Editor’s Note

Welcome to a rather hefty issue of Rhode Island

History! As the RIHS prepares to celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2022, we are delighted to present this issue with gratitude for the generous support of three local institutions that have a vested interest in its contents—the Providence Community Library, the

Rhode Island Labor History Society, and the Providence Public Library. The spirit of collaboration pervades every aspect of the RIHS’s work as it enters its third century, exemplified by the next issue of this journal, which will be another edition of The Bridge (co-published with the Newport Historical Society).

Its thematic focus will be on re-contextualizing the

Gaspee Affair within the broader imperial crisis of its era.

Without further ado, I will introduce the authors featured in this issue.

Richard W. Cogley is emeritus professor of religious studies in Dedman College at Southern Methodist University. He is the author of John Eliot’s Mission to the Indians before King Philip’s War.

Patrick CroWley is the secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. Originally from Marshfield, Massachusetts, he earned master’s degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in labor studies and the University of Rhode Island in history.

His research interest in is Rhode Island labor history.

AndreW Polta is an archaeologist at the Public

Archaeology Laboratory in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Originally from Minnesota, he earned his bachelor’s degree in classics at Grinnell College, and then a master’s degree in history at the University of Rhode Island. His main research interests are maritime history, the intersecting histories of gender and race, and the Early Republic period, particularly in Rhode Island.

Patricia Raub, a faculty member at the School of Continuing Education at Providence College, teaches courses on Rhode Island history, the history of U.S. photography, and Providence architectural history. She earned a Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University with concentrations in popular culture and urban studies. One of the founders of Providence Community Library, she is a past president of its Board of Directors.

The Cabinet Building in 1909, home of the Rhode Island Historical Society from 1844 to 1942. RIHS Collection rhiX34783. Richard J. Ring Editor

Providence Community Library is pleased to support the publication of the fall 2021 issue of Rhode Island History in honor of library founder and former board president, Patricia Raub.

Cheryl SPace PCL Library Director