Topic List--2020 “Breaking Barriers in History”

Topic: Zachariah Allen Zachariah Allen, the son of Zachariah and Anne Allen, was born in Providence on September 15, 1795. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and graduated from in 1813. By 1815, Allen was practicing law in Rhode Island, and in 1817 he married Eliza Harriet Arnold.

Law was an unsatisfying career choice for Allen, and in 1822 he invested in a woolen factory and became interested in the textile industry. He established the Allendale Mills and the Georgiaville Mills, later to become the Bernon Manufacturing Company. Allen was a manufacturer, but he was also interested in the technology of the textile industry and refined power looms and cloth finishing machines, invented high speed shafting with loose belts and also developed a cutoff valve for steam engines. He worked on fire-proof constructions for his factories and in 1835 he founded Manufacturers' Mutual, a factory insurance company which helped other factory owners develop methods to prevent fires and other disasters in their factories.

Allen was also actively involved in the social and political concerns of Providence. He was a member of the Town Council in Providence, he helped introduce fire engines to Providence and organized a committee to establish a free library and natural history museum. He was also active in the development of Park.

Allen went bankrupt in 1857, but continued working in manufacturing by managing the Georgia Mills that his brother bought and by helping his son-in-law, William Ely with the Allendale Mills, which Ely had purchased. Allen died in 1882.

(From Rhode Island Historical Society, “Zachariah Allen Papers,” accessed October 10, 2019, http://www.rihs.org/mssinv/Mss254.htm)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 254, Zachariah Allen Papers  Makers of Modern Rhode Island by Patrick T. Conley,  Providence: A Pictorial History by Patrick T. Conley,  The Biographical Cyclopedia of Representative Men of Rhode Island,  An Album of Rhode Island History by Patrick T. Conley,  Rhode Island Yearbook,  Buildings on Paper: Rhode Island Architectural Drawings, 1825-1945 by William H. Jordy,  VF Biog A425za (Allen, Zachariah Allen)  Rhode Island History Vol 46 (Nov 1988),  Rhode Island History Vol. 56 (Aug 1998)

Topic: Edward Mitchell Bannister Edward Mitchell Bannister was born November 2, 1828 in St. Andrews, New Brunswick and moved to New England in the late 1840s, where he remained for the rest of his life. Bannister was well known in the artistic community of his adopted home of Providence, Rhode Island and admired within the wider East Coast art world: he won a bronze medal for his large oil "Under the Oaks" at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial. But he was largely forgotten for almost a century for various reasons, principally racial prejudice. Bannister began his official career as an artist when an article in the 1867 New York Herald belittled both him and his work, stating "... the negro has an appreciation for art while being manifestly unable to produce it." Prior to working as a painter, Bannister worked as barber and tinted photos. Although committed to freedom and equal rights for Afro-Americans, he chose not to inject those issues into his work, adopting instead a spiritual philosophy and individually expressive style which represented harmony and liberty on a more universal plane.

As his career matured, Banister accumulated many honors, several from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association. His two biggest support systems were his mother, who was the catalyst from the very beginning for his passion for the arts, and his wife, who also was an activist. Both strong supporters of abolition, wife Christina lobbied for equal pay for black soldiers during the Civil War and also organized the soldiers’ relief fair in 1864. In 1880, Bannister joined with other professional artists, amateurs, and art collectors to found the Providence Art Club to stimulate the appreciation of art in the community. Bannister was the only major African American artist of the late nineteenth century who developed his talents without the benefit of European exposure.

Bannister died of a heart attack on January 9, 1901 while attending a prayer meeting at his church, Elmwood Avenue Free Baptist Church. He is buried in the in Providence.

(Written by Jen Galpern)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 262, Ann Eliza Club Records,  Rhode Island Box: Famous Rhode Islanders,  Hidden History of Rhode Island by Glenn Laxton,  Providence: A Pictorial History by Patrick T. Conley,  Rhode Island Yearbook,  VF Biog B219 (Bannister, Edward Mitchell)  Rhode Island History Vol. 59 (Nov 2001)

Topic: Henry Barnard

Henry Barnard, appointed as Rhode Island’s first education commissioner in 1842, understood the emerging educational requirements of the time. Barnard had studied the theories of Swiss educator Johann Pestalozzi at Yale (which advocated a holistic and nurturing approach to educating every child, of every economic background) and observed his and several other European educational institutions in the 1830s. He returned to Connecticut to organize the state’s first public school system, which he led from 1838 to 1842. In 1838 Massachusetts’ new education commissioner, reformer Horace Mann, journeyed to Hartford to consult with Barnard and Thomas H. Gallaudet, the renowned educator of the deaf, about his plan to open the first “Normal School” in Lexington, Massachusetts. The idea derived from the French concept of the école normale, whose purpose was to improve and standardize the methods used for teacher education.

When Barnard accepted his position in Rhode Island, he immediately began to campaign for a state- supported normal school and public-school system. A significant part of his plan was his notion that the normal school should have attached to it a model school in which prospective teachers could apply what they had learned in the classroom—a method currently in practice at the Henry Barnard School at RIC. Unable to immediately establish the normal school, Barnard, nevertheless, managed to greatly improve public education. Among other achievements, he introduced uniform textbooks to schools across the state and persuaded Rhode Islanders to pay higher school taxes in order to build new school houses and hire more qualified teachers. Barnard also established a professional journal for teachers and helped create a body of professional literature designed to improve teacher quality. During his first two years in Rhode Island, his office oversaw more than 1,100 public meetings held to discuss public education in the state (hundreds of which lasted for two or more days), published and distributed thousands of pamphlets, and organized hundreds of instructional workshops for teachers. Through all this activity, he never ceased to champion the cause of a public normal school. Meanwhile, Providence had established its own superintendent of schools in 1838 (becoming the first city in New England to do so) and, following the Dorr Rebellion, the state’s new 1842 constitution explicitly vested the state government with responsibility for public education. Barnard’s labors bore fruit eventually, and in 1845 the state of Rhode Island invested him with the authority to found a normal school. (adapted from Barnard School’s website, http://henrybarnardschool.org/our-school/our-laboratory-school/)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 285, Henry Barnard Scrapbook,  Providence: A Pictorial History by Patrick T. Conley,  Rhode Island: The Independent State by George H. Keller and J. Stanley Lemons,  An Album of Rhode Island History by Patrick T. Conley,  Makers of Modern Rhode Island by Patrick T. Conley

Topic: Kady Brownell Kady Brownell was born in 1842 in a tent on a British army camp in Kaffraria, South Africa of a French mother and Scottish father. Her father, Col. George Southwell, was on maneuvers at the time. Her frail mother died shortly after her birth. She was adopted and raised by a couple until they immigrated to Providence, Rhode Island, where she was then raised by family and friends. In the early 1860s, Kady worked as a weaver in the mills of Providence, where she met and fell in love with Robert Brownell and married him in April 1861.

