Contact: Jennifer Smith, 401.521.7266
Roger Williams National Memorial and Community Partners present "Inspired Providence" A Fall Lecture Series Celebrating 375 Years of Providence History
The series, part of the larger Celebrate Providence 375 Years commemoration, kicks off Thursday, September 29th at 6 PM at Roger Williams National Memorial. On this opening night, park ranger and local historian John McNiff will examine and discuss the beliefs of Roger Williams and how they were echoed in a truly revolutionary document, the United States Constitution, more than 100 years after Williams' death. Each subsequent talk will take on a distinct moment in Rhode Island history from the emergence of Rhode Island's first portable restaurants in the 19thcentury, to the Hardscrabble race riot of 1824, to an architectural competition that forever changed the face of the East Side. The series also includes a special family program at the Providence Children's Museum with storyteller Len Cabral, a public discussion moderated by "Action Speaks" host Marc Levitt, and a presentation of the Latino Oral History Project led by Marta Martinez. "This series provides the general public with countless opportunities to explore, discuss, and contemplate the themes of hope, freedom, roots, and ingenuity, the core of all of the Celebrate Providence 375 Years programming," remarks Jennifer Smith, Site Manager at Roger Williams National Memorial. "In addition to providing a fun, and, sometimes, alternative way to presenting the diverse stories of Providence and the state of Rhode Island," continues Smith, "we were looking to move people around to various locations throughout the city, expose them to great knowledge base in the state, and to move away from, ever so slightly, the history we are already so familiar with." Inspired Providence was made possible through a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities-an independent state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information about the series, including a full list of venues and event descriptions, please visit www.nps.gov/rowi. |
Last updated: February 26, 2015