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Newport Historical Society

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Devoted to the history of Newport County, Rhode Island since 1854. Become a member today! NewportHistory.org
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Since 1854, the Newport Historical Society has collected and preserved five centuries of history and continues to document Newport’s unique contribution to our national narrative. The mission of NHS is also to chronicle and interpret this history for a broad audience, so that knowledge of our past will contribute to a deeper understanding of the present and better preparation for the future.

11/02/2026

Happy November🍂

November is bringing an updated Newport History walking tour schedule! Walking tours will now be held on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays only through the remainder of the month and will feature the return of the very popular Holiday Lantern Tour!

See the list below for our updated walking tour offerings, dates, and times!

👟Fridays at 11am | Discover Colonial Newport
👟Saturdays at 11am | Road to Independence
👟Sundays at 11am | Golden to Gilded
👟November 6th, 7th, 13th & 14 at 4:30pm | Colonial Newport Lantern Tour
👟November 20th - December 27th at 4pm | Holiday Lantern Tour

For more information and to purchase walking tour tickets visit NewportHistory.org/tours/

All walking tours will continue to check-in and depart from the Colony House in Washington square.

Photo credit 📸 Michael Derr Photography

10/31/2026

Happy Halloween from the Newport Historical Society🎃

Halloween costumes have been a key part of celebrating the holiday for generations. The practice of wearing a costume can trace back to 15th century customs from Ireland and Britain. By the mid-20th century, costumes began to include popular movie and tv characters, comic-book characters, and more.

Today we are celebrating with some of our best dressed costume wearers from our collections🎃

Image 1: Large format photograph of William Watts Sherman dressed in a 17th century costume. Circa 1880s. Gift of Diana Slocum. 2022.030.034. Collections of the Newport Historical Society.
Image 2: Photograph of Alan T. Schumacher wearing a white wig and striped and floral jacket. Gardner C. Smith, December 27, 1918. Gift of John J. Slocum, Jr. P9219. Collections of the Newport Historical Society.
Image 3: Newport Daily News photograph of drama club students in costume at Rogers High School, 1973. 2018.015.036. Newport Daily News Collection.

10/30/2026

The Edward W. Kane & Martha J. Wallace Center for Black History recently welcomed a special visitor🎉

As part of a National Trust Tour, American civil rights activist, Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., visited the Center for Black History earlier this month to learn, explore, and connect with Newport's Black and Indigenous history.

Guided by Center staff members, Martin Luther King III heard the stories of Black Newporters, past and present, and how the Black community has contributed to Newport throughout our rich history. One person on the tour commented, "THIS is how you tell the whole story!"

We are grateful to have hosted Martin Luther King III and colleagues within the Edward W. Kane & Martha J. Wallace Center for Black History at the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House and hope that he will visit us again soon!

Photos courtesy of Tom Mayes, National Trust for Historic Preservation.

10/29/2026

Join us once again inside the historic Colony House for the Holiday Market that everyone was talking about last winter!

Enjoy shopping for your holiday needs inside of the festively decorated Colony House. With locally-made, high-quality, and unique gifts the Colony House Holiday Market is the perfect place to shop until you drop.

The Colony House Holiday Market will open on Tuesday, November 17th with a sip & shop event from 4pm to 7pm followed by holiday events throughout December. Holiday Market hours will reflect the Colony House's current hours, open daily from 10am to 4pm.

For more information about the Colony House Holiday Market and events visit us online at NewportHistory.org/events

10/28/2026

📅Upcoming Program: “Emerson’s Daughters: Ellen Tucker Emerson, Edith Emerson Forbes and Their Legacy” with author Kate Culkin

As part of an ongoing attempt to uncover women’s history, this book explores the significance of the Emerson daughters in their father’s success as a poet, philosopher, and Transcendentalist leader. As author Kate Culkin writes, “[Ralph Waldo Emerson’s] ability to express such ideas in print and tour the country to deliver them in person was dependent on his daughter’s labor as housekeepers, secretaries, accountants, and hostesses to the stream of visitors who came to speak to the ‘great man.’”

Culkin calls her work “a biography of correspondence,” outlining Ellen and Edith’s importance in Transcendentalism, literature, and nineteenth-century history through their words to one another, a glimpse into the storied lives of the women behind Ralph Waldo Emerson.

For more information and to reserve your tickets to attend this program visit NewportHistory.org/events

📅Thursday, November 5, 2026
📍Richard I. Burnham Resource Center | 82 Touro Street, Newport
🎟️Admission $15 – $20 per person | *Student Discounts now available $10 with valid student ID
🕰️6:30pm to 7:30pm; doors open at 5:30pm for a complimentary reception

10/27/2026

Happy Navy Day ⚓

Not to be confused with the Navy's birthday (October 13th of 1775) which celebrates the founding of the Navy, Navy Day is a celebration of the men and women who have served in the United States Navy.

The city of Newport has long been a home to the U.S. Navy and those who serve. The United States Naval War College was founded in Newport in 1884, making it one of the oldest institutions of its kind. The torpedo station on Goat Island was created in 1869 and was mostly used to manufacture torpedoes. At that time the center of the island consisted of large industrial buildings which are much different from the condos and hotels that reside there today. Since its founding, countless civilian and enlisted Newporters were employed at the torpedo station

The Newport Historical Society holds a large collection of United States Navy related collections items. Celebrate Navy Day by viewing these items for yourself online at Collections.NewportHistory.org

10/26/2026

From the earliest days of Newport's history through today, the Black community has shaped the arts and culture of this city by the sea 🪡🖌️🎤

Arts from Africa and the Caribbean like music, painting, weaving and sewing, stories and storytelling styles have come to the city of Newport throughout its history. Over time these arts adapted and new artistic expressions were created from them, imprinting on Newport's artistic and cultural history.