With the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, Robert joined the 1st Rhode Island Infantry. Brownell was determined to serve with him. She approached Governor Sprague who agreed to take her along to Washington and there met up with Robert. Colonel , the regiment's commander, appointed her a Daughter of the Regiment and color bearer. She was an active participant in the First Battle of Bull Run (1861), and after re-enlisting into the 5th Rhode Island Infantry with her husband Robert Brownell, at the Battle of New Bern (1862). Brownell remained in New Bern after the battle, aiding her injured husband. Upon his recovery, he was deemed unfit for battle, and not wanting to fight without her husband, both Brownells were discharged. Following the Civil War, Brownell was the only female to receive discharge papers from the Union Army. In September 1870, she became a member of Elias Howe Jr. Post #3 of the Grand Army of the Republic in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She applied for a pension in 1882, and received her $8.00 per month allotment starting in 1884, compared to her husband's pension of $24.00 a month.

Brownell died on January 5th, 1915 at the Women's Relief Corps home in Oxford, New York. A funeral service was held for her in New York City on January 7, then her body was shipped to Providence by steamboat for a second funeral service. She is buried in Providence's North Burial Ground. However, her husband is buried in an unmarked grave site in East Harrisburg Cemetery, in Pennsylvania.

(Written by Jen Galpern)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 9001-B Box 16, Brownell, Kady  Hidden History of Rhode Island by Glenn Laxton,  VF Biog B882K (Brownell, Kady)

Topic: Newport Gardner and the African Union Society The African Union Society of Newport was established as a mutual aid society on November 10, 1780. While most blacks from Rhode Island were free by 1807, strong prejudice and oppression were present before and after that date. The AUS developed partly in response to these difficulties, as well as a forum for black cultural discussion. The society is considered one of the first formal organizations founded by free blacks in the United States, although similar societies would form over the next thirty years throughout the Northeast.

Some of the difficulties faced by free blacks of Rhode Island at this time included recording births, deaths, and marriages of their community; the society provided this documentation service to free blacks and slaves.

Newport Gardner’s original name was Occramar Mirycoo before being taken from Africa. In addition to his work with the AUS, he taught Western music, developed the ability to speak English, French, and African languages, and helped organize early religious meetings in homes including that of Abraham Casey. Gardner and Pompe (Zingo) Stevens, were two of the leaders in creating the African Union Society. Additionally, the AUS took on young black apprentices in hopes of creating a pathway to freedom for them. One of the ways Gardner was able to purchase his freedom was through trade work, and he naturally believed in its value to lift up others.

Some of its members were born in Africa and felt a strong connection to their home continent, and the African Union Society were early leaders in the efforts for emigration to the home continent. Reportedly, Gardner and seventy others were interested in making a new home free of Euro-American economic and political control. This idea would come to fruition only decades later in 1825 when Gardner arrived in Africa with a small group. He died shortly after completing the trip.

By 1824, the African Union Society changed its name the Colored Union Church and Society. It became the first separate black church in Newport. The Colored Union Church was one of the first churches with a solely black administration and congregation. It hoped to even unite blacks who had different denominational backgrounds. In 1859, it became the United Congregational Church and has continued as a part of the Newport community to the present day. The African Union Society, living up to its name, was a significant effort by free blacks to disassociate from the oppressive nature of the early Northeastern United States while maintaining their love of God, family, and community.

(Edited from Michael Barga, “African Union Society,” accessed October 10, 2019, https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/religious/african-union-society/)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 9001-A Box 2 African Union Society Proceedings  MSS 418, First Congregational Church Newport,  MSS 629, sg8 B1 F8, Gardiner Family Records  Dictionary of Rhode Island Biography by Rosemary Enright  Rhode Island Box: Famous Rhode Islanders,  Negroes of the Island of Rhode Island by Charles Battle,  Gallery of Notables, October 12, 1965 by the Providence Journal,  VF Biog G226n (Gardner, Newport)

Topic: Charles Value Chapin Charles V. Chapin (1856-1941) was born in Providence, Rhode Island to Joshua Bicknell Chapin (1814-1881) and Louise (Value) Chapin (1814-1890). His father was a physician and the Commissioner of Public Schools in Rhode Island. Chapin obtained his early education at English and Classical High Schools and then entered Brown University and graduated with an A.B. in 1876. After graduation he studied under Dr. George Wilcox and then continued his education at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Bellevue Hospital and Medical College. In 1879, upon graduating with his M.D., he worked at Bellevue for a year. In 1880, Chapin returned to Providence and started a private practice. He was also a Professor of Physiology at Brown University from 1883 to 1896.

1884 was the year in which Chapin was appointed as Superintendent of Health and he served in that capacity until his retirement in 1932. Chapin had tried to retire in the early 1900s due to poor health, however, after taking a hiatus out of the country, he came back and resumed his position. He also held the job of City Registrar from 1889-1932.

Chapin was well known, nationally and internationally, for his public health work related to contagious diseases, such as diphtheria, scarlet fever, and typhoid. His research showed that contagious diseases were not airborne, but were spread through contact. He was also a prolific writer and lecturer and was a member of many associations and societies. Chapin was the president of the American Public Health Association in 1926 and 1927 and was the first president of the American Epidemiology Society in 1927. He also received the Sedgwick Medal in 1930.

In 1910, he was instrumental in setting up City Hospital (now a building on the Providence College campus), where people who had contagious diseases could get medical care. Chapin died in 1941 and is buried at the in Providence.

(Edited from Rhode Island Historical Society, “Charles V. Chapin Papers,” accessed October 10, 2019, http://www.rihs.org/mssinv/Mss343.htm)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 343, Charles Value Chapin Papers  Rhode Island Box: Famous Rhode Islanders,  Providence: A Pictorial History by Patrick T. Conley,  Rhode Island: The Independent State by George H. Keller and J. Stanley Lemons,  An Album of Rhode Island History by Patrick T. Conley,  Men of Progress compiled by Richard Herndon,  VF Biog C463c (Chapin, Charles V.)

Topic: and Sarah Harris Fayerweather Prudence Crandall was an educator born in Rhode Island in 1803. She is known for her attempt to integrate her school, Canterbury Female Seminary, in the 1830s. Sarah Harris Fayerweather, born in Connecticut in 1812, she is known for her work in abolitionism, and school integration.

