Providence

ORGANIZED TOURS, SATURDAY, APRIL 9
Behind the Scenes at the Rhode Island Historical Society
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Limited to 24 participants | $35
Doubtless that the states and even the towns you are coming from have their own
historical societies. Treasure troves of artifacts and archives, these institutions hold some
of the best and most underutilized historical resources. On this tour you will get a behindthe-scenes
tour at the RIHS John Brown House Museum, home to one of Rhode Island’s
wealthiest merchants who participated in the West Indies trade system, the transatlantic
slave trade, and the China trade system. You will also see the RIHS Mary Elizabeth
Robinson Research Center to learn about its impressive collection, which includes 128,000
printed volumes, 6,000 rare pre-1825 books, 10,287 linear feet of manuscript collections,
110,208 photographic prints, and 9 million feet of motion-picture film.
The American Antiquarian Society
9:00 am – 1:00 pm | Limited to 40 participants | $35
This tour will allow a behind-the-scenes look at the American Antiquarian Society
(AAS), an independent research library of early American history and culture. Founded
in 1812, the society preserves and makes available for study the printed record of what
is now the United States from 1640, when the first printing press was established in
British North America, through 1876, when the United States celebrated its centennial
and new copyright laws dictated that one copy of everything printed in this country
be sent to the Library of Congress. The AAS collections include some 4 million books,
pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, periodicals, sheet music, and graphic arts
materials, as well as manuscripts and a substantial collection of secondary works,
bibliographies, and other reference works related to all aspects of American history
and culture before the twentieth century. The society’s holdings of newspapers and imprints created before 1821 are considered the finest
in the world. In addition to housing this invaluable collection, the AAS offers a wide variety of public and scholarly programs for people of
all ages. The tour will bring visitors through the society’s main library building, called Antiquarian Hall. Located in Worcester, Massachusetts,
Antiquarian Hall includes over twenty-five miles of shelving; a collection of antique furniture, portraits, and ceramics; and an eighteenthcentury
printing press.
Sunrise on the Riverwalk
8:00 am – 9:00 am
Limited to 20 participants | $8
Early risers can begin the day with a sunrise walk that offers a chance to see the play
of early morning light on the city’s eighteenth- and nineteenth-century waterfront
buildings. Typically, this walk is forty-five minutes long, begins at the Rhode Island
Convention Center, at the visitor information area on the first floor, and proposes a
little history and a little exercise before the day begins.
Contemporary and Historical Labor Tour and Trinity Brewhouse
3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Limited to 40 participants | $30*
Sponsored by the Labor and Working Class History Association (LAWCHA)
This walking tour will visit some of the historical and more recent sites of labor activism
in downtown Providence. The tour, lasting about an hour, will end at Trinity Brewhouse,
home of Trinity IPA. Cost includes one beer/wine ticket, snacks/appetizers, and a donation
to Rhode Island Jobs with Justice.
$15 Tickets for
Graduate Students
*LAWCHA is able to subsidize
the tickets for graduate students
on a first come, first served
basis. Please contact Tom Klug
at tklug@marygrove.edu
to get your $15 ticket!
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2016 OAH ANNUAL MEETING PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND