The Rhode Island Historical Society will host a weekly virtual series, Love Our Collections, highlighting the behind-the-scenes work of its staff to preserve and share the over 20,000 objects, 9 million feet of motion picture film, and 10 million pages of manuscripts in its collection.
On Thursday, February 29, at 12pm, the RIHS will present Depositing History: The Old Stone Bank Digitization Project. The Old Stone Bank records offer some of the most informative individual documentation of 19th-century Rhode Island immigration from both a genealogical and historical perspective. The bank’s records reveal the birthplaces and families of thousands of Irish, Italian, Scandinavian, Eastern European, and Azorian immigrants. Even African Americans who left the South during and after the Civil War list their birthplaces. Join researcher Ray McKenna, who has led a group of dedicated volunteers in digitizing the gigantic signature books of depositors at the Old Stone Bank that range from 1844-1897, and Deputy Executive Director of Collections & Interpretation Richard Ring as they discuss some of the information the books hold and the process of digitizing them.
Attendance is free, but registration is required. Guests can sign up here.