This is a public domain image from the Library of Congress of the Women’s League Newport Executive Board. The woman at the top center is Mary H.
Black Women voters in 2024.
Source: The Guardian
The legacies of the Black men and women who shaped our nation, as well as our own cities and towns, should always be celebrated, and never forgotten. This is why I am thrilled to share the voices and legacies of these exceptional Rhode Island women this month.
RISHM celebrated #BHM on February 28th with our RISHM Community, alongside city and state dignitaries
RI Governor Daniel McKee, RI Secretary of State Gregg Amore, U.S. Representative Gabe Amo, State Representative Marvin Abney and Newport Mayor Charlie Holder and many other civic leaders joined Charles Roberts and the entire RISHM community for a Black History Month event on Friday, February 28th at Newport Craft Brewing & Distillery Co. RISHM guests enjoyed a lively and energetic African drum performance by renowned djembefola artist Sidy Maïga, thoughtful tribute comments about the need to build a more inclusive community – especially during complicated times – from VIP city & state dignitaries, an engaging fireside chat about the rum industry and its impact on the RI slave trade economy by Charles Roberts and historian/author Fred Zilian, Ph.D., delicious nibbles and tastings of Thomas Tew rum (named after the infamous Newport pirate); among other distilled beverage options that were enjoyed.
RI 250 Commission’s Portrait Presentation Commemorating First Rhode Island Regiment
Charles Roberts, RI Governor Daniel McKee, Secretary of State Gregg Amore and other local dignitaries met at the Rhode Island State House on March 4th on the occasion of this historic portrait unveiling.
Photo: “Brave Men as Ever Fought” courtesy of Don Troiani Museum of the American Revolution, and funded by the National Park Service Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail.
Let’s Make History Together
Annual Campaign + 401Gives
Beginning in December, RISHM launched an annual campaign that will span until 401 Gives Day (Rhode Island’s “giving day” for non-profit organizations), which will be commemorated on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.
Together, all things are possible! Your gift this spring/WHM season, in any amount, is urgently needed so we continue our programming and help to foster greater understanding and bridge cultural divides.
Thank you so much for your tax-deductible contribution. To donate, please click on the button below, visit the DONATE page on our website, www.
RI Slave History Medallions
PO Box 2505, Newport, RI 02840
We extend our deepest appreciation for your continued support of our work in 2025!
Our mission is to tell the forgotten stories of Rhode Island’s free and enslaved African-American and Indigenous peoples. Through our statewide initiative to install interactive markers at historic sites, we engage in research, present public education programs, and build community partnerships to bring awareness to our state’s dominant role in the institution of American slavery and to the effects of that legacy today. www.
RISHM offers its deepest appreciation to these generous supporters:
RI State Legislators, RI Commerce, Black Philanthropy Bannister Fund, Bank Newport, Prince Charitable Trusts, Gruben Charitable Foundation, RIF’s Newport County Fund and Community Gift Fund for generous grant support in 2024.
Rhode Island Slave History Medallions invites the community to a special Juneteenth Semiquincentennial Living History Celebration at Fort Adams State Park in Newport.
Held on the parade grounds inside the fort, this family-friendly event will commemorate Juneteenth while also honoring the anniversary of the Revolutionary War and the history of the Battle of Rhode Island.
We invite all visitors to learn more about RISHM’s events and accomplishments in 2025 and support our Annual Campaign, from Giving Tuesday (Dec. 2, 2025) through 401 Gives Day (April 1, 2026).
RISHM relies on the generous support of private donations to continue the underrepresented but important work of marking the landscape of where slave history happened in Rhode Island.
