The Times, RIHS Member Magazine: Fall|Winter 2020

the

Times

of the

Rhode Island Historical Societ y Fall 2020

www.rihs.org

Henriette Tremblay Jovin, grandmother of RIHS Trustee, Michael Eadie

Inside This Issue: Family Treasures by Anne Conway A New Read on a Rhode Island Legend: Fred Friendly

by Tony Sylvia and Suzanne Arena Ordered to Watch: Women and Night Watch Duty in Eighteenth-Century Providence by Nicole Breault

Comparison and Context

Board of Trustees Luther W. Spoehr, Ph.D., Chair Winifred E. Brownell, Ph.D., 1st Vice Chair Anthony Calandrelli, 2nd Vice Chair Peter J. Miniati, JD, CFP, Treasurer Robert. H. Sloan, Jr., CLU, ChFC, Secretary Michael L. Baker, Jr. CPA Timothy N. Burditt Paul A. Croce, Sc.D. Alek Dykeman, CPA Michael T. Eadie George M. Goodwin, Ph.D. Roberta E. Gosselin Scott MacKay Lisa E. Melton, CPCU Maureen Moakley, Ph.D. Marcus P. Nevius, Ph.D. Mary C. Speare Barbara J. Thornton, AIA James Wing Stanley G. Weiss Ex Officio: Lane Talbot Sparkman C. Morgan Grefe, Executive Director

For many years now organizations like ours have been trying not only to do good work well, but also to demonstrate that our work is making a difference. How we actually measure that impact is the stuff of endless conference sessions and articles, and thanks to my incessant questioning, probably the bane of our team’s daily life. There are countless ways in which we can, well, count what we do and who we serve. However, simply because something is quantifiable, doesn’t mean that the measure is meaningful. Nor does it mean that such a data point is telling us if we moved a needle, rather it could just be telling us that a needle moved.

For example, in a non-Covid year, we are always eager to launch our Concerts Under the Elms series. They are a signature event and each Thursday evening sees hundreds of history and music lovers enjoying one of the most beautiful spaces in Providence. It is probably not a surprise to you, or us that in years with inclement weather on Thursdays, fewer people attend Thursday evening concerts. So, is that a meaningful measure, after all, we can’t control the weather? In the words of William Bruce Cameron, “Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted.”

I think that Rhode Island has a unique perspective in the discussion of meaningful measurement. After all, we are one of the few states used frequently as a unit of measure.

Q: How much of an area was blanketed in snow by the blizzard?

A: An area the size of Rhode Island.

Q: How much forest was destroyed by illegal logging?

A: I can’t say precisely, but it was larger than the State of Rhode Island.

Q: How big a piece of ice broke off of Antarctica.

A: You know how big it was…it wasn’t as big as Pennsylvania.

I heard a particularly sad, yet amusing piece of information on the news the other day. One of the devastating fires out West was so large that it had to be compared to Connecticut. I never thought I’d be saddened having Rhode Island replaced as a measurement, but in 2020 these things happen.

In the spirit of being an internationally recognized unit of measure, I thought we could all use a delightful diversion by putting some RIHS measurements into context for you.

•Within our collections we have approximately 9 million feet of moving image film. That translates into 1,705 miles, which is just about far enough to travel from Providence to Denver, or, if you’re feeling adventurous, Nuuk, Greenland.

But we are all well aware of the fact that though our sites are only open a few days a week, we are working with the public in meaningful ways—sometimes even expanding our relationships and responding to new needs coming to the surface.

In January of 2021 we will announce the completion of eleven modules of our online textbook of Rhode Island history, EnCompass, which is being used already by educators and students. Five modules are complete, online, and freely available at this writing. In the fiscal year 2020, EnCompass had over 15,000 page views and 3,000 unique visitors. In just the first quarter of our fiscal year 2021, those numbers were 3,800 and 1,400, respectively. We have over 1,900 teachers subscribed to our mailing list. Our turnkey Google classrooms and teacher professional development sessions have served over 250 teachers and 6,000 students.

As of this writing, 98,036 records of our holdings exist in our online catalog. We add or significantly improve upon an average of 3,000 records per year.

However, based on our best estimate, if the pandemic continues to limit service to present levels, we will only be able to serve 100 researchers in the Reading Room (which is about 2-3 per week, about 5% of our “normal” level of service—which mirrors other institutions in our industry nationwide). However, our scanning of materials for the off-site patrons we serve (over e-mail and phone) has risen 40-50%, and will continue to rise.

This year is giving us an opportunity to create a new baseline, a new set of standards to rise to and above for the hybrid online/in-person space we now inhabit. This will allow us to plan better in an uncertain present for an unknowable future.

•Did you know that for our walking tours, guides and guests walked a total of 950 miles in 2019? That’s a long enough walk to get you from Providence to Blanc-Sablon, Quebec to visit its National Historic Site.

•The RIHS’s 1,200 manuscript collections take up two miles in shelving. In Providence terms, this will take you from the Robinson Research Center all the way down Hope Street to Seven Stars Bakery.

It could also take you clear across the Arctic. Okay, across Arctic, Rhode Island, at its widest point.

•We are also proud to steward 20,000 museum objects. That’s at least one for each of Central Falls’s 19,568 residents, give or take.

We are, not surprisingly, very focused on Rhode Island. But, for many of us, to understand this small place, we must always understand it in its context, whether that’s a time or a place or both. The stories we tell of Rhode Island are often about relationships and how this space has been influenced by those who came to it, or how choices made here affected those in the wider world. Some of the oldest pieces in our collection help bring some of those relationships into focus.

The earliest printed book in our collections is The common-vvelth of England, and maner of gouernment thereof (London:Imprinted by Iohn Windet for Gregorie Seton, 1589). This frequently reprinted volume was no doubt very helpful for those persons establishing the colony, but one of my favorite things about this book is that it puts Rhode Island in a global context. The colonists who came here brought with them their culture, their philosophies, their governments. The men and women who established this colony were very aware of themselves in a European context. In 1589, what was that world like? To show you just how long ago that was: •William Shakespeare was twenty-five years old (Roger Williams would not be born for fourteen more years), •Galileo Galilei became a professor of mathematics at the University of Pisa, •Catherine de Medici, Queen Mother of France, died, •Forks were used for the first time in French Court, and •For those of you interested in industrial history, the Reverend William Lee of Cambridge invented the stocking frame—the first knitting machine.

