Museum Collections

Collect. Preserve. Share. These three verbs express the essence of the Rhode Island Historical Society, which has worked to document, preserve, and disseminate the history of the Ocean State since its founding in 1822. Exhibitions, publications, and lectures and seminars are the means by with the RIHS reaches the wider world, but the Society’s core are its collections, the structures, objects, paintings, graphics, manuscripts, and printed matter. Collections like ours are not only the raw materials and starting points for expeditions into the past: they can also stimulate us to think critically about our own times and “tomorrow’s history.”

For general questions about the museum collections, or to donate materials, please contact the Curator, Kirsten Hammerstrom at (401) 273-7507 x66 or email khammerstrom@rihs.org.

The Society's Museum Collections are available for reseach by appointment only.

To do find out about doing research in the Library collections, including books, maps, photographs, and manuscript collections, please visit the Library page.

Click here for more information on researching or viewing Museum collections, including costumes, furniture, and paintings.

Last revised June 16, 2005 by webmaster

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