On Display Now

The 1842 Dorr Rebellion was one of the most important (and unusual) political events in the state's history, and Russell DeSimone's collection of books and ephemera is one of the best in existence on the topic. PPL is pleased host a guest exhibition of a small selection of DeSimone's extensive collection from November 10 to February 9, 2018.

Russell J. DeSimone is an independent scholar. He is the compiler of Broadsides of the Dorr Rebellion (1992), and author of The Dorr Rebellion Chronicled in Ballads and Poetry (1993), A Survey of Nineteenth Century Rhode Island Billheads (2002), Rhode Island Election Tickets: a Survey (2007), Rhode Island’s Rebellion (2009) and Remarkable Women of Rhode Island (2014).

As a native Rhode Islander he has been a lifelong student of its history having written numerous articles about it. Now retired from both the defense industry and as an adjunct professor at the University of Rhode Island library where he curated numerous exhibitions drawn mainly from his collecting interest including “A Survey of 19th Century Rhode Island Billheads”, “Rhode Island Lotteries – Three Centuries of History”, “Voting and the Spirit of Democracy”, “Picturesque Rhode Island” and in 2005 “Thomas Wilson Dorr – A Bicentennial Birthday Tribute.”

DeSimone is co-historian in residence for Providence College's Dorr Rebellion Project, dedicated to the study of this rebellion.