After a successful first year of operation, Prudence Crandall admitted Sarah Harris Fayerweather, an African- American woman to the school in 1832, who applied because she wanted to learn enough to further the education other people of color. There was immediate public outcry at Fayerweather’s admittance, and several parents threatened to pull their daughters from the school. Crandall had a bold response: rather than backing down and rescinding Fayerweather’s admittance, Crandall attempted to make the school strictly for African-American girls. Public outrage intensified: Connecticut enacted “Black Law” which forbade out of state black students. Crandall was thrown into jail soon after for violating the law and the case went to trial: it was tried a total of three times, but was eventually dismissed due to a technicality. Crandall attempted to keep the school going despite the public outrage and court cases, but was eventually forced to close the school down after an angry mob attacked the school while the students and teachers were inside.

(Written by Rebecca Valentine)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 483 sg 15, Mary P. Hazard Papers  Women in Rhode Island History: Making a Difference by the Providence Journal,  Makers of Modern Rhode Island by Patrick T. Conley,  Notable American Women, 1607-1950 edited by Edward T. James,  VF Biog F283z (Fayerweather, Sarah Harris)

Topic: George T. Downing George T. Downing, abolitionist, businessman, and civil rights advocate, was born in New York City on December 30, 1819 into a prominent, well-to-do African-American family. His father Thomas Downing was a restauranteur, whose Oyster House was a gathering place for New York's aristocracy and politicians. Under his father's guidance, young George participated in the Underground Railroad and lobbied to gain equal suffrage for blacks. He also opened a branch of his father's restaurant in Newport, Rhode Island, a town that had a blend of old-line families and a sizeable black community. The Sea Girt Hotel catered to a white clientele, the grand five-story building included large stores, a restaurant, accommodation for gentlemen boarders and families, and served as the Downing residence.

The Sea Girt served the community until an arsonist burned it down ten days before Christmas in 1860. While the culprit was never caught, many believed that the fires were lit in retaliation for Downing’s staunch advocacy of civil rights. A “race man” like his father and grandfather before him, Downing was keenly interested in the treatment of African Americans. As one of America’s earliest civil rights activists, Downing led the campaign for the desegregation of Newport schools and was instrumental in getting the first African American into the Diplomatic Corps.

His political concerns led him to Washington, where he made alliances with white abolitionists and other African American activists. In 1865, he became the manager of the Members’ Dining Room for the U.S. House of Representatives, a position he held for twelve years. There, he was able to wield his influence through political ties and friendships, such as the one he shared with Charles Sumner of Massachusetts. During his time in Washington, he worked for the passage of public accommodation laws in the capital city.

Downing died in 1903, a “galvanizing and enduring symbol of African American entrepreneurship and culinary excellence.”

(Edited from May Wijaya, “The World was his Oyster,” Rhode Tour, accessed October 9, 2019, http://rhodetour.org/items/show/41)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 Rhode Island Box: Famous Rhode Islanders,  Makers of Modern Rhode Island by Patrick T. Conley,  From Slave to Citizen by Irving Bartlett,  Negroes of the Island of Rhode Island by Charles Battle,  Rhode Island: The Independent State by George H. Keller and J. Stanley Lemons,  Gallery of Notables, October 12, 1965 by the Providence Journal,  History of Newport County (594),  Rhode Island History Vol. 36 (Nov 1977)

Topic: Elleanor Eldridge Eldridge, a woman of color, had made a name for herself as a successful entrepreneur, pulling herself up out of poverty. She was likely born on March 26, 1784, in Warwick, R.I. She was descended from enslaved Africans and Narragansett tribe members.

Eldridge began work at around 10 years old, shortly after her mother’s death. Eventually, Eldridge saved up enough to buy a plot of land, build a house, and rent it out. She supplemented her income with odd jobs, whitewashing, doing laundry, and wallpapering, and soon saved up enough to buy a second house. By 1827, she owned two house lots, a small house in Warwick, and a large house in Providence.

Elleanor fell ill while visiting a friend in Massachusetts, and rumors spread. Two men from Providence overheard that she was sick, and reported the news to friends. The report snowballed, and soon many believed her to be dead. When she returned to Providence, she discovered that her creditors, those she had borrowed from when building her house, believed she had died, as well. In an effort to regain the money she had borrowed, one of her creditors put a lien on her house. She promised to pay him back, continued to pay interest. However, when she left town to visit a friend, the creditors descended once again. What unfolded was a confusing array of manipulations, culminating in the seizure and sale of her biggest house. The circumstances of the sale remain suspicious: The creditors could have easily sold her smaller house or one of her plots of land to pay off her debt. Instead, they seized the largest, never legally advertised it, and sold what was likely a $4,000 home for $1,500. It was a case of collusion, an abuse of power directed at a woman they believed couldn’t defend herself.

But they underestimated her. Eldridge contacted the State’s Attorney, and he told her to bring forward a case of Trespass and Ejectment against the man who had purchased her property. She also approached many of the women whom she had worked for, and they banded together to help. Much of what we know about Eldridge comes from this effort: Frances Harriet Whipple Green wrote Memoirs of Elleanor Eldridge to raise money for the case. In its introduction, 13 of Eldridge’s former employers, all women, testify to her character. The book is a further testament to Eldridge’s work ethic, as well as to the injustice she faced from the men in power at the time.

As Eldridge tried to gain back her own property, she continued to fight injustices against her community in the legal system, managing her brother’s defense after he was wrongfully accused of beating another man. Meanwhile, the memoir and its sequel, Elleanor’s Second Book, also written by Green, raised enough money to fund Eldridge’s own legal battle. The suit against her creditors wasn’t settled perfectly, but Eldridge managed to buy back her property after raising additional money from within the community. In the end, she turned back to her work, telling Green of the legal system that she had “no desire to enter its mazes again.”

(Edited from Rebecca Hansen, “Celebrating Women’s History Month with some of Rhode Island’s #ArchivesAwesomeWomen,” accessed October 9, 2019, https://www.rihs.org/elleanor-eldridge/)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 Women in Rhode Island History: Making a Difference by the Providence Journal  Memoirs of Elleanor Eldridge by Frances H. Green

Topic: Anne Smith Franklin

"The Widow Franklin" American colonial newspaper printer and publisher, inherited the business from her husband, James Franklin, brother of Benjamin Franklin, published the Newport, Rhode Island Mercury, printed an almanac series, and printed Rhode Island paper currency, was the country’s first female newspaper editor, the first woman to write an almanac, and the first woman inducted into the University of Rhode Island's Journalism Hall of Fame.

