Random Stories
Clarendon Court and Reversal of Fortune
Sunny von Bülow, a wealthy Newport resident active in charity and social organizations, was found unconscious and undressed on the floor of her bathroom. Sunny had suffered catastrophic brain damage and would likely remain in a persistent vegetative…
Kendrick-Prentice Tirocchi House
This extravagantly embellished house is still called the Wedding Cake House in spite of its current desperate search for rehabilitation. The first owner John Kendrick was an inventor whose American Supply Company dominated the global market in loom…
Geology and Topography of Mashapaug Pond
What did Mashapaug Pond look like five years ago? Fifty years ago? Five hundred years ago? Five hundred million years ago? How was that terrain different from today? The physical appearance of the pond today has slowly evolved through the dual…
Rosecliff and The Great Gatsby
The film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, directed by Jack Clayton, starred Robert Redford as the newly wealthy businessman Jay Gatsby trying to win the affection of his former love Daisy Buchanan, played by Mia Farrow. Set…
Gray's Grist Mill
Adamsville’s first mill was established by Philip Taber prior to 1700. Most early mills in the Little Compton area were wind-powered, but in order to saw wood, it was necessary to have water power. The Adamsville mill pond provided power for both a…
The Old Brick Schoolhouse and the Providence Preservation Society
Rhode Island had one of the earliest public education systems in the country, housed in this building beginning in 1800. The structure today is home to the Providence Preservation Society, formed in 1956. PPS leased the old schoolhouse from the city…
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RI Film & Television Locations
7 Locations ~ Curated by Public Humanities Program, Brown UniversitySecond Shift: New Bedford's Industrial and Immigrant Heritage
12 Locations ~ Curated by Ron M. PotvinLatinos in Rhode Island
5 Locations ~ Curated by This tour is based on Marta V. Martinez’s Latino History in Rhode Island: Nuestras Raíces (History Press, 2014) as well as the oral and visual histories at www.nuestrasraicesri.org. Molly Kerker and Jane Lancaster contributed research, content development, and editing. Translation by Roxana Mercado.Ocean State Sampler: Foodways & Cultural Heritage
11 Locations ~ Curated by Eve Harene Dewan & Maggie Unverzagt GoddardWestport River Watershed
10 Locations ~ Curated by students in the 2017 Brown University course, "Power & Water: Material Culture and Environmental Impact." The students Julia Bianchi, Lauren Black, Alexander Fredman, Sasha Lieblein, Luke Perrotta, Charlotte Senders, and Liza Yeager. The instructor was Ron M. Potvin. Other entries were contributed by the Little Compton Historical Society and the Westport Historical Society.Featured Stories
Antillas Restaurant
Broad Street today is full of ethnic restaurants, but in the late 1970s Latinos anxious for a taste of home had very limited choices; Doña Fefa sold a few prepared foods in her store, but otherwise…
Vernal Pool at Pardon Gray Preserve
Vernal pools are temporary wetlands that annually fill with water in the winter and early spring and then become dry when the weather turns warmer, although some pools may not completely evaporate in…
West Broadway Neighborhood Association
Repurposing older structures is a tenet of historic preservation. Here the West Broadway Neighborhood Association practices what it preaches. Since 1983, the WBNA has been one of the strongest and…
Rhode Tour
A project by the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage, the Rhode Island Historical Society and the Rhode Island Council for the HumanitiesRhode Tour is a statewide mobile historical smartphone application. Captivating places, intriguing people, and exciting events fill Rhode Island's history. Rhode Tour offers a new way to interact with these untold tales of the state's past. Using stories, sounds, and images, history comes alive on Rhode Tour. Read more About Us