So why am I telling you all of this? It’s a very long, but I hope enjoyable way, to start thinking about how we should be measuring our effectiveness in these strange current times. We can no longer look simply at the number of school groups that come through our doors, nor can we count reading room users, nor concert goers.

With all of this uncertainty, here’s what I do know: with your help, this team is working to create new, more inclusive ways of making history increasingly accessible, because we love Rhode Island.

How much? To the moon and back. And that’s a total of 477,800 miles.

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Collections Ordered to Watch: Women and Night Watch Duty in Eighteenth-Century Providence

person would serve. Arranged in alphabetical order (rather than by ward or neighborhood) certain names popped out as I scanned over the list: “Hope Brown, widow, one night. Katharin Donnison, one night.

Lydia Jackson, widow, two nights. Margaret Proctor, two nights....” Thirteen women were among the men.

Immediately, I began searching for the women listed.

A short look into the names revealed that most of the women—like Margaret Proctor—left little trace aside of their presence on this list. However, others such as widows Brown and Jackson were quite legible, having married men of “consequence” and held property.

The 1775 list stood out to me for several reasons— the extensive listing of individuals, the number of days assigned, the timing of its construction. However, it was the inclusion of women that raised the most interesting questions. In my extensive research on watch-keeping in Boston, not a single woman’s name appears on any official documents associated with watch duty. Why was this the case for Providence? Was it within the realm of possibility that these women “ordered to watch” fulfilled this obligation? In accordance with colony law, females fell under heads of household, and thus were still responsible for watch duty. However, by custom, would not have performed the service themselves and instead, procured men to watch in their place, or paid a fine. Nevertheless, this list provides unexpected insight into governing and policing in early Providence, and the intriguing prospect that women too just might have walked the streets, serving the town in a time of necessity.

By Nicole Breault How did eighteenth-century Providence govern the streets at night? In the summer of 2019, I arrived at RIHS thanks to the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium to investigate that very question. I delved into town records, council minutes, receipts, and even letters of recommendation to explore how the practice of watch-keeping—a method of governance used to police and safeguard the public—developed in Providence.

Established shortly after settlement, colonial records show that Providence used a blend of both townappointed and voluntary (or citizens) watches to keep order. By law, householders over the age of sixteen, and under the age of sixty years were required to serve if called or face a fine. In 1760s, the Providence Town Council described watchmen as “constable for the night” with “as much authority in keeping the peace as any other constables have by law.” At this time the watch consisted of three men who walked the streets on routes set by town officials, looking for signs of fire, distress, and disorder. Among their other regular duties was the charge to “take up all vagrants, negroes, and disorderly persons found out at unreasonable hours without a lawful excuse.” Not unlike the present day, racial and social anxieties informed such measures and nightly watches were used to subject certain groups to a heightened degree of observation.

Over the course of my fellowship, I collected many fascinating documents on watches, however, one stood out among the rest. The document, “A list of those ordered by the town council To Watch or procure persons in their room with the number of nights assigned to each,” was prepared by the Providence Town Council in May of 1775. Likely the list was made in response to the skirmishes at Concord and Lexington.

With the commencement of fighting between British Regulars and Massachusetts Militiamen, Providence convened a special watch to prepare for possible threats on the horizon. Nine-pages long, the surviving document did not discuss the criteria used to select the individuals or how the town calculated the number of nights each

Nicole Breault is a doctoral candidate with special interest in early American legal and social history with an emphasis on urban governance, institutions, gender, and space. In the summer of 2019, she conducted research at RIHS as a NERFC fellow for her dissertation “The Night Watch of Boston: Law and Governance in Eighteenth-Century British America.” Focused on colonial and revolutionary Boston, the project examines the practice of watch-keeping in Anglo-America and considers its role in aspects of state formation.

Her research frames setting a watch as a method of governance and surveillance that reflected eighteenth-century conceptions of the well-governed city. Using interdisciplinary methods to examine hundreds of reports written by night watch constables, the dissertation offers new insights to deepen our understanding of how policing was conducted and delimited.

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A New Octant, or Reflecting Quadrant The call from Hawaii came out of the blue in early July. An 18th-century maritime instrument known as an octant, or alternatively as a reflecting quadrant with Rhode Island roots had caught the eye of Virginia Lapierre. According to papers accompanying the piece, the original owner was Seth Wheaton (1759–1826), who had been a member of the Providence militia during the American Revolution, a Rhode Island ship owner, and merchant.

The RIHS receives offers of material every day—mostly a result of people cleaning out their houses (or their parents’ houses). We need to be very selective—if we said “yes” to everything, it would quickly fill the Providence Place Mall. But after some excellent research done by our Registrar, DanaSigne Munroe (who lists maritime history as one of her personal research interests), we decided we did indeed want to accept the piece. Fortunately, the market was forgiving that day, the donor paid much less than expected, and we are now in possession of a fine piece of Rhode Island history.

It seems probable that Isaac Greenwood (1758-1829), who had a shop on South Main Street “directly opposite the Custom House,” imported the octant to Providence after the Revolutionary War. Made in London by Gregory and Son, it was likely purchased sometime between 1787-1810. We suspect it was given to Seth Wheaton by one of the groups he helped found—either the Providence Masonic chapter in 1793 or the Providence Marine Society in 1798.

Seth was the son of Nathaniel Wheaton (17321795), a Justice of the Peace and Providence Town Council member, and Hannah Burr (1738-1815), both of Rehoboth. As far as we can tell, none of the militia regiments to which Seth belonged saw combat—mostly it was guard duty for people and supplies. He continued to be involved in military organizations and was one of the founding partners of the Providence Manufacturing Company, eventually buying out most of the original six partners with Edward Carrington (of China Trade fame).

