Archaeology News and Announcements

from Brown University's Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World

Tag: Rhode Island

R.I. Cemetery Weeks Schedule!

By

On April 23, 2024

In News and Events

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Awareness and Preservation Weeks is underway! The weeks kick off in April and continues into May with tours, clean-ups, gravestone conservation demonstrations, and other programs in and about historic cemeteries throughout the state. All programs are free, and most are outdoors. Rhode Island Cemetery Weeks is organized by the Rhode Island Advisory Commission on Historical Cemeteries and Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission in collaboration with many individual and organizational partners.

Here is the schedule for April – check out all the amazing events occuring this month!

  • 4/1 Clean-up | Three burial lots, Cumberland
  • 4/2 Clean-up | Two burial lots, Cumberland
  • 4/3 Clean-up | Two burial lots, Cumberland
  • 4/3 Birds & Burials Tour | Norman Bird Sanctuary, Middletown
  • 4/4 Clean-up | Three burial lots, Cumberland
  • 4/4 Colonial Newport Burial Sites & Stones Presentation | Edward King House, Newport
  • 4/5 Clean-up | Four burial lots, Cumberland
  • 4/5 Clean-up | Three burial lots, Cumberland
  • 4/6 Clean-up | Riverside Cemetery, Burrillville
  • 4/6 Geology tour | Woodland Cemetery, Coventry (rain date 4/13)
  • 4/6 Clean-up | Three burial lots, Cumberland
  • 4/6 Clean-up/Flagging | Isaac Collins Lot, Richmond
  • 4/6 Pokanoket Royal Burial Ground Tour | Burr’s Hill Park, Warren (rain date 4/7)
  • 4/7 Clean-up | Five+ burial lots, Cumberland
  • 4/8 The Poorhouse Graves of Route 37 Panel Discussion| Central Cranston Public Library
  • 4/13 Clean-up | Hopkins/Potter/Marsh Cemetery, Burrillville
  • 4/13 Clean-up, stone cleaning, self-guided tours | Newman Cemetery, East Providence
  • 4/13 Clean-up | Jonathan Foster Ground, Westerly
  • 4/17 Clean-up, stone cleaning, self-guided tours | Newman Cemetery, East Providence
  • 4/20 Clean-up | Old Baptist Church Yard, Exeter
  • 4/20 Clean-up | Governor King/Borden Lot, Johnston
  • 4/20 Arnold Burying Ground and Alice Brayton Tour | Arnold Burying Ground, Newport
  • 4/20 Tour | Hotchkiss Cemetery, North Smithfield
  • 4/20 Clean-up | Tillinghast Cemetery, Providence
  • 4/21 Hike/Clean-up | John Gardner Lot, Exeter
  • 4/23 Birds & Burials Tour | Norman Bird Sanctuary, Middletown
  • 4/24 Living with the Dead in Rhode Island Talk | Central Cranston Public Library
  • 4/27 Flagging | (meet at) Exeter Public Library
  • 4/27 Tour | Hotchkiss Cemetery, North Smithfield
  • 4/27 Tour | Common Burying Ground, Newport
  • 4/27 Clean-up/data verification | North Burial Ground, Providence
  • 4/27 Clean-up | Nicholas Thomas Lot, Scituate
  • 4/27 Clean-up | Mowry Lot at Bryant University, Smithfield
  • 4/27 Clean-up | Brayton Cemetery, Warwick
  • 4/27 Clean-up | Babcock Lot, Westerly
  • 4/28 Walking Tour | Moshassuck Cemetery, Central Falls
  • 4/28 “Zinkies” walking Tour | North Burial Ground
  • 4/28 Walking Tour | River Bend Cemetery, Westerly
  • 4/28 Walking Tour | Precious Blood Cemetery, Woonsocket

There will also be ongoing exhibits:

  • 4/2 – 5/31 Newport Historic Cemeteries Exhibit | Newport Public Library, Newport
  • 4/10 – 5/18 Middletown Historic Cemeteries Exhibit | Middletown Public Library, Middletown

For more information on the event schedule for this year’s Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Weeks, please visit the calendar!

Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission Bulletin

By

On March 6, 2024

In News and Events

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.

View the 2022 RI Heritage Festival Online!

By

On December 8, 2023

In News and Events

The Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission has uploaded the full schedule of the 2022 Rhode Island Heritage Festival. Their digital events can be found through this youtube link, and are open to all viewers.

Updates from the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission

By

On December 8, 2023

In Funding & Fellowships, News and Events

The Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission’s monthly bulletin is now available. The information below can be found on this bulletin; to sign up for a monthly e-newsletter and stay updated by the RH-PCH’s work, click this link.

Historic Preservation CAMP in Warwick

This October, dozens of Rhode Island Historic District Commission members and staff, as well as RIHPHC and Statewide Planning staff went to CAMP in Warwick. The Commission Assistance and Mentoring Program (CAMP) was presented by preservation planners Amber Stimpson and Chris Skelly on behalf of the National Association of Preservation Commissions (NAPC).

They met in Warwick’s Sawtooth Building—also known as the Apponaug Mill—for presentations on Preservation Planning, Alternative Materials, Secretary’s Standards and Local Guidelines, Public Outreach and Community Engagement, the Role of the Commissioner, and Violations and Enforcement.

Attendees were engaged and inspired—and they fulfilled their new 3-hour training requirement for members of municipal land use boards.

Prudent Stewardship

RIHPHC staff members Roberta Randall and Elizabeth Totten recently inspected the Sandy Point Lighthouse, which has been transferred from federal ownership to the Prudence Conservancy. This non-profit organization has managed the lighthouse in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard since 2001. The Conservancy plans to clean the lighthouse to remove biological growth and staining in anticipation of opening the building for tours led by the Prudence Island Historical & Preservation Society next summer.

The oldest extant lighthouse in Rhode Island, Sandy Point Lighthouse was constructed in 1823 in Newport Harbor and moved to Prudence Island in 1851. This two-story, tapered octagonal lighthouse is constructed of smoothly-faced granite blocks painted white and is capped by a rare “bird cage” lantern. The interior features a cut granite winder stair leading to the cast-iron balcony.

Three cheers for this historic lighthouse as it begins its third century!

Writer Grant and Fellowship Opportunities

There are many opportunities to secure funding for your preservation project:

More December updates can be found on their website.

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