Members of the Pokanoket Tribe participated in a special Rhode Island Slave History Medallion Installation Ceremony on Sunday, October 2 in the Salem Family Auditorium at the Barrington Public Library. At the event, history students and graphic design students from Roger Williams University presented their findings of the town’s role in the transatlantic slave trade and stories of […]
The second annual “Celebrate Seekonk Day,” sponsored by the Seekonk Cultural Council, was held on October 1st from 12:00pm to 4:00pm at the Seekonk Public Library. The goal of the event is to spotlight the often-forgotten history, rich culture, and current activities of the Town of Seekonk through a day filled with walks and talks, music, […]
Life in New England was very different 350 years ago. Many things would seem almost alien to us, yet other things would be quite familiar. And here in Rhode Island . . . things are always a little bit different. Let’s face it, we were founded by an outlaw and have held the same respect […]
In 1675, eastern North America descended into chaos. Virginia exploded into civil war, as rebel colonists decried the corruption of planter oligarchs and massacred allied Indians. Maryland colonists, gripped by fears that Catholics were conspiring with enemy Indians, rose up against their rulers. Separatist movements and ethnic riots swept through New York and New Jersey. […]
Ten people gathered at the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society on August 28, 2022 for a Book Club discussion of The Name of War by Jill Lepore. Led by Sowams Heritage Area Project Coordinator Dr. David Weed (on the far right in the photo from a previous Book Club event), the group shared their reactions to the […]
The goal of the Sowams Heritage Area Project is to ensure that the ancestral seat of the Pokanoket Nation is designated by the U.S. Congress as a National Heritage Area (NHA), “where natural, cultural, and historic resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally important landscape.” Under the auspices of the U.S. Park Service, the National […]
A dozen people gathered at the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society on July 31, 2022 for a Book Club discussion of Our Beloved Kin, by Lisa Brooks. Led by Sowams Heritage Area Project Coordinator Dr. David Weed (on the far right in the photo), the group shared their reactions to the book and the many […]
A large painting of “A Visit to Massasoit’s Winter Village, Pokanoket in Sowams, c. Fall, 1620” by Ruth Major is now on display at the George Hail Library in downtown Warren, RI. The painting was commissioned by the Warren Preservation Society using a gift from the Idalia C. Whitcomb Charitable Trust. The historical painting scene […]
From the July 5, 2022 edition of the Saturday Evening Post, by Ben Railton Bristol is intertwined with the even more foundational American history of violence through its role in the brutal late 17th century conflict between the English and the Wampanoag known as King Philip’s War. Long before English settlers arrived in the region, it was […]
By Adam Reilly WGBH.org, July 19, 2022 The special commission charged with reimagining the Massachusetts state seal is balking at a proposal to feature Ousamequin — the Wampanoag leader whose aid to the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony is memorialized by the holiday of Thanksgiving — in any redesign. The idea of using the image of Ousamequin, who was known to […]