We thank Ms. Lapierre for her generous donation of this fascinating piece of Rhode Island history!

“A List of those ordered by the town council To Watch” RIHS Collections, Providence Town Papers, MSS 214 SG 1, no.803.

Richard Ring, Deputy Executive Director for Collections and Interpretation

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Museum of Work & Culture Family Treasures An Interview with Michael Eadie

However, Michael did not grow up speaking French in his home. Although his mother could very well understand the French language that her parents had taught her, she had experienced the language discrimination that many French-Canadians were subject to in New England mill towns. The French culture was still prevalent at home when it came to food preparation such as tourtières (meat pies) and grand-pères (French-Canadian dumplings) as well as holiday celebrations, but it was with his maternal Jovin grandparents that Michael made the true connection with his French-Canadian heritage.

“As I grew up, I started to realize that my grandmother kept her mother’s accent from New Brunswick with certain words and expressions she would say in a different way. She didn’t say things the same way that Pépère, whose parents were from Québec, said. I could tell their French was different.

When I am in Québec my greatest compliment when I’m speaking French, is that people think I must be from New Brunswick. They see my last name is Scottish, they hear my accent. My comfort zone is to slip back into my Mémère’s French.” Henriette Tremblay-Jovin, Michael’s grandmother passed away in 2012 at age 94.

“We were the last ones in the family to speak French.”

Henriette often asked Michael to play his guitar and sing something in French. She never got tired of hearing her favorite song, J’suis c’qu’on appelle un habitant.

Michael started to study French in the 7th grade and went on to obtain his undergraduate degree in Modern Languages from Framingham State University. He also pursued a certificate in French from the University of Paris. ““I never became fully fluent in French until I lived in Paris, but that was a year after my grandfather died.

French was so important to him and if I could do it now and have a long conversation with my grandfather and his brother uncle Louis in French… it is something that is always in my head.”

Joseph Jovin, Michael’s grandfather, was known around town as someone who spoke French eloquently.

He was educated at Saint-Antoine de Padoue School in New Bedford and had to go to work after completing the 9th grade. He became first mechanic at the former Berkshire Hathaway Mill in New Bedford. He was a proud and serious man and French was his first language. When Michael came back from Paris and was able to converse in French with town acquaintances,

This summer, RIHS Trustee Michael Eadie received the Washington Trust Service Award from the Washington Trust Company where he holds the position of Vice President of Sales and Marketing Support.

The award came with a $1,000 donation that Michael generously directed to the Museum of Work & Culture Preservation Foundation. The Museum Foundation offers donors the opportunity to contribute to a Treasury of Life (TOL) Box at the Museum of Work & Culture.

The TOL boxes are authentic bank safety deposit boxes that serve as repositories for families’ keepsakes such as old photographs, letters, records and for small memorabilia of all sorts. Most families have a story or record keeper and Michael happens to be the one who will make sure that his family stories are preserved and passed down to his son Henry Joseph and future generations of the Eadie family.

I first met Michael and his wife Maria DaPonte several years ago as they attended a Ciné-Québec event at the Museum. After chatting with them for a few minutes before the screening, I remember thinking that this man with a Scottish last name spoke French quite well and his pride in his French-Canadian heritage resonated through his accent. Recently, I had the pleasure to sit down with Michael, his wife Maria DaPonte and their son Henry Joseph to talk about his love and passion for his French-Canadian heritage, and to find out what was going to go in the Laplante/Tremblay/Jovin/Eadie Family Treasury of Life box.

Michael was born and grew up in Acushnet, Massachusetts. “Growing up in Acushnet was a mix of predominantly Portuguese and French. The barber at the corner was Monsieur Boucher, the hairdresser on the other side was Claire Saucier, and the people next door were Monsieur and Madame Roy. The person across the street was Madame Saucier’s brother. There were also the Borges, the Gomes, and the Phillips. Everyone knew everybody. Certain things you knew in French, other things in Portuguese. Funny stuff like: little Bobby Roy fell on his “fesses” (bum). We all knew things like “Tête de Pioche,” Mrs. Roy used to say that “little hard head”.

I remember Mrs. Roy putting clothes on the line and yelling for the children “Venez manger!” (Come eat!)”

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Monsieur Boucher told him, “Tu parles un bon français comme ton Grand-père!” (You speak French well like your grandfather!)

When Michael speaks of French-Canadian culture, he wants people to appreciate that its provenance is not limited to Québec, “I don’t like the concept that French starts and ends in the Province of Left to Right: Henriette Tremblay Jovin with her brothers in Fairhaven, Québec. Because there Mass; Henriette and Joseph Jovin; Joseph Jovin Jr. is more French than just the Province of Québec. I like the French Speaking World of Canada.” It is through his French Canadian in New England Facebook page that Michael best demonstrates that French-Canadian cultural multiplicity. “I try to make sure that I have as By transforming into a museum without walls, much content as possible from north and south of the the Museum of Work & Culture has served 8,606 border, but it tends to be more from the north side of the individuals since the start of the pandemic, a 77% border because it is the content that exists.” Additionally, increase compared to the same period in 2019.

Michael is responsible for the Boivin Center for French We have been able to achieve this growth by Language and Culture at UMASS Dartmouth and the working to meet the needs of our community with Francophone Association of Fall River Facebook pages, a mix of virtual programs and events, as well as new and has approximately 5,000 followers. educational tools and products for teachers and distance As for Michael’s plans for his Treasury of Life Box: learning families.

“I want to preserve the relics and the treasures of the These innovations have included: family. Things that I find are treasures. Things like • Creating seven turnkey Google Classrooms that allow the magazines my great grandmother received for teachers, homeschoolers, and distance learning families supporting a shrine in Québec. They went from the access to readings, videos, primary sources, assigments, 1930’s to the 1960’s. She received them every month, reflection questions, and much more. Currently, these I have a couple of those. Back in the days when my classrooms are serving more than 6,275 unique students. grandfather was young, they got little envelopes at the • Building a new audience of pre-K learners with our end of each week working at the mill, it has his name, two Hands-on History series and a virtual version of the time that he worked, and his pay. I guess inside our Annual Children’s Baking Workshop. We now was the actual cash. I also have these great missalettes, have “regulars” who are four and five-years-old and are dictionaries, baptismal records, photographs and little making requests for programs! things that would only be valuable to the family.”

