Calendar
Current Events
For more information regarding events, call 401-846-0813 weekdays or 401-841-8770.
Daily, year-round, from 10AM to 5PM
The Museum of Newport History tells the story of Newport through important furniture, art, silver, documents, and artifacts of daily life, all from the Historical Society’s collections. Browse the Museum Shop and bring your NHS membership card for 20% discount. Brick Market, donation.
Thursday March 18th and Thursday March 25th
Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House tour. Step inside the c.1697 Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House, the oldest museum house in Newport, and step back in time. A costumed guide will discuss the house’s unique history and share stories about its inhabitants. The tour will be offered on Thursday March 18th and Thursday March 25th. at 11:30 and lasts approximately 30 minutes. It costs $5 per person, $3 for children under the age of twelve, and is free for NHS members. All tours depart from the Museum & Shop at Brick Market, 127 Thames Street, Newport, RI. Reservations recommended as space is limited. To make reservations call: 401-871-8770.
Friday March 19th and Friday March 26th
Pirates and Scoundrels history walking tour. On the Pirates and Scoundrels history walking tour, see where scoundrels lived, where pirates profited and where criminals were put on trial and punished. Find out why this colony was sometimes known as “Rogue’s Island.” This tour will be offered on Friday March 19th and Friday March 26th at 11:30am. It lasts approximately 75 minutes and costs $12 per person, $10 for NHS members. All tours depart from the Museum & Shop at Brick Market, 127 Thames Street, Newport, RI. Reservations recommended as space is limited. To make reservations call: 401-871-8770.
Thursday, April 29, 2010, 6PM
Scrimshaw of Rhode Island. Stuart M. Frank, Ph.D., Senior Curator of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, will discuss the unique nature of scrimshaw of Rhode Island including pieces that are in the collections of the Newport Historical Society. The program will conclude with appraisal by Dr. Frank and two members of his Scrimshaw Forensics Laboratory® team. Attendees are encouraged to bring articles from their own collections for review. Colony House, admission.
Thursday, May 6, 2010 6PM
Chocolate in Colonial Newport. Rhode Island was a chocolate center of the American colonies. Rabbi Deborah Prinz will discuss cacao in the colonial period and the pioneering role that Jewish merchants played in the trade, retail and production of chocolate. Colony House, admission.
Past Events
February 12 – 21, 2010
The Newport Historical Society participates in Newport’s Winter Festival 2010! For a full schedule of all winterfest activities in the historic downtown of Newport, including a map, click here.
Saturday, February 20, 2010, 3PM
From Adam Lambert’s spikes to Amy Winehouse’s piled-high beehive, today’s fashionable hairstyles may seem new and unique, but many are actually rooted in history. In this lecture, author Maureen Taylor (Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900) uses old photographs to show how hairstyles and facial hair changed throughout the 19th century. Admission $5 a person, $4 with the Newport Winter Festival button, and $1 for NHS members. Colony House, admission.
January 27, 2010, 6PM
Fashioning Her World: A Shopkeeping Widow in 18th Century Newport. Thousands of excavated artifact fragments and documentary evidence from merchant and court records provide an intimate perspective on the Pratt household’s material world and daily activities. Colony House, donation.
December 19, 2PM
Celebrate the Holidays in Colonial Newport. Gather at the 1697 Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House where a historical interpreter will discuss winter life in Newport during the Revolution. Afterwards, enjoy a tour and refreshments at the historical 1673 White Horse Tavern. $25 all inclusive; $20 for members.
Through December 2009
The exhibit Homespun to High Fashion gives a rare glimpse into the society’s extensive 18th and 19th century textiles collection in the newly restored Seventh Day Baptist Meeting House. Fridays from 10AM to 2PM, Saturdays from 10AM to12PM and by appointment. $5.
December 3, 2009, 6PM. Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott & Her Father. John Matteson, winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in biography, will discuss the Alcotts, Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne and others. Presented by the Redwood Library and the Newport Historical Society. December 3, 6PM, at the Redwood Library.
Thursday November 5, 2009, 5:30PM
An Evening with Rabbit Goody, textile historian, Hollywood movie consultant and owner of Thistle Hill Weavers, who has been producing historically accurate reproduction fabrics, trim, and carpet for two decades. Colony House. $5 per person; $1 NHS members.
Saturday, October 31, 2009, 4PM – 5:30PM
Halloween Pirate Tour. See where scoundrels lived, where pirates made a living, and where criminals were put to trial and punished. Find out why this colony was sometimes known as Rogue’s Island on a 90 minute walking tour. Museum & Shop at Brick Market. Reservations required.
Thursday October 29, 5:30PM
American Jezebel. Ann Hutchinson, an early settler of Aquidneck Island, was a dynamic and charismatic figure. Eve LaPlante, author of the best-selling biography American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, will speak about Hutchinson’s life. Colony House. $5 per person; $1 NHS members.
Thursday, September 24, 7PM
The Art of American Letter Writing with Margaret Shepherd, renowned calligrapher who helped make calligraphy accessible and bestselling author of The Art of the Handwritten Note (and more recently, The Art of the Pesonal Letter). Shepherd will discuss early American letter writing. Colony House. $5; $1 NHS members.
Saturday, September 5, 1PM
Newport Artists and Writers Walking Tour. Departs from the Museum and ends at the Redwood Library, featuring the exhibit “Newport’s Own: Portraits by Jane Stuart” (which includes paintings on loan from five different institutions.) $15 per person and $10 for NHS members.