(written by Jen Galpern)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 Dictionary of Rhode Island Biography by Rosemary Enright  Rhode Island’s Founders by Patrick T. Conley  Notable American Women, 1607-1950 edited by Edward T. James,  Women in Rhode Island History: Making a Difference by the Providence Journal

Topic: Katharine Ryan Gibbs was born Katharine Ryan in Galena, IL in 1863. She was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattanville, NY and graduated as a member of the first class in 1882. She married William Gibbs in 1896. They settled in Cranston, RI and had two sons: William Howard Gibbs in 1898 and James Gordon Gibbs in 1900. Katharine was widowed in 1909 at the age of 46 when her husband (Vice-Commodore of the Edgewood Yacht Club) fell from the mast of his boat. She had to support her 2 young sons and her unmarried sister, Mary Ryan.

Katharine Gibbs borrowed $1000 from friends who were Brown University faculty members and bought the Providence School for Secretaries in 1911. Her goal was to educate young women to be secretaries rather than stenographers. Ironically, the first student was a man, Marshall H. Sheldon.

The school was boosted by World War I when more women were needed in the business world as the men went off to fight in Europe. The American Red Cross invited Katharine to manage the secretarial training school in Boston in 1917. That same year, Katharine opened the Boston School for Secretaries with "a wartime call for college women with business education." The following year she opened the New York School for Secretaries on Park Avenue at 40th Street. In 1920 the name was changed to the Katharine Gibbs Schools of Secretarial and Executive Training for Women and in 1928 the school was incorporated.

Katharine Gibbs died at the age of 71 in 1934. James Gordon Gibbs succeeded his mother as President and expanded the schools to Chicago, IL (1943) and Montclair, NJ (1950). The Chicago School closed in 1954 but the New York school expanded and moved into the brand new Pan Am Building (later MetLife Building) on Park Avenue. James Gordon sold the schools to Macmillan, Inc. in 1968 and retired when neither of his 2 daughters showed an interest in business. His wife, Blanche Gibbs (former Executive Secretary to Katharine Gibbs), then became President until 1970.

(Edited from John Hay Library, Special Collections, “Guide to the Katharine Gibbs School records, 1900-2009,” accessed October 9, 2019, http://www.riamco.org/render?eadid=US-RPB-ms2011.019&view=title)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 Women in Rhode Island History: Making a Difference by the Providence Journal

Topic: Christopher Greene Colonel Christopher Greene was an American legislator and Revolutionary War soldier, best known for leading his participation in the 1777 Battle of Red Bank, and for leading Rhode Island’s African American Regiment during the American Revolutionary War.

Christopher Greene (1732-1781) was born at Occupessatuxet, Warwick, Rhode Island to Judge Phillip Greene and Elizabeth (Wickes) Greene. He married Anna Lippit (b.1735), the daughter of Jeremiah and Welthian (Greene) Lippit on May 6, 1757 and they had nine children. When his father died in 1761, Christopher inherited the family's mill estate and ran the business until he became an officer in the Revolutionary Army. He also served several successive terms in the colonial legislature until the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

Christopher Greene was chosen, at the commencement of the Revolutionary War, as a lieutenant in the Kentish Guards, which was established by the colonial legislature as a way to select the "top" youth for military office. From there the legislature appointed him a major with the Army of Observation, under the command of his third cousin, General Nathanael Greene.

In 1775, he was put in charge of a Continental regiment in Cambridge under the command of Benedict Arnold. This regiment was attached to the Army of Canada under General Montgomery. During an attack upon Quebec, Greene was captured. He spent eight months in captivity before being exchanged. Upon his return he was promoted to Major in Col. Varnum's First Rhode Island Regiment and in February of 1777 he became its commander. He was then chosen by General Washington to take charge of Fort Mercer and was promoted to Colonel.

Colonel Greene died on May 14, 1781 when a group of Loyalists surrounded his headquarters on the Croton River in New York. From one account of the attack "his body was found in the woods, about a mile distant from his tent, cut, and mangled in the most shocking way."

(Edited from Rhode Island Historical Society, “Papers of Col. Christopher Greene (1737-1781),” accessed October 9, 2019, http://www.rihs.org/mssinv/Mss455.htm)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 455, Col. Christopher Greene Collection  MSS 673 sg 2, Revolutionary War Military Records  Dictionary of Rhode Island Biography by Rosemary Enright  Rhode Island’s Founders by Patrick T. Conley  The Biographical Cyclopedia of Representative Men of Rhode Island,  Dictionary of Rhode Island Biography by Rosemary Enright,  History of Warwick, Rhode Island by Oliver Payson Fuller  History of Washington and Kent Counties, Rhode Island, by J.R. Cole

Topic: Frances Evelyn Henley Frances Evelyn Henley was born in 1896 in Crompton, Rhode Island to Charles A. Henley and Mary E. Booth. Henley attended high school in Providence. She was the first woman admitted to the Rhode Island School of Design’s architectural program and graduated with honors in 1897. Henley attended RISD on a state scholarship. As an undergraduate, she received several awards for her architectural designs, and her drawings appeared in school catalogs from 1894 to 1897. According to an undated newspaper article, a group of RISD students banded together to prevent Henley from working as a professional architect. Being a pioneer of her gender in the field of architecture, Henley encountered the general societal preconceptions that architecture was a field of practice more suitable for a man and that a woman working with men “would disrupt their organization.” With the help of Eliza G. Metcalf Radeke, the director of RISD at that time, she was employed as a draftsman by Howard Hilton (1867-1907), a member of the American Institute of Architects. After a couple of years working for Hilton, Henley had to abandon her position due to health problems. When recovered, she embarked on a free-lance style activity in 1904. Franklin J. Sawtelle (1846-1911) had his office in the Wilcox Building, room # 34 for many years. Henley moved her business there in 1910, right next to Sawtelle’s office, in room # 33. Following Sawtelle’s unexpected death, she took over the Wheeler School project that she co- authored. Two years later she began to work with Arthur L. Almy, in Grosvenor building, found on the same street. Henley (and Almy) moved back into Wilcox Building in 1915. After Almy’s death in 1924, she inherited his business with the condition that she would remain unmarried. Henley was now the only woman architect in the state practicing under her own name. She became the president of the firm and ran the organization for 30 years. She was also a lifetime member of the Providence Plantations Club and designed many of the interiors of the building. Although Henley primarily designed residences, she has been cited as the designer of the main building of the Mary Wheeler School in Providence and for lavish summer camps at Rangeley Lakes in Maine. She died in 1955 at her home in Pawtuxet, Rhode Island.

