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Showing posts with the label Pawtucket

Fish Passage Celebration @ Slater Mill | 2024

Last Sunday, March 19, I visited Old Slater Mill from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and joined a host of community groups advocating for the building of a fish passage. This is the third event I have attended to raise awareness around this issue, the first two being the Fish Passage Celebration in May 2023 , and Be the Voice of Kittacuck in October 2022 . Since the construction of dams in the 18th century to control water power on the Blackstone River and its tributaries, herring and other migratory fish have been unable to properly make their seasonal journeys. This has disrupted the ecosystem and badly affected fishers.

Parked at Home 2024 | #6 Saugus Iron Works National Historical Park

Last night — April 11, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. — was the sixth and final installment of the webinar series Parked at Home hosted by the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP) . Park ranger Allison Horrocks led the session with guest speaker Andrew Donovan, supervisory park ranger at Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site and Salem Maritime National Historic Site , which I most recently visited in October 2022 . Sherrolyn K. provided American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation. I had last visited Saugus Iron Works about eight years ago and appreciated the opportunity to refresh my knowledge about post-medieval mills leading up to the Industrial Revolution. Horrocks explained that Saugus, MA and Pawtucket, RI — one of six sites within BRVNHP — shared a business connection. The founder of Pawtucket in 1671, Joseph Jenks Jr. , originally settled in Saugus with his father, iron worker Joseph Jenks Sr. Years earlier while in England, the Jenks Sr. had worked for ...

Fish Passage Celebration @ Slater Mill

Earlier today—May 21, 2023—I attended the Fish Passage Celebration, an intertribal gathering and collaboration with local river advocates. Held at Old Slater Mill in Pawtucket, RI, which is part of Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP) , the event lasted from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and culminated in a short parade through the historic area of Pawtucket. This event is a sequel or follow-up to an event last fall, Be the Voice of Kittacuck , which recognized one of the original names of the Blackstone River.

First Strike Fest 2023

Earlier today — May 13, 2023, from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  — the National Park Service (NPS) collaborated with an expansive range of local organizations to host the second annual First Strike Fest at Old Slater Mill in Pawtucket, RI, part of Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park (BRNHP) . Free and open to the public, this festival allowed visitors to experience historic tours and lectures led by park rangers in collaboration with  Old Slater Mill Association , listen to live performances from local musicians, learn about archeology and anthropology from experts, watch an artist create a plein air watercolor painting, and many more fun and educational activities! The first strike in the United States began on May 26, 1824, just under hundred and ninety-nine years ago. Women working at factories in Pawtucket walked out of work after facing a drastic wage cut and increased work day. The strike lasted until June 3, when strikers reached a settlement ...

Parked at Home | #7: Music & Protest in the Blackstone River Valley

Yesterday, on Thursday, April 13, at 7:00 p.m., I watched the final installment of the 2023 season of Parked at Home by the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP) . Park rangers Mark Mello and Allison Horrocks spoke about the connection between music, factory work, and protests during the Industrial Revolution. Horrocks began the presentation by reviewing the themes of Parked at Home 2023, which focused on labor and work in company towns or on the frontier. She reminded the audience of the parks they had virtually visited over the seven weeks: Yellowstone National Park Ellis Island & Statue of Liberty in New York City Eisenhower National Historic Site in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Reconstruction Era National Park in South Carolina Ste. Geneviève National Historical Park in Missouri Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Site in Skagway, Alaska The soundscape of each site is unique and inescapable. Horrocks explained that while we ...

2023 Parked at Home | #4: Reconstruction Era National Park

On Thursday, March 23 at 7:00 p.m., I attended the fourth installment of the 2023 Parked at Home series hosted via Zoom by Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP) and Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor . During this Parked at Home talk, park rangers Allison Horrocks and Mark Mello of BRVNHP were joined by Richard Cordon of Reconstruction Era National Historical Park (RENHP) in the Sea Islands, including the city of Beaufort, South Carolina on Port Royal Island . Horrocks began the presentation by noting the commonalities between BRVNHP and RENHP. Both parks are comprised of multiple historic sites connected by themes, with evolution of industry as the theme of BRVNHP. Horrocks reminded the audience about the different definitions of reconstruction. Lowercase r  reconstruction refers to rebuilding, repairing, or restoring a physical structure, just as people in the Blackstone Valley have worked on historic mill buildings, while the...

2023 Parked at Home | #3: Eisenhower National Historic Site

On Thursday, March 16 at 7:00 p.m., I attended the third installment of the 2023 Parked at Home series hosted via Zoom by Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park (BRVNHP) . Park rangers Mark Mello of BRVNHP and Joshua Bell at Eisenhower National Historic Site discussed the role of the Blackstone River Valley in military productions from the Civil War to the present, along with the career of five-star general and 34 th United States President Dwight “Ike” David Eisenhower . Mello began the presentation with an overview of the United States presidents, forty-five men serving forty-six terms in office with the obligatory reminder that Grover Cleveland served as 22 nd and 24 th . He reminded the audience that twenty-one NPS sites preserve birthplaces, homes, and other important monuments to the presidents . The Blackstone River Valley has strong connections to 27 th president William Howard Taft , whose family lived in the area and whose ancestor, Lydia Chapin Taft ,...

2023 Parked at Home | #2: Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration

On Thursday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m., I attended the second session of the 2023 Parked at Home series hosted via Zoom by Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park . This webinar was presented by park rangers Allison Horrocks of BRVNHP and Lauren D’Elia of Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration , part of Statue of Liberty National Monument . Horrocks began with an introduction to Ellis Island, describing as an “Island of Hope and Island of Tears” for immigrants coming to the United States. Prior to the opening of Ellis Island, immigrants experienced very different circumstances. English immigrant Samuel Slater, who built the first industrial textile mill in Pawtucket, RI, arrived in the winter of 1789 as a twenty-one year old who could not afford to pay the tax on his trunk. He did not have to pass through a checkpoint, as was the experience of later immigrants. “Slater’s experiment” was a turning point in the young United States, during the country into an industri...

2023 Valley Talks #1: Worldly Rhode Island

Today was the first presentation of the 2023 Valley Talks series hosted by Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS). Called Worldly Rhode Island , the talk was presented via Zoom by RIHS Executive Director C. Morgan Grefe , who holds a Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University . Grefe described the changes in the Rhode Island population from the Gilded Age to the present day. She also highlighted important figures in Rhode Island political and manufacturing history, along with mill production in the mid 19 th through the early 20 th century, especially during World War I. Below are key points from the talk. Famous Figures Among the earliest discussed figures was George Corliss , a Providence, RI resident who invented and patented a type of steam engine. Corliss won first prize for his design at the 1867 World’s Fair in Paris, France. He later won the Rumford Prize , named for fellow New England inventor Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford of Bavaria...

Review: 50 States 5000 Ideas from National Geographic

To generate new ideas for upcoming trips, I recently read the book 50 States 5000 Ideas written by Joe Yogerst , fact-checked Meg Weaver , and published by  National Geographic  in February 2017, and distributed by Simon & Schuster . The full-color paperback edition has 288 pages of facts and photographs and makes an excellent coffee table book for roadtrippers or a basic starting point for people who want to begin traveling but do not know where to begin. Since the book covers a lot of ground, and not always successfully, the author highlights major attractions and large cities, along with a few smaller towns, but does not give details on most location. I experienced several frustrations while reading the book. States and provinces appear in alphabetical order, rather than by region, meaning New Mexico is listed between New Jersey and New York, rather than with Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. The side bars and colored boxes with additional information interrupted ...