• Finding new followers from across the United States and around the world with our virtual speaker series Anne Conway and film screenings. To date we have “welcomed” guests Director, Museum of Work & Culture from 26 states and 3 countries to our virtual offerings.

• Growing the direct participation of teens in our For information on how to acquire a Treasury of Life organization with a Public History Extended Learning Box, please email aconway@rihs.org or call Anne at 401Opportunity partnership with the Met School, a “We 769-9675 ext. 1 Matter” course with Central Falls Public Schools, a virtual version of our Teen Advisory Board, a virtual Michael Eadie is an RIHS Trustee. He has served on our board summer camp on the history of current events, since November of 2016 and chairs the Advancement Committee. and hosting Regional Youth Summits as part of the

A Museum Without Walls

See “Museum Without Walls” cont’d on p. 15

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Newell D.Goff Center for Please visit www.rihs.org for current programming and museum hours.

Education & Public Programs HerStory: Historic Women of the East Side

and Stephen Hopkins House. While each of these men are discussed briefly, this walking tour talked about the women of each building: wives, daughters, and, in the case at Stephen Hopkins, an enslaved woman named Fibba. Kelvis Hernandez added, “It’s so hard to extrapolate information when there is nothing in their own voice – or almost none of their own – available,” referencing the fact that few, if any, letters survive in the case of Sarah Smith Brown, Sarah Scott Hopkins, and Anne Smith Hopkins. Paperwork around Fibba’s enslavement exists, but nothing from her perspective.

The walk ran weekly during the fall of 2020 before the tour season ended at the end of October. Going forward, the walk will be offered as a regular special event option throughout the 2021 season.

In September, the Goff Center debuted a new walking tour called “HerStory: Historic Women of the East Side.” This tour, written by Assistant Director of Education Jennifer Wilson and Visitor Services Specialist Kelvis Hernandez, marks the centennial anniversary of women’s suffrage, one of the Society’s key programming themes for 2020. Covering just about a half mile in 75-90 minutes, the walk focused on a swath of histories from the 18th through 20th centuries, some that were well known, others that were not.

The tour ran from mid-September through early November. “We had our first public walk on September 19th – the day after Ruth Bader Ginsberg passed away.

That news made it especially poignant: the passing of a feminist icon, someone whose life work was dedicated to women’s freedom and equality,” said Jennifer Wilson.

“We started using some of her quotes to frame the walking tour. Women’s history should always be a leading topic, but her passing really emphasized the importance of acknowledging those who came before us.”

The creation of this walk comes after RIHS staff received an IMLS grant to for professional development training with the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. Training emphasized both the use of asking thoughtful, engaging questions for patrons to consider, as well as focusing on telling stories of those who are under-represented in history. “One story that I particularly like to tell,” said Kelvis Hernandez, “is of Christiana Bannister. I think it’s very telling about how women, especially of color, can achieve so much in their lives, but at the end of the day, there’s still a qualifier,” explaining “women’s history” can be viewed as niche and not always as shared history for everyone. Christiana Bannister was an entrepreneur and philanthropist of color in the 19th century; amassing wealth in a lucrative hairdressing business, she was also an abolitionist and advocate for equal pay for Black soldiers during the Civil War. When asked about what was difficult in writing this tour, Jennifer Wilson said, “trying to do justice to the women whose lives were overshadowed by prominent men.” The walk stopped at both the John Brown House

National History Day RI National History Day (NHD) is a highly regarded curriculum enhancement program for students in grades 6-12. In 2020, Rhode Island History Day, coordinated by the Rhode Island Historical Society, reached 1,500 students statewide. National History Day has many updates this year including a new rulebook and new evaluation forms. We are excited to share them with our students and teachers to provide them with an even more enjoyable and impactful experience with NHD. Rhode Island History Day is already busy with preparation for the 2021 season! This fall, we’ve been hosting teacher workshops for NHD educators focused on primary and secondary sources, citations, local topics and the annual theme, “Communication in History: The Key to Understanding.” We have also been busy creating resources to support our educators in this unique environment. We have leaned into digital tools including easy-to-view student videos and platforms like Padlet. Our state contest will be virtual and we are ready with many resources so that teachers and students can successfully participate. You can learn more about all of this by visiting www.ri.nhd.org.

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Network to Freedom Grant Project to Feature Elizabeth Buffum Chace

Taking a Stand in Rhode Island The Goff Center is in the beginning stages of planning programs and events for 2021 and its exciting theme, “Taking a Stand in RI.” Next year, the organization will look at the history of advocacy, activism, and protest in the state, a timely topic considering the events of 2020. Ideas for programs around “taking a stand” are diverse, and the department has alreadybegun conversations with colleagues in the field. While the calendar isn’t fully booked yet, expect to see a talk on Roger Williams as a religious advocate; a presentation on the Narragansett perspective from colonization to today; and an arts installation exploring the history of pollution and subsequent ecological activism of Mashapaug Pond. Staff are also hoping to explore topics within Black history, LGBTQ+ activism, women’s rights, and many more. Make sure to check our events calendar regularly starting in January 2021!

The RIHS has been awarded a $6,074 grant from the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program. This grant, administered by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), will be used to develop a special module on the little-known topic of women and the Underground Railroad in Rhode Island for the online textbook for K-12 students and educators, entitled EnCompass.

Launched in 2016, EnCompass is an expanding resource for teachers developed by the RIHS, which received crucial support for the project in 2019 from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH).

Each themed module features a main narrative essay, three to five “sidebar” essays that feature primary and secondary sources, and links to other, related resources.

The modules align with RI History and Social Studies expectations, and may include lesson plans. Providence College generously provides hosting and technical support for EnCompass.

