Upcoming Events

Winter Lecture Series 2020

"Revolution is in the Air"

The Blackstone River Valley has always served as an incubator of revolutionary thought and action. In celebration of the 250th anniversary of national independence in 2026, Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park will offer a series of programs each winter that focus on different facets of the valley’s history which exemplify the revolutionary thought which existed here.

All presentations begin at 2:00 PM, and are free and open to the public.

January 18, 2020: The Dorr Rebellion of 1841—1843

Location: Glocester Heritage Society, Job Armstrong Store, 1181 Main Street, Chepachet, RI 02814
Presenter: Russell DeSimone. Rhode Island Scholar and Co-Creator of Providence College’s Dorr Rebellion Project
Considered by many as the most significant constitutional and political event in Rhode Island history, the Dorr Rebellion questioned the role of “the people” in government. Were the people the monitor of the constitutional order?

February 22, 2020: Discovering Snowtown

Location: Congdon Street Baptist Church, 17 Congdon Street, Providence, RI 02906
Presenter: Heather Olson, Archaeology Laboratory Manager, Public Archaeology Lab (PAL) Inc.
Heather Olson will lead a discussion of the Providence Cove Lands Project; a large-scale archaeological excavation undertaken in downtown Providence during the early 1980s. Her presentation will discuss Providence’s nineteenth-century “Snowtown” neighborhood. Snowtown was noted for its constant flow of undocumented residents, ramshackle housing, and varying levels of what many city-dwellers at the time considered “unsavory behavior.” Regardless of contemporary perceptions, Snowtown’s residents were inextricably intertwined with the labor, transportation, and technological revolutions occurring in Providence during that time.

CANCELLED: National Women’s Rights Convention of 1850

Location: Blackstone Heritage Corridor Visitor Center at Worcester, 3 Paul Clancy Way, Worcester, MA 01607
Presenters: Worcester Women's History Project Representatives
This two day convention (October 23-24, 1850), was the first national convention arguing for women’s rights. Held in Worcester, Massachusetts at Mechanics Hall, this convention eclipsed the much smaller affair that occurred two years earlier at Seneca Falls, NY. The 1,000 attendees gathered to demand suffrage, property rights, admittance to higher education, and jobs in medicine, the ministry, and other professions.

 

Special Programs:

CANCELLED: March 30, 2020: National Take a Walk in the Park Day Walking Tour

Join a Park Ranger for a leisurely walk through Blackstone River State Park in Lincoln, Rhode Island. We will walk about 1 1/2 miles round trip along a paved bike path. The walk will begin at the Kelly House Transportation Museum, and will walk down to the Martin Street Bridge and back. Wear sturdy walking shoes, and dress appropriately for the weather. Walk begins at 2:00 PM, and will last between 60 and 90 minutes.

Meet at the Kelly House Transportation Museum, 1075 Lower River Road, Lincoln, RI 02865.