September 24, 2016 [FREE EVENTS]
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John Brown House Museum (52 Power St., Providence), starting at 10am??????????????????
Museum of Work & Culture (42 S. Main St., Woonsocket), starting at 10am??????????????????????
Aldrich House (110 Benevolent St., Providence), starting at 3:30pm
RIHS Museums to Take Part in Smithsonian Magazine???s Museum Day Live!
Smithsonian Affiliate Will Celebrate National Museum of African American History & Culture
(PROVIDENCE and WOONSOCKET, R.I.) ??? The Rhode Island Historical Society will open its doors free of charge on Saturday, Sept. 24, as part of Smithsonian Magazine???s 12th annual Museum Day Live! On this day only, participating museums across the United States emulate the spirit of the Smithsonian Institution???s Washington, D.C.-based facilities, which offer free admission every day, and provide access to those who download a Museum Day Live! ticket.??????
Inclusive by design, the event represents Smithsonian???s commitment to make learning and the spread of knowledge available to everyone. Last year???s event drew more than 200,000 participants, and this year???s event is expected to attract more museumgoers than ever before.??
As a Smithsonian Affiliate, the RIHS will participate with free admission and special programming at the John Brown House Museum and Aldrich House in Providence, as well as the Museum of Work & Culture in Woonsocket. Many of the exhibits, performances, and events will celebrate the Smithsonian Institution???s National Museum of African American History & Culture, whose eagerly anticipated opening is the same day.
At the John Brown House Museum:
Special exhibits will feature items from RIHS collections focusing on the slave trade, as well as the contributions of people of African heritage in Rhode Island???.??
An interactive activity will allow adults and children alike to experience and understand the Complicity Web (illustrating complicity in the slave trade), an activity typically offered during student field trip groups??? at RIHS.????
In collaboration with the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, Keith Stokes will give a morning presentation titled “More Than Chattel Property: The African Heritage Experience in Rhode Island.??? This talk will include a multimedia lecture with images of historic documents from the collections of the Rhode Island Historical Society, the Newport Historical Society, and the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society. The information presented covers 1636-1936, and guests can learn about the African heritage community in Rhode Island with stories of historic events, places, and people.???
Writer, actor, and director Sylvia Ann Soares perform Defiance live at 1:30 and 3pm. Through living history, Soares will portray Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, the first person of color to graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design. Through dramatic recollection and diary quotes, she will recall a deeply challenging and rewarding life in America and France.
At the Museum of Work and Culture:??
Producer and filmmaker Marc Levitt will discuss his upcoming documentary about triple-decker multifamily housing. After the presentation, RIHS will gather images and oral histories from across generations and backgrounds.??
A gallery presentation of ???Stories of Access, Stories of Denial,??? a collaborative program with RiverzEdge, a youth-engagement nonprofit in Woonsocket that uses oral histories and podcasts to share local stories of discrimination in housing access.?????
At the Aldrich House:??
The Rhode Island Black Heritage Society and the RIHS will host the Grand Opening of the RIBHS???s new office headquarters and exhibition space at Aldrich House. During the opening, visitors will be able to view posters from the Smithsonian???s National Museum of African American History & Culture on exhibit in the ballroom.??
The Museum Day Live! ticket is available for download at
Visitors who present the Museum Day Live! ticket will gain free entrance for two at participating venues on September 24, 2016. One ticket per household is permitted. For more information about Museum Day Live! and a full list of participating museums and cultural institutions, please visit
For updates about Museum Day Live! at the RIHS, visit RIHS.org.
About the Rhode Island Historical Society
Founded in 1822, the RIHS is the fourth-oldest historical society in the United States and is Rhode Island???s largest and oldest historical organization, as well as its only Smithsonian Affiliate. In Providence, the RIHS owns and operates the John Brown House Museum, a designated National Historic Landmark, built in 1788; the Aldrich House, built in 1822 and used for administration and public programs; and the Mary Elizabeth Robinson Research Center, where archival, book and image collections are housed. In Woonsocket, the RIHS manages the Museum of Work and Culture, a community museum examining the industrial history of northern Rhode Island and of the workers and settlers, especially French-Canadians, who made it one of the state???s most distinctive areas.????
About the Museum of Work & Culture
The interactive and educational Museum of Work & Culture shares the stories of the men, women, and children who came to find a better life in Rhode Island???s mill towns in the late 19th- and 20th centuries. It recently received a Rhode Island Monthly Best of Rhode Island Award for its SensAbilities Saturdays all-ability program.
About Smithsonian Media
Smithsonian Media is a division of Smithsonian Enterprises, the revenue-generating business unit of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Media is composed of its flagship publication, Smithsonian magazine, as well as Air & Space, Smithsonian Books and the Smithsonian Media Digital Network. In addition, Smithsonian Media oversees the Smithsonian Institution???s interest in the Smithsonian Channel, a joint venture between the Smithsonian and CBS/Showtime. The Smithsonian is the world’s largest museum and research complex consisting of 20 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park and nine research facilities. Approximately 30 million people from around the world visit the Smithsonian annually.