The RIHS will work with Elizabeth C. Stevens, PhD, an expert on women’s history and the history of Rhode Island’s women’s suffrage who recently wrote the main essay for our EnCompass module on suffrage. Dr. Stevens has written a book on Elizabeth Buffum Chace, a local suffragist who was involved in the Underground Railroad. The new module will build on this extensive research and expand it to include other women activists/abolitionists active in Rhode Island. When completed, RIHS staff will utilize Stevens’ research to create a unit plan of lessons at the high school level and will host a professional development workshop for teachers. The module will be published by late summer of 2021, and the workshop for teachers will be held in the beginning of that school year.

“We are delighted to work with Dr. Stevens to add this important module to EnCompass. Teachers have given us extensive positive feedback about using EnCompass in their teaching, and its easy-toread format makes it accessible to audiences beyond schools,” said Geralyn Ducady, Director of the RIHS’s Newell D. Goff Center for Education and Public Programs.

Virtual School Programs at the John Brown House Museum RIHS has developed a series of live and prerecorded virtual programs for K-12 audiences.

Foreseeing a need, education staff piloted some of these programs over the spring and summer. Through the Goff Center, teachers can choose from four virtual programs with a live museum educator. Live programs are thoughtful, discussion based, and enhance student learning. Even when museum visits return, these programs will continue to be offered as options. Current virtual programs include a tour of the John Brown House Museum; Interactions with the Colonial Period where students take a deeper look at select objects in our museum within the context of the 18th century; TransAtlantic Slave Trade Connections which helps students grapple with the legacy of slavery and the slave trade in Rhode Island with a focus on the voyage of the slave ship Sally; and a virtual version of the Avi: Something Upstairs program that explores the local sites featured in this book.

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A New Read on a RI Legend

easy, though, because I had the feeling that most people thought I wasn’t bright at all—and sometimes I began to believe that myself.” 2 History fascinated him, especially the lives of famous leaders, politicians, artists, scientists—those who had distinguished themselves by achieving greatness.

Several times a week he would spend afternoons at the Providence Public Library, reading the biographies of great men throughout civilization. After high school, he continued to live at home with his mother in a comfortable lifestyle; mother and son had a housekeeper and never struggled financially. Fred held a variety of jobs, such as selling carpet in a department store and writing copy for an advertising agency. College had become an obsession, but Nichols College, a small liberal arts school in Massachusetts, took a chance—and even then only after he attended a strict preparatory school program to improve his reading and study skills.

After spending so many hours during his high school years researching famous historical figures at the Providence Public Library, the desire to use that knowledge merged with radio’s burgeoning need for programs. Fred had been writing to WEAN for over a year asking for work. At one point, he was invited to tour the station. James Jennison was WEAN’s station manager at the time, recognized that Fred had “something,” and became one of Fred’s earliest and most influential mentors. In Fred’s own words years later, “The manager said as he hired me, ‘What did you say your name was?’

I told him, and he said, ‘Nobody on this station is named Wachenheimer. From now on, you’re Fred W. Friendly!”

It was 1937 and the collaboration resulted in a series of programs titled “Footprints in the Sands of Time.”

The name was suggested by Fred’s aunt (it is also the title of a poem by Longfellow) and “Footprints” consisted of five-minute biographies of prominent people and great historic figures. Among those profiled were George Gershwin, Albert Einstein, Guglielmo Marconi (radio’s inventor), the great opera singer Arturo Toscanini, and Lou Gehrig. Fred was paid $15 for each five-minute program. In addition to the “Footprints” vignettes, he took on announcer work, principally for a program titled “Streets of the City,” which was hosted by another WEAN staffer, Mowry Lowe. He continued to explore other ways to make money in the radio business, selling customized programs to local advertising agencies and producing radio shows for clients of all kinds. He became known as “Mr. Providence” and his salary rose to $125 a week.

In 1941, he retired the radio persona of Fred W. Friendly

By Tony Silvia, Ph.D. and Suzanne Arena Fred W. Friendly was born in New York, but spent most of his childhood and adolescence in Rhode Island, where he began what would become a legendary broadcasting career at WEAN radio in Providence.

Credited by some scholars as the “inventor” of television news in partnership with Edward R. Murrow at CBS Radio, and later CBS Television, what is less well known about Fred Friendly is that—like one out of every five Americans—he was dyslexic. Rhode Island was not Fred Friendly’s birth state, but it is where many of his greatest ideas and innovations were born. He would often return throughout his life to Rhode Island and reflect on the challenges he faced and the support he received here.

Born Ferdinand Friendly Wachenheimer in New York in 1915, Friendly moved to Rhode Island with his parents at age 11 to a house on Lloyd Avenue, on the East Side of Providence. As a child, he made imaginary microphones using the round tubes from bathroom tissue, taping them together and holding the “mic” up to his mouth, pretending to cover the news as a reporter.

His father died of meningitis soon after the move, but before his father’s death, he and Fred built a radio set in order to listen to one of the first prizefights ever to be broadcast. In the early days, the radio receiver came in a box with parts that required assembly, and this project made a lasting impression on the boy.

Therese Friendly Wachenheimer was a fierce maternal advocate for a child who had multiple challenges. Big for his age, physically awkward, and color blind, numbers were also a headache for him. Forming letters—let alone handwriting—challenged his small motor skills, which were never very good. “In first grade, I recall my teacher telling me to color the cow brown. I colored the cow GREEN. It looked brown to me—but I was labeled. And I began to think I was stupid.” Before moving to Rhode Island, he attended grades 1 through 6 at PS 165 in New York City.

“I really didn’t learn to read until fourth grade,” he would recall later in life. “And that was probably because I had a very patient, caring teacher, Miss Forhan.”

Even later, “reading was still a problem for me,” he remembered in 1995. “And yet,” he said in a speech to students at the Hamilton School in Providence, “I didn’t think that I was DUMB. I thought that I was just as smart as lots of those other kids in my class. I just couldn’t do many of the skills that were demanded of me. It wasn’t

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(temporarily) in the face of the draft. His first assignment was kitchen duty, placing sliced onions on platters of liver for 1,500 soldiers. He soon convinced those in command that his talents would be put to better use in public speaking and instruction—he once addressed 10,000 troops in a motivational speech. From there on, he had a new role, driving from camp to camp, using his powerful voice to instruct the troops.

