by JHS | May 13, 2021 | JHS in the News, Library Exhibits
Many organizations – governmental, fraternal, and commercial – use patches sewn to uniforms, shirts, or hats to identify their membership. This month the JHS exhibit case in the foyer of the Jamestown Philomenian Library displays a variety of such badges from the...
by JHS | May 5, 2021 | From the Collection
Named for John T. Greble, the first U.S. Military Academy graduate to die in the Civil War, Fort Greble was established as an Endicott fortification in 1897 and was part of the RI Coastal Defense on Dutch Island which is part of the town of Jamestown, Rhode Island....
by JHS | Apr 21, 2021 | JHS in the News, Library Exhibits
April is the month when, under Rhode Island state law, all dogs over three months of age must be registered. This April the JHS mounted two exhibits about Jamestown dogs and their registration. Various Jamestown Dog Tags Christmas Dog Parade. Lew Kitts and Ken...
by Rosemary Enright | Apr 21, 2021 | 2021 Articles
During World War II, Conanicut Island was home to three named forts, all of which are now parks – Fort Burnside at Beavertail, Fort Getty on the West Passage, and Fort Wetherill on the East Passage. Each of the forts was named for a U.S. Army officer who had seen...
by Rosemary Enright | Mar 17, 2021 | 2021 Articles
In the mid-19th century, the population of Jamestown was declining. The 1870 census counted only 378 people living here. Those remaining knew the town would die if nothing were done. In 1873, the town and some of its major landowners formed the Jamestown &...
by JHS | Mar 9, 2021 | JHS in the News, Library Exhibits
The Jamestown Historical Society monitors eBay and other auction websites for objects pertaining to Jamestown. Over the last six years, we have purchased several archives and objects to add to the JHS collection. The new exhibit in the JHS display case shows some of...
by JHS | Mar 8, 2021 | From the Collection
Francis X. West was an artist and painting contractor who worked from his Red Elephant Studio on Cole Street. In the JHS Collection is his artist’s palette with images of clouds, gulls, and sailboats. At the bottom of the palette is his autograph, “Frank West RES.”...
by JHS | Feb 22, 2021 | 2021 Articles
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...
by JHS | Feb 18, 2021 | JHS in the News, Library Exhibits
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...
by JHS | Feb 8, 2021 | From the Collection
From the early 18th century until the American Revolution, approximately one-third of the people living and working in Jamestown were recently captured Africans, second-generation African Americans, or indigenous people, mostly Narragansett. The vast majority of these...