(Written by Jen Galpern)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 486, Frances Evelyn Henley Papers  G1176, Architectural Drawings

Topic: Anne Hutchinson, a rebellious religious leader and one of the founders of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, made her arrival in the American colonies on September 18, 1634. In July of that year, Anne, with her husband William and their children, left England to follow the Puritan Minister John Cotton to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

For the next couple of years, Anne Hutchinson worked as a midwife and occasional spiritual advisor to the women she saw. She began holding meetings at her home to discuss recent sermons and religious issues, as well as voice her own strong religious beliefs. Initially only women attended, but the popularity of these meetings grew to include men as well. They listened as Hutchinson began speaking out with more and more frequency against the way Puritan leaders were preaching. In 1637 she was charged with sedition for inciting people to rebel against the authority of the ministers. By speaking out against the Puritan church leaders, she was also speaking out against the Puritan government, for the two were inseparable.

The civil trial of Anne Hutchinson began on November 7, 1637. She was accused of defying Puritan authority in speaking out against all of the religious leaders except Reverend Cotton and in holding her own religious meetings at her home. Hutchinson taught women and men in violation of the Puritan rule that women should not lead. During her trial, Hutchinson revealed that she had had a revelation from God that all who did not preach a covenant of grace over works were truly in the wrong. Her defiance and her dangerous claims decided her fate and she was sentenced to imprisonment through the winter until she could be banished in the following year.

Before Hutchinson left the Massachusetts Bay Colony, she had a final church trial in March of 1638, during which religious leaders tried to get her to at least repent for what she had done, but she refused and was excommunicated from the church. It was after this that Anne Hutchinson finally left Massachusetts and began the walk down to Rhode Island, accompanied by followers and family, on her way to join her husband and the rest of her followers at a settlement they had begun setting up in preparation at the top of Aquidneck Island. Many of them had been exiled around the time of Hutchinson’s trial and had left Massachusetts with the goal of finding a new home.

The settlement on Aquidneck Island, known originally as Pocasset and later renamed Portsmouth, was the home of Anne Hutchinson until the death of her husband in 1642. Life in Rhode Island had been marked by the occasional political conflict and the continued reminder of the presence of nearby Massachusetts Puritan leaders, so Hutchinson made the decision to leave Rhode Island with her children for the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam in what is now present-day New York. This is where Anne Hutchinson’s story ended a year later in 1643, when she and her family were killed by a local Native American tribe who was engaged in a greater conflict that the Hutchinson family made the mistake of moving into.

(Edited from the Redwood Library and Athenaeum, “The Arrival of Anne Hutchinson” accessed October 9, 2019, https://www.redwoodlibrary.org/blog/lwhite/2016/09/15/arrival-anne-hutchinson)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 Dictionary of Rhode Island Biography by Rosemary Enright  Rhode Island’s Founders by Patrick T. Conley  Rhode Island Box: Famous Rhode Islanders,  Women in Rhode Island History: Making a Difference by the Providence Journal,  Rhode Island History Vol. 49 (Feb 1991)  VF Biog H975 (Hutchinson, Anne)

Topic: Women’s Organizations Health: The Rhode Island Birth Control League was founded in 1931. Its clinic at 163 North Main Street in Providence was the first birth control center in New England, and initially limited its activity to the dissemination of contraceptive information to married women. The name was changed to the Rhode Island Maternal Health Association in 1939, and the clinic was moved to larger quarters at 433 Westminster Street in 1946. By 1948, the clinic also provided infertility treatment, gynecological examinations, and counseling for parenthood. The name was changed again to Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island in 1964, to reflect affiliation with the national organization. It moved again in 1965, to 46 Aborn Street. A branch clinic was opened in Wakefield, R.I. in 1967. The organization also began performing abortions in 1975. The clinic is presently located at 111 Point Street. (From Rhode Island Historical Society, “Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island Records,” accessed October 10, 2019, http://www.rihs.org/mssinv/Mss1020.htm)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 1020, Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island Records  WJAR-TV, Film collection  Choice Issues published by Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island  Planned Parenthood published by Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island  Focus published by Planned Parenthood of Southern New England

Women’s Suffrage: In Rhode Island, one of the original state suffrage organizations was formed on December 11, 1868. This organization, the Rhode Island Women's Suffrage Association, was organized upon the return of two Rhode Island women, Paulina Wright Davis and Elizabeth Buffam Chace, from the organizational meeting of the New England Women's Suffrage Association which was held in Boston, Massachusetts on October 23, 1868. Only a year later, the Rhode Island Women's Suffrage Association would host the national convention of the National Women's Suffrage Association in Newport, Rhode Island. The Rhode Island Women's Suffrage Association was the sole organizing force working for women's suffrage in Rhode Island for over forty years. Each year, the organization petitioned for women’s suffrage to the state legislature until the bill was favorably acted upon by the Rhode Island legislature of 1886-1887. When the state suffrage amendment was submitted to the male voters of Rhode Island, however, it was defeated on April 6, 1887. Despite the organizations’ efforts, Rhode Island only passed women’s suffrage with the eventual passage by the United States Congress. In December of 1907, the College Equal Suffrage League was organized in Rhode Island to further educate citizens about the issue of the vote for women. A few years later, the Rhode Island Women's Suffrage Party was formed after a similar state organization was introduced in New York by Carrie Chapman Catt in 1913. Two years later, the Rhode Island Women's Suffrage Association, the College Equal Suffrage League, and the Rhode Island Women's Suffrage Party merged to form a single organization: Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association. The League of Women Voters of Rhode Island, originally known as the United League of Women Voters, was organized in Rhode Island on October 8, 1920. Like many of its sister League chapters in other states, the Rhode Island League grew out of its predecessor suffrage organization, the Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association. During its first year, the primary concern of the League of Voters was twofold; to unite all of the state suffrage members for continued work in the political process and to recruit new members to the organization. By the end of its first year, the League numbered over one thousand members statewide. During its second year of existence, the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island encouraged and supported the formation of local units or chapters throughout the state. These local chapters were considered the backbone of the state chapter and were urged to conduct their own studies of local issues and to take local action, while still remaining under the umbrella of the state League. The state organization of the League of Women Voters still reflects this initial structure; to serve as a go-between for the national and local chapters as well as bringing all of the local concerns together on a state level. The major efforts of the national and state Leagues were originally to register women to vote and to help educate female voters in the political process. Since 1920, however, the overall scope of both the national and state Leagues have broadened to incorporate international issues and the education of all United States citizens. Throughout its sixty years of existence, the League of Women Voters has, thus far, remained an active and influential participant in local, state and national issues and concerns. In addition to these many concerns, the League in Rhode Island has supported many strictly local issues. These state issues have included reforms in the Rhode Island judicial system, including support for creation of a separate Juvenile Court; support for changes in state tax laws and allocations; support for a Direct Primary (election) Bill, which provided for party election of candidates by popular vote rather than by party machine; and support for the Home Rule Bill, which allowed local communities control over their own strictly local affairs. The League of Women Voters of Rhode Island, then, has been concerned with a wide spectrum of issues on both the local and national levels, ranging from state aid to families and educational legislation to international issues on foreign relations and world trade. (From the Rhode Island Historical Society, “Records of the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island,” accessed October 10, 2019, http://www.rihs.org/mssinv/mss021.htm)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 21, League of Women Voters Records  MSS 1061, Mary Lou Blecharczyk Papers  MSS 183, Elizabeth Gallup Myer Papers  WJAR-TV, Film collection  Forty Years Of A Great Idea by League of Women Voters (U.S.)  Providence: Know Your City by League of Women Voters of Providence  Pawtucket, Our City by League of Women Voters of Pawtucket  The United League News printed by League of Women Voters of Rhode Island.