“Believe it or not, I became a teacher of thousands and thousands of men,” he would relate years later. “I could hardly believe it. Little did I dream that one day I would be working with General Eisenhower and General Stillwell.” One army major, whom the young soldier considered a role model, thought so highly of Friendly that he considered him worthy of receiving the Legion of Merit for his efforts in raising morale. “Major Clark wrote, ‘Fred Friendly, in my estimation has made the most significant and outstanding contribution to the Information and Education of any enlisted man in the Army today. Many of his unique (teaching) techniques have been adopted by other commands.”

Friendly was also working for the army in radio, recording the sounds of combat, interviewing soldiers, and creating compelling story lines for the troops and those back in the U.S. He ran a radio quiz show on the model of a similar program he had created in Providence.

“His radio reporting, his development of the Orientation Quiz program, his project for shipboard orientation, are only a few of the many procedures which have made the mission in this theater far easier,” wrote Major Clark, his commanding officer, in praising Friendly’s accomplishments. “But even beyond these things, Friendly will have made his greatest contribution in his inspired ability to stand before a group of American soldiers and tell a simple, yet eloquent and important story, which will leave a profound influence for good in the lives of those who have him.”

Those five-minute vignettes that added up to a library of almost a thousand biographies. “Footprints in

Author Tony Sylvia with media executive, Fred Friendly.

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the Sands of Time” was a radio feature during his four years at WEAN (1937-1941), but now, with the advent of magnetic audio tape, he saw an opportunity to transfer them to recordings people could play in their homes.

His military colleagues, Major Clark especially, thought it was a good idea. They allowed him the time and resources to develop the project while working, mostly unsupervised, in the Army’s communications unit.

During that time, Friendly met Edward R. Murrow, who was CBS Radio’s biggest star and, at the time, America’s greatest war correspondent. A musicians’ strike shut down many of radio’s biggest programs, and Friendly saw the opportunity to create records along the lines of his “Footsteps” programs, ultimately titled “I Can Hear It Now.” He convinced the music mogul Jack Kapp, then founder and head of Decca Records, to distribute them, and was given a $25,000 cash advance by the Christmas of 1947. Even better, Murrow signed on as the voice of the recordings.

Friendly was not only the producer and writer, he also created sound effects and impersonations of the famous figures profiled. The project began a lifelong partnership, one that would one day bring the introverted Murrow to Providence for a speaking engagement, at the bequest of Friendly. Next, Friendly enlisted Murrow as a partner in what would become the program “Hear it Now” on CBS Radio. The two would go on to produce some of the most seminal radio news documentaries, and Friendly—utilizing the power, prominence, and stature of Murrow—helped promote See “RI Legend” cont’d on p. 15

Annual Fund Donors Thank you! In this extraordinary year, the RIHS has much to be grateful for, especially you. Those who donated to the RIHS and MoWC Annual Funds are included here.

Donors give in many ways and it isn’t possible to list them all here. If you believe we have made an error or an omission, please let us know and we will promptly amend our records accordingly. Gifts less than $100 are included on our website and in our annual report. You may request a copy by emailing cmoore@rihs.org.

$5,000+

$250-$499

Mr. Davide Dukcevich Mr. and Dr. Barry G. and Kathleen C. Hittner M.D. Ms. Mary Speare Profs. Luther W. and Kathryn T. Spoehr

Mr. and Mrs. Roger and Diane Begin Mr. and Mrs. Dennis J. and Kathleen Duffy Mr. Michael Eadie Mr. and Mrs. Bill and Judy Famiglietti Gertrude N Goldowsky & Seebert J Goldowsky Foundation Mrs. Beverly Klyberg Mr. J. Stephen Lawton Prof. Francis Leazes Mr. and Mrs. Warren and Mary McGoldrick Mr. Kenneth Orenstein Mr. and Mrs. John and Regina A. Partridge Prof. and Mrs. James T. and Cynthia Patterson Mr. and Mrs. Kevin P. and Marianne Phelan Dr. Nancy Safer Mr. Philip Sarcione Ms. Julie Wilson Dr. Richard Wong

$1,000-$4,999

Mr. William Babcock Mr. and Mrs. Michael L. and Jennifer Baker Jr. Dr. Winifred Brownell Mrs. Nancy Cassidy Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. and Inge Chafee Mr. Alek Dykeman Mr. and Mrs. Andrew M. and Mary E. Erickson Mr. Arnold Friedman Dr. and Mrs. George M. and Betsey Goodwin Mr. and Mrs. Luke and Roberta Gosselin Dr. C. Morgan Grefe Mr. Frederick Mattis Dr. Maureen Moakley Mr. Robert Sloan Jr., CLU, CHFC Mr. and Mrs. Theodore W. and Robyn Smalletz Mr. and Mrs. Peter and Barbara Thornton United Way of Rhode Island Mr. James Wing

$100-$249

Mrs. Virginia Adams Mrs. Cherry Bamberg Ms. Mary-Elizabeth Barton Ms. Pamela Behring Mr. Arthur Bielfelt Mr. and Mrs. Thomas and Catherine Bledsoe Mr. Matt Bly Mrs. Anne Bozzi Mr. Thomas Bryson Drs. Ralf and Nancy Carriuolo Mr. and Mrs. Stephen and Kim Clark Mr. James Clarke Mr. Ralph Connell Mr. and Mrs. Peter and Anne Conway Ms. Bonny Cook Mr. Harold Cook Dr. Paul Croce Ms. Robin Cronin Ms. Phoebe Cutler Mr. and Mrs. Murray and Judith Danforth Mr. and Mrs. Cornelis and Kathryn De Boer Mr. Russell DeSimone Mr. and Mrs. Robert and Susan Dick Ms. Geralyn Ducady Mr. and Mrs. Joan and Jack Flynn Mr. James Frutchey Mr. Donald Gardner Ms. Donna-Belle Garvin Mr. David Green Mrs. Virginia Greenwood Mr. and Mrs. Peter and Teresa Hacunda

