nomination for Grant’s Mill
  • East Providence: $8,000 to complete a condition assessment and preservation plan for Newman Cemetery
  • Providence/Neutaconkanut Hill Conservancy: $7,500 to prepare an NRHD nomination for Neutaconkanut Hill Park
  • South Kingston: $20,000 to survey areas of Matunuck threatened by costal flooding and sea level rise

If you are interested in applying to the grant for the 2024 year, please see more information here.

Diversifying Representation on the National Register

Rhode Island’s African American Civil Rights history initiative (launched in 2015) rolls on!

RIHPHC was recently awarded an Underrepresented Communities Grant from the National Park Service to fund a Multiple Property Documentation Form and National Register nominations for four properties related to the theme of African American Civil Rights.

Meanwhile, work is underway to nominate the former home of John Carter Minkins to the National Register. A professional journalist, Minkins (1869-1959) is recognized as the first person of African heritage to lead a white-owned newspaper in the U.S. He was one of Rhode Island’s leading civil rights advocates, wielding the power of the press and his oratorical skills to call out and fight racial injustice.

Rhode Island Cemetery Works

RIHPHC and the Rhode Island Advisory Commission on Historical Cemeteries (RIACHC) will present R.I. Historical Cemeteries Awareness and Preservation Weeks in April – May 2024. Look forward to tours, clean-ups, gravestone conservation demonstrations, talks, and additional free programs that raise awareness about Rhode Island’s historic cemeteries and promote their preservation.

Have a program proposal? Please contact Christine MacWilliams (cmacwilliams58@yahoo.com) of Rhode Island Advisory Commission on Historical Cemeteries.

Heritage Happenings for March

  • 47th Annual Newport Irish Heritage. Month
  • Pawtucket’s 42nd St. Patrick’s Parade (3/2)
  • Museum of Work & Culture hosts “La Francophonie” events (3/3, 3/14, and 3/24)
  • Providence St. Patrick’s Day Parade (3/9)
  • Tomaquag Museum’s Maple Thanksgiving (3/9)
  • Nowruz 1403 with the International House of RI and Iranian American Cultural Society (3/16)
  • RI Day of Portugal’s Annual Breakfast
  • Tomaquag Museum’s Lunch and Learn Series (3/25)
  • Tomaquag Museum hosts 2024 Monthly Book Club (3/26)

For more information regarding the events sponsored by the RIHPHC, please visit their website here.