Second Wave Feminism:

The Women's Liberation Union of Rhode Island was formed in 1970 by a group of women concerned with improving the status of females in our society. The ideas of the Women's Liberation Union of Rhode Island were a result of student activism in the civil rights movement, US involvement in the Vietnam War, and the publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mysteries (1963). Similar to activism that began on college campuses, the WLURI began in the fall of 1969 with a group of women associated with Brown University. Eventually the Union grew in size which caused some difficulty as a result to members sharing different political views. This problem was never completely solved, but as tension lessened the group was able to concentrate on issues that concern women. The Union used various means to achieve their goals, including union-filed lawsuits, organized protests, handing out literature, and working with other agencies to promote women's issues. These women worked hard to achieve equal rights for women and socialist programs to aid women and their children. Their ideas included: equal pay for equal work, maternity leaves, availability of contraceptives, repeal of abortion laws, the establishment of day-cares and women's centers, self- defense classes, teaching of women in history, and other things that would benefit women. The organization continued to exist until 1984 (From Rhode Island Historical Society, “Women's Liberation Union of Rhode Island Records,” accessed October 10, 2019, http://www.rihs.org/mssinv/MSS156.htm) Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 156, Women's Liberation Union of Rhode Island Records  WJAR-TV Film collection  Women's Liberation Union of Rhode Island: A History by Anne Fausto and Christina Simmons

Topic: Idawalley “Ida” was born in Newport on February 25, 1842. When she was eleven years old, her father, Captain Hosea Lewis, was appointed keeper of the Lime Rock Light in Newport harbor. In 1856, Ida became her father's assistant in running the lighthouse. Three years later, he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed, and Ida assumed most of his duties.

After Hosea's death in 1872, Ida continued to maintain Lime Rock, but she was not officially appointed light keeper until 1879, becoming the first female to hold such a post. By that time she had gained national fame for several daring rescues and the patronage of U.S. Senator Ambrose Burnside who secured her official appointment.

Ida became an expert handler of boats, and it was said she could row a boat faster than any man in Newport. She was visited by President Ulysses Grant, appeared on the cover of Harper's Weekly, and had a song composed in her honor. In 55 years at Lime Rock (including 39 years as de facto keeper) Ida was credited with saving 18 lives in the choppy waters off Newport by risking her own. During her lifetime Ida Lewis rose above the bias aimed at women and gained national notoriety for her rescues of ship-wrecked sailors earning the title of “The Bravest Woman in America.”

In October 1911, while on duty, Ida suffered a paralytic stroke similar to the one that had felled her father. She died in her beloved lighthouse on October 24, 1911 at the age of sixty-nine and was laid to rest in Newport's “common ground” on Farewell Street.

(Edited from Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, “Inductee Details: John Brown Herreshoff,” accessed October 9, 2019, http://www.riheritagehalloffame.com/inductees_detail.cfm?crit=det&iid=522)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 Women in Rhode Island History: Making a Difference by the Providence Journal,  Notable American Women, 1607-1950 edited by Edward T. James,  VF Biog L674 (Lewis, Ida)

Topic: Helen A. R. Metcalf Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1831. In 1852, she married Jesse Metcalf, who was a cotton buyer in the South for several years prior to the Civil War and then became a textile manufacturer in Providence, co-founding the Wanskuck Company in 1862 in Wanskuck, in the city's North End.

In 1876, Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf urged 34 members of the Rhode Island Women’s Centennial Commission to invest their group’s surplus funding of $1,675—which they had raised for RI’s contribution to the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876—in founding a school of art and design (instead of building a public fountain, one of the other options on the table). The Rhode Island School of Design was officially incorporated in 1877. The idea behind the college was driven by the desire to support the state’s thriving textiles and jewelry industries in particular, with the first courses of study offered addressing two main areas: Freehand Drawing and Painting and Mechanical Drawing and Design. Helen directed the school until her death 1895; her daughter, Eliza Radeke, would serve as the school’s first female president in 1913.

(Edited from Rhode Island School of Design, “History and Tradition,” Accessed October 9, 2019, https://www.risd.edu/about/history-tradition/)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 Women in Rhode Island History: Making a Difference by the Providence Journal,  VF Biog M588z (Metcalf, Helen A.R.)

Topic: John Francis “Jack” McGee John Francis McGee was born in Central Falls, Rhode Island, on June 18, 1885. One could say he was born at just the right time in history to make his mark as an aviator, for he witnessed the dawn of mechanical flight; a time when there were no manuals, no regulations, and safety was a matter of perspective. It was an era when daring young men made up the rules as they went along while at the same time teaching themselves how to fly. In his youth, Jack worked in a machine shop, which gave him valuable experience with engines that would come in handy later on while working on his airplanes. Jack’s interest in mechanics led to an interest in automobiles, which led to his learning how to drive one. This acquired skill eventually landed him a chauffeur’s job with J. C. McCoy of Barrington. Mr. McCoy was an aviator in his own right, and in the spring of 1911 he had Jack drive him to an air show in Massachusetts. It was there that McGee decided he wanted to fly. After borrowing money from a friend, McGee enrolled in the Atwood Aviation School in Cliftondale, (Saugus) Massachusetts. He was a quick study, and flew at the controls, with an instructor aboard, after only three flights. McGee continued taking lessons when he could afford them, finally making his first solo flight on August 18, 1912. It was also in 1912 that McGee purchased his first airplane, a Burgess-Wright bi-plane, for the princely sum of $3,050, which he affectionately called “The Kite”. The name resembled the aircraft’s construction; wood, wires, and canvas, powered by a small smoke belching, oil-spitting, engine. The aircraft was primitive by today’s standards, and its seemingly flimsy construction left many wondering how Jack was able to perform such daring feats with it and still live. Yet as rickety as it was, those who could afford it, quickly lined up to pay for a short ride.

