Jamestown Town Hall
Narragansett Ave, Jamestown, RI
Jamestown Library
26 North Road, Jamestown, RI
Windmill
North Road near Weeden Lane
Conanicut Battery
Battery Lane
Jamestown Mariners of Color: From Bondage to Boatsteerer
For centuries, Jamestown sent its young men to sea. As agriculture and slavery slowly declined, 150 people of color left the town, many of them men seeking opportunities at sea. What they found were South Sea islands, wondrous creatures, warlike tribes, hardship, and occasionally, stunning achievement.
Please join us for a presentation by Peter Fay a public historian who has been researching, writing and lecturing about the role of Rhode Island in slave labor and the American slave trade.
Register Here in advance for this webinar.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Places to Visit
See Jamestown’s historic sites and learn its history through its artifacts
Current Exhibits
Learn about this summer’s museum exhibit and other displays around town
Map of Historic Places
Click to explore the island and get driving directions around town. Take it on the road
From our Online Catalog
Search and view our online catalog of materials in the JHS collections
Jamestown blacks had long history of going out to sea by Peter Fay
The African-American and Native American community in Jamestown burgeoned during slavery, but it declined precipitously after the Revolution. Nine tenths left in only 50 years. The turbulence of war, the slow demise of slavery and the exclusion from economic...
Library Exhibit, February 2021 Jamestown’s Black Community
The new exhibit in the JHS display case in the Jamestown Philomenian Library tells the stories of some of Africans and African Americans who have lived on the island over the passed 350 years.During the colonial era, Black and Native American slaves made up about...
The Bowen Brothers
George Wallin Bowen and his brother James Howard were born on the Point in Newport in 1882 and 1884, respectively. In their 20s, the two brothers went their separate ways – George to Chicago; J. Howard, as he was known, to the U.S. Navy. The First World War...
Library Exhibit, December 2020 World War II: The Home Front
The new exhibit in the JHS display case in the Jamestown Philomenian Library celebrates the different ways the people in Jamestown supported its military forces fighting in Europe and the Far East from 1941 to 1945. Ambulance volunteers, c.1945 Those unable to serve...