News Release

02/13/09 Exhibit Opening at PPL Feb. 26...Hidden from History: Slavery in Rhode Island from its Inception to Its End

Hidden from History: Slavery in Rhode Island from its Inception to Its End, an exhibit featuring original and scanned images of authentic historical documents tracing the beginning of slavery in Rhode Island to its end, giving a rare glimpse into the politics and pervasiveness of slavery, will open at Providence Public Library (PPL) – Central Library, 150 Empire Street (3rd Floor) on Thursday, February 26 at 6:00 pm with a reception and lecture by Richard Ring, Special Collections Librarian at PPL. The exhibit will run through March 29 during regular Library hours.

Artifacts will include the earliest known document in Rhode Island (1652), to the recognition of the last known slave in the state (1863). Original documents will be drawn from the Caleb Fiske Harris Collection of the Civil War and Slavery at Providence Public Library; additional scanned images of documents (including runaway slave posters, newspaper advertisements for slave auctions, slave narratives, abolition pamphlets, indenture documents, bills of sale, state laws, and manumission papers) from the State Archives, Brown University, Rhode Island Historical Society, and private collections will be on panels.

Free and open to the public, this exhibit and lecture program is funded by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities and sponsored by Ocean State Learning.