At the height of his flying career, McGee was big news in Rhode Island. Hardly a week went by without his name appearing in front page headlines. However, flying was far from a perfect science in that decade. McGee survived 13 crashes of varying severity in his 7-year stunt career. As a sad postscript in the “What might have been” category, McGee was the first American to request the entry papers for the British Aero Club’s $50,000 prize to be awarded to the first person to fly across the Atlantic. World War I intervened, and in 1917, McGee went to work as a test pilot for the Gallaudet Aircraft Corp. He also trained Army aviators to fly at the Gallaudet Training School in Potowomut. On June 11, 1918, lost his life in a crash of one of the seaplanes he was testing.

(Written by Jen Galpern)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 Rhode Island Box: Famous Rhode Islanders  MSS 9001-M Box 5, McGee, John (Jack)  Graphics Lot 83,  “Old Stone Bank” History of Rhode Island Vol. 4

Topic: Lizzie Murphy Elizabeth Murphy was an outstanding athlete who was the first woman ever to play in Major League Baseball competition, and who starred for more than thirty years for otherwise all-male professional, semi- professional, and amateur baseball teams throughout New England and other Eastern states.

She was born in Warren, R.I. in 1894 and soon showed a penchant for sports, and fell in love with baseball after playing catch with her brother. Murphy left school at the twelve to work at the Parker Mill in Warren, R.I., and she would often play with the mill teams as a first baseman. She earned herself a reputation good player, and in 1918 she joined a semi-pro team, the Boston All-Stars, at the age of 24. In 1922, Murphy played as first baseman for an American League All-Stars charity game against the Boston Red Sox. She played another All-Stars game, this time for National League against the Boston Braves. Murphy played semi-pro baseball until 1935, when she retired at age 41.

(Edited from Carolyn Thornton, “Lizzie Murphy: Fist ‘Baseman’ Shone In Semipro Ball” from Women in Rhode Island History).

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 Women in Rhode Island History: Making a Difference by the Providence Journal,  VF Biog M978l

Topic: Isabell Ahearn O’Neill Isabelle Florence Ahearn O'Neill was born in 1880 as the 13th and youngest child of her parents Daniel Ahearn and Mary J. (O'Connor) Ahearn. The family moved to Providence in 1892. Isabelle was educated at the Boston College of Drama and Oratory and attended Dr. Sargent's classes in Physical Education at Harvard University. Isabelle married John A. O'Neill in 1907 and they had one child who died at the age of three in 1911. She later divorced her husband.

She began her career as an orator and actress by establishing her own Ahearn School of Elocution in 1900. Her students gave annual recitals at the Providence Opera House. Isabelle played leading and supporting roles in several plays throughout the period of 1900-1918 in Rhode Island and New York. Her career moved to the big screen when in 1915 she joined the Eastern Silent Film Company and acted in several silent films.

O'Neill used her considerable elocutionary skills with great success in the world of politics. She was elected as the Representative from the 15th Assembly District in 1922, the first woman to hold office in the Rhode Island Legislature. After eight years in the House, she became a Senator in 1932. She resigned her membership in the Senate to become the Legislative Representative for the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics at the request of President Roosevelt. She worked for the Bureau until 1943 after which she worked with the Rhode Island Labor Department on the cost of living index. She retired in 1954 and passed away in 1975 at the age of 94.

(From the Rhode Island Historical Society, “Isabelle Ahearn O'Neill Papers,” accessed October 10, 2019, http://www.rihs.org/mssinv/Mss1077.htm)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 1077, Isabelle Ahearn O’Neill Papers  Rhode Island Box: Famous Rhode Islanders  Women in Rhode Island History: Making a Difference by the Providence Journal,  VF Biog O580i (O’Neill, Isabelle Ahearn)

Topic: Matthew C. Perry Matthew Calbraith Perry, (born April 10, 1794, South Kingston, R.I., U.S.—died March 4, 1858, New York City), was U.S. naval officer who headed an expedition that forced Japan in 1853–54 to enter into trade and diplomatic relations with the West after more than two centuries of isolation. Through his efforts the United States became an equal power with Britain, France, and Russia in the economic exploitation of East Asia.

Earlier, Perry had served as commanding officer (1837–40) of the first U.S. steamship, the “Fulton”; led a naval squadron to Africa to help suppress the slave trade (1843); and successfully commanded naval forces during the Mexican War (1846–48). In March 1852 President Millard Fillmore placed Perry—who was called by his honorary rank of commodore—in charge of a naval expedition to induce the Japanese government to establish diplomatic relations with the United States. After studying the situation, Perry concluded that Japan’s traditional policy of isolation would be altered only if superior naval forces were displayed and if Japanese officials were approached with a “resolute attitude.” With two frigates and two sailing vessels, he entered the fortified harbor of Uraga on July 8, 1853—an act widely publicized throughout the world. Calling himself an “admiral,” he refused to obey Japanese orders to leave and sent word that if the government did not delegate a suitable person to receive the documents in his possession, he would deliver them by force if necessary. The Japanese defenses were inadequate to resist him, and after a few days of diplomatic sparring they accepted his letter from the President of the United States requesting a treaty.

In the interim, the Japanese, who were aware of China’s recent defeat by the technologically superior Western powers in the Opium War (1839–42), decided to agree to Perry’s terms as a way of stalling for time while they improved their defenses. In February 1854, he reappeared in Edo (Now Tokyo) Bay—this time with nine ships—and on March 31 concluded the Treaty of Kanagawa, the first treaty between the two countries. The pact assured better treatment of shipwrecked seamen, permitted U.S. ships to obtain fuel and supplies at two minor ports, arranged for a U.S. consul to reside at Shimoda, and opened the way for further U.S. trading privileges. Perry’s success demonstrated the inability of the Shogun, Japan’s hereditary military dictator, to enforce his country’s traditional isolationist policy; the Japanese were soon forced to sign similar treaties with other Western nations. These events contributed to the collapse of the shogunate and ultimately to the modernization of Japan.