During the 19th century, Rhode Island was home to one of the most important and influential Black artists of the time. Edward Mitchell Bannister was born in Canada. He moved to Providence, RI in 1870 from Boston, MA after marrying Christiana Carteaux, a Rhode Island born woman of Black and Narragansett heritage. Christiana was a successful businesswoman who supported Edward throughout his career and joined him in his abolitionist work. Bannister's landscape art was well regarded by art collectors and other artists of the time. He was not limited to landscape art, in addition he painted maritime scenes, urban scenes and portraits, including one of his wife Christiana. Many of his paintings are on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art.

Today we see the roots of African and Caribbean arts and how they continue to be creatively adapted through Newport artists like, Maceo Eberhart, a born and raised Newporter whose inspiration to become a singer came from Otis Redding. And, leading emcee in Newport's hip-hop scene, Freddie Black, is continuing the presence of Black musical expression in Newport today.

Artists like Veronica Mays and Jason E. Smith, whose pieces are on display within the "I, Too" exhibit at the Edward W. Kane & Martha J. Wallace Center for Black History, draw inspiration from spiritual beliefs and African-inspired textiles. They continue to weave, sew, and paint art and cultural practices into modern day life in the city of Newport.

To Learn more about the contributions of the Black community to arts and culture in Newport, visit the Center, open Tuesday through Sunday from 10am to 5pm. NewportBlackHistory.org/visit-us/

Information on Edward Mitchell Bannister sourced from RIC.edu

10/25/2026

Happy International Artist Day🖼️

At the Newport Historical Society we are fortunate to have been able to work with many artists over the 172 years since our founding in 1854. Most recently, we have worked with artists who have expanded and deepened our understanding of Black and Indigenous history through their work in our award-winning exhibition "A Name, A Voice, A Life: The Black Newporters of the 17th-19th Centuries" and at the newly opened Edward W. Kane & Martha J. Wallace Center for Black History.

Artists Jean-Marc Superville Sovak, Cat Laine, Eric Telfort, and Toby Sisson contributed art works to the "A Name, A Voice, A Life" exhibition that helped the NHS to interpret the lives of the enslaved men and women whose names and stories were recovered from the archives. Through different art mediums, the artists celebrated the lives of Mereah Brenton, Robert Wainwood, Obour Collins, Yallah, Morandah, Mowoorie, Simboh, Burrah, and Yearie, all of whom were enslaved peoples who lived and labored in Newport, RI between the 17th and 19th centuries.

Within the Edward W. Kane & Martha J. Wallace Center for Black History artists Robin Spears, Jayna Dias, Nick Benson, Sika Foyer, Bob Dilworth, Jazzmen-Lee Johnson, Kristine Mays, and Cassie Kokenos have contributed art works that interpret the experiences of Black and Indigenous peoples enslaved and free. With art mediums ranging from metallurgy and acrylic paint on canvas to natural textiles like deerskin and cedar, these pieces of art express the stories and lived experiences of Black and Indigenous people.

This International Artist Day we are celebrating these amazing artists and their artworks that help us to share Newport's Black and Indigenous history!

10/23/2026

While the British vessel "Lord Sandwich", formerly known as the "Endeavor", may sit on the bottom of Newport Harbor, some of its records live above water within the Newport Historical Society's Collections📜

In October of 1777, the British military was occupying the city of Newport and the vessel "Lord Sandwich" was anchored in Newport Harbor. No longer an exploration vessel being captained by the famed Captain Cooke, the "Lord Sandwich" was a British prison ship holding Newporters suspected of being Patriots, privateers sailing through the harbor, and Patriot soldiers captured during skirmishes.

The document pictured here, is a list of Newporters who were imprisoned on the "Lord Sandwich" in October of 1777. Part of the Papers of the American Revolution collection in the NHS' Collections Online Database, this document is one of the many manuscripts that have been preserved and digitized by the Newport Historical Society that provides a deeper look into the Revolutionary War and the city of Newport's role in it.

To view the items within the Papers of the American Revolution collection visit the database online at Collections.NewportHistory.org

List of imprisoned Newport inhabitants onboard the British prison ship the Lord Sandwich. October 1777. Box 123, Folder 21, Item 1. Collections of the Newport Historical Society.

10/22/2026

Lantern Tours are back starting November 20th🕯️

Beginning on Friday November 20th, tradition and nostalgia come alive once more on the signature Holiday Lantern Tour. Stroll Newport’s historic streets by lantern light as you uncover the fascinating stories of early American holiday traditions, and how they inform the spirit of the season today. Grab a cup of c***r to stay warm and discover how Newporters celebrated—or sometimes didn’t—during this evening walk!

For more information, tickets, and the full Holiday Lantern Tour schedule visit https://newporthistorylightning.ticketing.veevartapp.com/tickets/view/list/holiday-lantern-tour

🕯️Holiday Lantern Tours
📅November 20th through December 27th | 4pm
📍Check-in and departure from the Colony House | Washington Square, Newport

Photo credit 📸 Michael Derr Photography

Address

82 Touro Street
Newport, RI
02840

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 4pm
Tuesday	10am - 4pm
Wednesday	10am - 4pm
Thursday	10am - 4pm
Friday	10am - 4pm

Website

https://newporthistory.org/

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