$500-$999

Mr. Vincent Buonanno Mr. Timothy Burditt Mrs. Lucy Burr Mr. Anthony Calandrelli Mr. and Mrs. Peter and Lucia Case Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Hallowell Jr. Ms. Nancy Harris Ms. Marion Harris Mr. Leslie Kenney Mr. and Mrs. Bradford B. and Jean R. Kopp Mr. James Loring CPA, CFA Mr. and Mrs. Robert and Lynn Manning Mr. and Mrs. Frank and Elizabeth R. Mauran IV Mr. Frank Mauran III Mr. Peter Miniati III, CFP Dr. Marcus Nevius Mr. Robert Padula CPCU, ARM RBC Foundation - USA, Employee Gift Matching Program Mr. and Mrs. Russ and Carla Ricci The San Francisco Foundation Mr. Peter Scheidler Ms. Maureen Taylor The Severus Foundation Corp Mr. and Mrs. Stanley and Beth Weiss

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MoWC Donors $1,000+

Mrs. Virginia D. Hales Ms. Nancy Hampton Beeley Mrs. Shirley Harrison Dr. Daniel Harrop Prof. and Mrs. John Hattendorf Ms. Claire Jubb Dr. Carl Kaestle Kane-Barrengos Foundation Mr. Richard Keene Mr. Paul Kochis Mr. and Mrs. Russ and Isabel Kushner Mr. and Mrs. Michael and Jeanne Laferriere Mr. Alan Lauermann Mr. Nicholas Longo Mr. Ralph Lufkin Mr. Scott MacKay Mr. Brian Magee Mr. and Mrs. Peter and Kathryn Mandel Mr. Christian McBurney Ms. Lisa Melton Mrs. Martha Milot Ms. Theresa Molloy Mr. and Mrs. E. Pierre and Sarah Morenon Mr. and Mrs. James M. and Susan Nagle Ms. Jane S. Nelson Mr. Sanford Neuschatz Mr. and Mrs. Joseph and Marie Parys Dr. Tullio Pitassi The Honorable and Mrs. Joseph and Claire-Lise Presel Mrs. Ress Family Foundation Mr. and Mrs. James and Cathe Rezendes Dr. Neil Safier Mr. Jerrold Salmanson Mr. Clarkson Schoettle Dr. and Mrs. George M. and Theresa Seidel Hon. and Mrs. Bruce Selya Mr. David Shwaery Dr. and Mrs. Arun K. and Barbara Singh Mr. and Mrs. John and Margaret Skenyon Mr. W. Bruce Tillinghast Ms. Joanne Tomao Mr. Christopher Tourtellot Ms. C. June Tow Ms. Christine Townsend Ms. Mary Wall Ms. Elizabeth Ward Mr. Francis Ward Ms. Nancy Wegimont Ms. Dianne Wilkin Mrs. Elizabeth Wood

Mr. and Mrs. Robert and Lori Godin Lepine Financial Advisors The Murray Family Charitable Foundation Délégation of Québec in Boston

$500-$999

Bourget & Associates Mr. J. Laurence Costin Mr. and Mrs. Frederick W. and Alice Reinhardt The Rhode Island Labor History Society Councilman David Soucy Soucy Insurance Agency Villa at Saint Antoine

$250-499

Ms. Diane Adam Mr. and Mrs. Paul and Denise Bourget Dr. and Mrs. James and Katherine Brennan Esten & Richard Insurance Fournier & Fournier Funeral Home The Friendly Home Mrs. Trudy Lamoureux Dr. David Marcoux and Mrs. Angela Bucci Marcum, LLP Northern RI Chamber of Commerce Ms. Margaret Jean Pickett Mr. and Mrs. Paul and Eleanor Pierannunzi RI Manufacturers Association Rotary Club of Woonsocket Walsh, Brule, & Nault, PC

$100-$249

Mr. and Mrs. John and Kyle Adamonis Ms. Sue Andrews Mr. and Mrs. Charles and Sandra Arning Mr. and Mrs. Robert and Judith Ann Ayotte B.U.W. Council Local 310 Mr. and Mrs. Maurice and Barbara Bell Mr Eric Berkey Ms. Beverly Bertsch Mr. and Mrs. Arthur and Gertrude Bilodeau Mr. and Mrs. Albert and Carol Anne Brunelle Carpenters Union, Local 330 Mr. and Mrs. Richard and Louise Carriere Mr.and Mrs. Richard and Germaine Cayer Ms. Pauline Clancy Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin and Amy Cogan Construction and General Laborers’ Local Union 271 Ms. Julia Conway and Ms. Juliana Pabon Mr. and Mrs. Peter and Anne Conway Mr. and Mrs. Pete and Carol Courtemanche

Mr. Wm. McKenzie Woodward Dr. David Woolman Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas and Wendy Yarnold

*Donors of less than $100 acknowledged online at rihs.org

*MoWC donors continue on the next page.

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Mr. Cedric DeLeon Dp Architect Mr. and Mrs. Timothy and Deborah Draper Mr. and Mrs. John and Elizabeth Faricy Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth and Irene Finlay Mr. and Mrs. David and Ann-Marie Fontaine Councilman Daniel and Mrs. Ann Marie Gendron Mrs. Shirley Girard Mr. and Mrs. Donald and Rachel Hoard Mr. Gordon Hoover Hope Global Mrs. Beverly Klyberg Ms. Mary Kosowski Reverend Eugene Lessard Ms. Charlotte Methe Milford Federal Savings and Loan Mr. Ron Miller and Mrs. Renee Darling Dr. Michelle Mondoux North Smithfield Fire/Rescue Mr. and Mrs. Frank and Kay Obrochta Mrs. Lorraine Palmer Mr. and Mrs. Thomas and Patricia Papa Mr. and Mrs. Robert and Kathleen Peck Dr. and Mrs. Kenneth Peloquin Dr. and Mrs. Joel Picard Mr. and Mrs. Paul and Sheila Pinsonnault Providence Central Federated Council AFL-CIO Mr. David Ransome Mr. Carl Richardson Mrs. Martha Roberts Senator Dominick Ruggerio Ms. Joanne Ryan Mr. Marc Staelen Mr. and Mrs. William & Karen Sutherland The Valley Breeze Trudeau’s Auto Repair Inc. Warwick Mall Ms. Nancy Wegimont