Considered thereafter an authority on the Far East, Perry stressed the danger of British and Russian expansion and urged a more active U.S. role in Asia. He specifically recommended the acquisition of island bases in the Pacific to assure U.S. military and commercial superiority in the area, but the government was not ready to act on these proposals for roughly half a century.

(Edited from Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Matthew C. Perry: United States Naval Officer” accessed October 10, 2019, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Matthew-C-Perry).

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 9001-P Box 5, Perry, Matthew C.  Makers of Modern Rhode Island by Patrick T. Conley,  VF Biog P464m (Perry, Matthew C.)

Topic: Isaac Ray Dr. Isaac Ray (1807-1881) is one of the fathers of American psychiatry. A native of Beverly, Massachusetts, Ray graduated from Phillips-Andover Academy and attended Bowdoin College in Maine, but left prior to graduation. Returning to Beverly, Ray served a medical apprenticeship to a local doctor, then enrolled at Harvard Medical School, and eventually concluded his studies at the Medical School of Maine, receiving his degree in 1827 at age twenty.

From 1827 until 1841, Dr. Ray engaged in private practice in Maine while developing a specialty in mental illness. In 1838, he published a major work entitled a Treatise on the Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity that went through five editions by 1863. The book established Ray as an expert in this field and led to his appointment as medical superintendent at the Maine State Hospital where he presided from 1841 to 1845. While at his Maine post, Ray, along with twelve other medical superintendents of public and private hospitals for the insane, founded an organization in 1844 that evolved into the American Psychiatric Association.

During his tenure at Maine's major mental facility, Dr. Ray accepted the directorship of Butler Hospital in Providence, then just in its planning stage. Ray had returned from a survey tour of European mental hospitals by December, 1847 when Butler Hospital admitted its first patient. For the next two decades, until his departure for Philadelphia in 1866, Ray operated the hospital in its tranquil pastoral setting on the west bank of the Seekonk River. A private facility originally endowed by gifts from Cyrus Butler, for whom the facility is named, and Nicholas Brown, the hospital was an early example of the “asylum” approach to the treatment of the mentally ill and a vast improvement over the prison-like facilities then prevalent for housing the insane.

During Ray's period of superintendency, he continued to write and lecture on the professional care of the mentally ill, earning an international reputation for his insights on both the legal aspects of confinement for mental illness and the treatment of this disease.

Ray spent the last decade of his life in Philadelphia where his physician son Benjamin Lincoln Ray had gone to set up a general practice of medicine. He died in 1879. According to one historian of the psychiatric profession in America, "Isaac Ray was one of the outstanding intellects among the founders of the American Psychiatric Association, and by example, as well as by his prolific and articulate writings, did more than any other American psychiatrist of his time to advance the medical professionalization of the care of the mentally ill."

(Edited from Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, “Dr. Isaac Ray,” accessed October 10, 2019, http://www.riheritagehalloffame.com/inductees_detail.cfm?iid=459)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 Makers of Modern Rhode Island by Patrick T. Conley,  Providence: A Pictorial History by Patrick T. Conley,  VF Biog R263i, (Ray, Isaac)  Rhode Island History Vol. 38 (Nov 1979)

Topic: Sarah Walker Sands

Sarah Walker Sands was a doctor & midwife of Block Island for over 40 years. She is known to have freed the enslaved people she owned.

(Adapted from notes written by Jen Galpern)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 9017 Sands, Sands Family Bible  Rhode Island History Vol. 6, Dictionary of Rhode Island Biography by Rosemary Enright  VF Biog S22 (Sands, Sarah Walker)

Topic: Judah and Isaac Touro Isaac Touro was born in 1738, he received the bulk of his education in Amsterdam where is his family fled after facing religious persecution, likely in Spain. Around 1758 or 1759, Isaac Touro traveled to Rhode Island through the West Indies. He settled in Newport and was invited to become hazzan, the first spiritual leader of the congregation there. His arrival coincided with building of the synagogue, now the oldest still standing in the U.S. When the Revolutionary war broke out, and the British occupied Newport, Touro was one of the few who stayed in the city, seen by many as an effort to protect the building and sacred scrolls. Only after the British left the city, did Isaac Touro also leave: as there was no longer a congregation to oversee.

Judah Touro was born in 1775, in Newport, Rhode Island, though he spent most of his adult life in New Orleans. He is known for his many philanthropic acts throughout the country most often on behalf of Jewish communities, seen as one of the first major philanthropists in the country. In Rhode Island in particular, Judah Touro gave bequeathed funds for the ministry and maintenance of the synagogue, building repairs and book purchases for the Redwood Library, and funding for the Old Stone Mill, with the property, to become a public park. It was through these bequests that the synagogue was named for the family.

(Written by Rebecca Valentine)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 The Biographical Cyclopedia of Representative Men of Rhode Island, Dictionary of Rhode Island Biography by Rosemary Enright,  Newport Social Capital (243),  Makers of Modern Rhode Island by Patrick T. Conley

Topic: Guy Watson

Guy Watson was the 1st black man from Rhode Island to join the army during the Revolutionary War. He joined the 1st Rhode Island Regiment which was a segregated unit that recruited and trained enslaved people and other people of color. Enslaved people were promised their freedom for service.

(adapted from notes written by Jen Galpern)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 Dictionary of Rhode Island Biography by Rosemary Enright Topic: Jeanie Lippitt Weeden Jeanie Lippitt was born on January 5, 1852 to & Mary Ann Balch. Jeanie lost her hearing at the age of four after contracting scarlet fever. Her mother rebelled against the contemporary belief that deaf and mute children could learn to communicate only by signing. She set about teaching Jeanie to lip read and speak so that she would not be isolated from general society, engaging household servants in the process. Jeanie’s speech was refined by the instruction of Alexander Graham Bell, who prior to his invention of the telephone taught voice physiology in Boston.

Jeanie’s demonstrated success in lip reading and speaking ultimately led to the establishment of the Rhode Island School for the Deaf in 1876. That year, her father Henry Lippitt, at that time governor of Rhode Island, successfully presented a bill to the General Assembly requesting approval for the creation of the school.

In 1893, Jeanie married William Babcock Weeden (1 Sept 1834 – 28 Mar 1912) as his third wife. Jeannie lived to 88 years and died on September 20, 1940.

(Written by Jen Galpern)

Resources in collections at the Rhode Island Historical Society about this topic:

 MSS 538 sg6 Box 1, Lippitt Family Papers  Hidden History of Rhode Island by Glenn Laxton