This museum tells the fascinating story of Cape Verdean Americans and their culture. Cape Verde was a Portuguese colony, located off the coast of West Africa, that gained independence in 1975. Men and women from there migrated to New England in the 1800s and onward, working on whaling ships and Cape Cod's cranberry bogs. They brought with them a unique culture. part African, part European and have continued to have strong bonds with their mother country to this day. Their story is a fascinating one and this museum, the first of its kind in the country, tells it with well-organized exhibits and rare artifacts. The museum is closed during the winter.
Attend services at this English decorated style church. Built in 1862 in open fields, the stone building is now in the center of Brown University located on the East Side of Providence. A peaceful country church feeling pervades the atmosphere of this gothic Middle Age structure. Music of the liturgy drifts into the high alcoves of Our Lady's Chapel. The Chapel affords east and west views, a reminder of parish diversity at St. Stephens. Daily Services, small weddings and funerals are held in the Chapel.
The Providence Performing Arts Center is the second largest theater in New England. It seats 3200 people and it originally opened as a Loew's movie theater in 1928. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places after its 1977 renovation. In this baroquely elegant space, the stage is set for Broadway musicals and concerts. Events as diverse as a Jackson Browne concert or The Sound of Music can be found on this venerable establishment's schedule. Located downtown on Weybosset Street, PPAC (pronounced Pea-Pac, as it is known locally) is close to many downtown hotels as well as other attractions.
The Providence Athenaeum is one of America's oldest member-supported libraries and it has functioned as such since 1753 (though the present structure was built in 1838). According to 19th-century legend, the poet Edgar Allen Poe courted Sarah Whitman in the stacks of this granite Greek Revival building. Some of the collections include documents and books from the original Providence Library, rare editions from American authors like Louisa May Alcott and Herman Melville along with the Robert Burns collection, which has more than 400 items. Today, the Athenaeum hosts events throughout the year with a focus on education for both adults as well as children.
This baseball diamond is home to the beloved Pawtucket Red Sox or more affectionately known as the 'Pawsox,' the Boston Red Sox triple-A minor-league affiliate. The stadium was built in 1942 and named after then Mayor Thomas P. McCoy. It holds around 10,000 people and though it is outside of the city of Providence, visiting the town of Pawtucket is always a nice day excursion.
In 1764, three men from Newport established 'The College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations'. For the sake of brevity, it was shortened to Brown University in 1804. It is one of the original eight Ivy League Colleges. Standing strong ever since its inception in 1764, Brown University boasts an excellent educational offering which spans diverse disciplines including engineering, design, ancient studies, archaeology, academics and sciences among others. However, the university bears as much brilliance in its architecture as it does in its academics. Its campus is laden with exceptional examples of late 18th-century architecture residing around the Wriston and Simmons quadrangles, as well as those on the Pembroke College campus, and along Benefit Street. The college remains one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the United States.
The First Baptist Church in America is quite literally the primogenitor of all the subsequent congregations across the nation for this particular denomination of Protestantism. It was constructed in 1775 and like many other buildings in College Hill, it played a significant part in the development of both Colonial America as well as Providence. The church was also the impetus behind Brown University and its relocation from nearby Warren in 1770 (even though the building did not exist, the clerical bureaucracy still had considerable clout). In fact, the university still holds undergraduate commencement ceremonies inside the church's Meeting Hall every Fall. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966 and today its open to the public for services on Sunday as well as more tourist-oriented visits during the week.
Edna Lawrence Nature Lab is a natural history museum for the students of Rhode Island School of Design. Outsiders are allowed only with prior permission from the museum curator. It boasts at least hundred thousand artifacts such as shells, skeletons, fossils and slide mounts of micro organisms. It also houses a collection of more than 1000 rare herbs and plants, as well as mounted mammals and birds. There are a few living animals like turtles, gerbils, birds and fishes as well. The museum allows students to appreciate art and design found in nature and draw parallels with man-made design. The lab is equipped with digital cameras, dissecting and compound microscopes, X-ray photography machines and scanners to help students study the specimens. By exploring intricate patterns occurring in nature, students learn to build three-dimensional models and apply the knowledge to their own designs. Edna Lawrence Nature Lab also acts as a library and lends some of the natural specimens to students.
The Providence Art Club is the second oldest clubhouse of this kind in the United States after the famous Salgamundi Art Club in New York. The galleries and exhibitions support artists around the greater New England region and all are open to the public. Some of the exhibits include photography, assembled prints, film, sculpture and much, much more. It's better to visit during the week as opposed to weekends when it's only open for two hours.
The Rhode Island School of Design is one of the country's leading art schools and it has a museum to match this lauded reputation. Located on colonial Benefit Street, RISD museum traces the history of art from antiquity to the present day through more than 85,000 works of art from all over the world. There are also collections showing Providence's history as a manufacturing center for silver, but the main galleries are categorized as follows: The Grand Gallery, Early Renaissance & Medieval, Ancient Greek & Roman, Contemporary & Modern and Decorative Arts & Design.
This is the place to go if art is your calling. Named the best art college in the country by the US News and World Report, Rhode Island School of Design offers numerous courses individually and jointly with the Brown University; you can register at both colleges simultaneously. The college seems to thrive on its laurels alone, for it has the lowest admission rates in the country. Boasting of a long list of notable alumni, this institution attracts highly talented individuals from all over the world. The school also has an amazing gallery, where it displays over 80,000 works of art. Exhibitions are regularly held outside the campus, especially in the Woods-Gerry Gallery, where RISD students, faculty and even the staff get to show their talents.
Stretching from Main Street in the northern part of College Hill to Alves Way in the neighborhood of Fox Point, this street is also called the 'Mile of History'. Benefit Street has been a catalyst in the history of the city and state. Along the way, visitors will see many Victorian and Colonial homes as well as the campus of Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. The street is dotted with other historical attractions like the Providence Athenaeum, the First Baptist Church in America and the anachronistic John Brown and Nightingale Houses. If you choose to walk yourself, the Providence Preservation Society provides free pamphlets in order to guide you down the street.