June Rockwell Levy Foundation Museum of Work and Culture Preservation Foundation Pricilla C. Ide Revocable Trust‡ Providence Public Library Rhode Island Council for the Humanities The Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island Senate

$1,000-$4,999

The Digital Curtain Restoration Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation The Jeremiah Dexter Family Fund at the Rhode Island

Foundation The John Fay Estate‡

Sponsorships $5,001+

Amica Companies Foundation

$1001-$5,000

Boy Scouts of America Brown University Dr. and Mrs. George M. and Betsey Goodwin Ms. Mary C. Speare

$100-$500

AAA Northeast Bank of America Friendly Home Hilb New England Mandel & Tracy, LLC Mr. Anthony Calandrelli Mr. Peter J. Miniati III, CFP The Washington Trust Company Moore Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation National History Day Rhode Island Census Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation Rhode Island Society Sons of the Revolution Studio Institute

*Donors of less than $100 acknowledged online at rihs.org

Grants and Designated Gifts

$500-$999

City of Woonsocket National Park Service The Newell D. Goff Fund at The Rhode Island Foundation Providence Public Library The Roger E. Potter Fund & the Nicholas E. and Ann O. Picchione Fund at The Rhode Island Foundation The State of Rhode Island

$250-$499 General Society of Colonial Wars Mr. Tyler Gibbs

$5,000-$9,999

‡

John and Mary Wall Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation

$10,000+

$100-$249 Gilder Lehrman Institute Ms. Kimberly Klyberg

AIRA Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation CVS Health Charity Classic Institute of Museum and Library Services

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Planned gift

Museum Without Walls Cont’d from p. 7

RI Legend Cont’d from p. 10

Smithsonian Institution’s National Youth Summit on Teen Resistance to Systemic Racism.

• Moving our traditional offerings, like guided Museum tours, homeschool educational programs, and event series for individuals with autism, to virtual formats.

the use of television as a news medium.

While Murrow would gain a place in history as “the father of broadcast news,” many scholars agree that it was Friendly who pushed him toward the new medium of television as a purveyor of news and information for mass audiences. “Hear It Now” on radio became “See It Now” on television and among those conceived and written by Friendly was a famous episode involving Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Communist “witch hunt.” From 1964–66, on the heels of award-winning documentaries done with Murrow on important topics like migrant farm workers and McCarthyism, Fred Friendly became president of CBS News.

In 1967, during time spent with the Ford Foundation, Fred Friendly’s vision for television as a public service involved the origination of public access TV cable channels–the forerunner of today’s PBS. With Ruth as his partner, he produced an influential series of media seminars on timely issues, about 90 in all, many of which were broadcast on PBS. In 1970 he was appointed to the Edward R. Murrow Professorship at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Among other accomplishments there, he headed its broadcast journalism division and founded a mentoring program for minority journalists.

Fred Friendly functioned for decades as an undiagnosed dyslexic, achieving success at the highest levels of radio and television. It was not until 1974— when his wife, Ruth, a school teacher, relayed the symptoms of dyslexia in one of her students– that his family, friends, and Fred himself, could put a name to what had challenged him for the previous 60 years.

Donors In Kind Adeline’s Speakeasy Kitchen and Bar Borelli’s Bakery

By Water Capital Grille Chelo’s Hometown Bar & Grille Ciro’s Tavern Christopher’s Restaurant Clark Farm Clyde’s Cider Mill Anne and Peter Conway Dr. C. Morgan Grefe Eugene Peloquin Fournier & Fournier Funeral Home Granny Squibb’s Kay’s Restaurant Mystic Cheese Company Narragansett Creamery Newport Craft Brewing & Distillery Pine Swamp Place Pranzi Catering Revival Brewing RJ Hill Liquor Seven Stars Bakery Southwick Zoo Stadium Theater The Brickle Group The Honey Shop Timeless Antiques & Collectibles Torre Restaurant Group Vose Hardward Whaler’s Brewing Company

The stories of Fred Friendly and other prominent journalists challenged by dyslexia are part of the forthcoming book by Tony Silvia and Suzanne Arena titled Dyslexia and the Journalist: Battling a Silent Disability, (McFarland, 2021).

See also, “Fred Friendly of Providence,” Rhode Island Jewish Historical Notes, Vol. 18, No. 1 (November 2019), 24-35.

“A Luminous Evening at Temple Beth-El, March 17, 1957,” Rhode Island Jewish Historical Notes (forthcoming).

Thank You! 15

C. Morgan Grefe, Ph.D. Executive Director Charmyne Goodfellow Deputy Executive Director for Finance & Administration Richard J. Ring Deputy Executive Director for Collections & Interpretation Anne Conway Director, The Museum of Work & Culture Geralyn Ducady Director, Goff Center for Education & Public Programs Elizabeth Wood Director of Advancement Aldrich House 110 Benevolent Street Providence, RI 401-331-8575 Mary E. Robinson Research Center 121 Hope Street Providence, RI 401-273-8107 The John Brown House Museum 52 Power Street Providence, RI 401-273-7507 The Museum of Work & Culture 42 South Main Street Woonsocket, RI 401-769-9675 www.rihs.org

Top photo: Home Movie Day took place under the stars at Dexter Training Grounds in October. Thanks to our partners: Rhode Island Council for the Arts, Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, West Broadway Neighborhood Association, and Cricket Cinema. Bottom photo: The inaugural “HerStory� walking tour led by Kelvis Hernandez and Jenn Wilson explores the historic women of the East Side. Read more about this tour on page 8.