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Our Recent Rhode Island History Articles

The Naval Training Station at Newport: A Place in U.S. Naval History
10 years ago

The Naval Training Station at Newport: A Place in U.S. Naval History

Many think that the acquisition of Coasters Harbor Island in Newport by the United States Navy, for use as a naval training station, was a simple, linear process that arose …
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Rhode Island Advertising Currency
10 years ago

Rhode Island Advertising Currency

The use of facsimile currency for advertising purposes was not unusual during the nineteenth century, and such ephemeral items are known to exist from all areas of the country. One …
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The South Kingstown Town Council Refuses to Free Patience, a Slave
10 years ago

The South Kingstown Town Council Refuses to Free Patience, a Slave

With the ideology of equality and natural rights permeating American culture after the Revolutionary War, the system of slavery that had been quietly introduced in the American colonies in colonial …
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Abraham Lincoln Visits Rhode Island
10 years ago

Abraham Lincoln Visits Rhode Island

Abraham Lincoln came to Rhode Island at least three separate times but never as President of the United States. In September 1848, Lincoln stopped in the capital city of Providence …
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The Merci Train Visits Woonsocket: A French Connection
10 years ago

The Merci Train Visits Woonsocket: A French Connection

The United States and France have enjoyed a long and eventful relationship. We are grateful for the Comte de Rochambeau, the Marquis de Lafayette, and the Statue of Liberty given …
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Walter Massie, a Remarkable Wireless Radio Pioneer
10 years ago

Walter Massie, a Remarkable Wireless Radio Pioneer

Wrapped in a blanket, a lone radio operator sat huddled in his chair on the second floor of the Massie Wireless Telegraph station at Point Judith, Rhode Island, located in …
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“I have never heard of him since” – The Case of Scituate’s James A. Matteson
10 years ago

“I have never heard of him since” – The Case of Scituate’s James A. Matteson

In the early morning hours of October 19, 1864 along the banks of Cedar Creek, just south of Middletown, Virginia, a large Confederate army under the command of General Jubal …
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Top Ten Rhode Islanders from the Eighteenth Century
10 years ago

Top Ten Rhode Islanders from the Eighteenth Century

Here is my list of the top ten Rhode Islanders from the eighteenth century. My list is not in any particular order. And I found it necessary to include eleven!


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A French Officer Seeks to Rebuild Aquidneck Island’s Revolutionary War Fortifications
10 years ago

A French Officer Seeks to Rebuild Aquidneck Island’s Revolutionary War Fortifications

Rhode Island’s fortifications were in a state of disrepair by the end of the Revolutionary War. The Rhode Island Assembly ordered, in October 1784, that the works on Goat Island …
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The End of School Segregation in Rhode Island
10 years ago

The End of School Segregation in Rhode Island

No doubt about it, in the decades leading up to the Civil War, a small, but dedicated group of African-American activists, including George Downing of Newport and Ichabod Northup, Ransom …
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