Stages of Freedom presents “Do Lord Remember Me: The Black Church in Rhode Island”
Join the Museum of Work & Culture as we welcome “Do Lord Remember Me: The Black Church in Rhode Island,” a groundbreaking exhibit on the 250 years of history of the church’s formation and function as the community’s moral compass, town hall, and promoter of artists, thinkers, and doers. The exhibit opens Sunday, October 16, at 1pm, with opening remarks by project director Ray Rickman and curator Robb Dimmick.
The exhibit tells the story in images and text of American firsts: the first free black church (Newport), the first black Episcopal church (Providence), and much more. It shows how African ritual merged with European ceremony to build a powerhouse of freedom, service, and survival.
Astonishing accounts of burial rites, music, foodways, politics, and pride show how African Americans forged a unique way out of slavery and religious restrictions to form houses of worship in Providence, South County, Newport, Bristol, and Woonsocket. National figures such as Ezra Stiles, Alexander Crummell, Rev. Samuel Proctor, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and Moses Brown emerge as major players in promoting, preserving, and protecting basic civil rights in Rhode Island.
The exhibit is funded by The Rhode Island Council for the Humanities and The Rhode Island Council on the Arts, sponsored by Opera Providence, and mounted by Stages of Freedom.
