THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED
A People’s History Tour of the John Brown House was researched and presented by local historian, artist, and activist Joey La Neve DeFrancesco through a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. Covering 1700-1790, the tour will use the house as a frame to discuss the often ignored and erased people, processes, and tragedies that created 18th century Rhode Island. We’ll look at how the slave trade and its auxiliary industries, such as rum distilling and shipbuilding, created the wealth of famous families like the Browns, DeWolfs, and Hopkins, and how that wealth set the stage for industrialization. We’ll re-examine popular events such as the Gaspee Affair, but through the view of Aaron Biggs, the enslaved man who occupied a central role in the aftermath. We’ll view Rhode Island’s involvement in the Revolutionary War from the vantage of the free and enslaved black and indigenous people who made up the 1st Rhode Island Regiment. Through those and many more stories, we hope to offer a more complete view of 18th century Rhode Island than is often presented in our public history.
Two tours are being offer on April 2nd: 5:30pm to 6:30pm and 7pm to 8pm. Buy your ticket here as these tours are sure to sell out.