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PROVIDENCE WALKS: EARLY BLACK HISTORY SELF-GUIDED WALKING TOUR

Along with the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors BureauRhode Island Historical Society, and Stages of Freedom, the Center for Reconciliation is proud to present Providence Walks: Early Black History Self-Guided Walking Tour

All are welcome to take this self-guided walking tour around Providence! You can print out the map or view it on your phone here, courtesy of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau.

About the Map

Researched and written by Elon Cook Lee and Traci Picard with Julia Renaud, this CFR-authored walking tour map highlights a small percentage of the rich early Black history in Providence. Visitors take a roughly 1.6 mile journey throughout Providence’s Downtown and East Side neighborhoods, exploring fourteen stops along the way.

The tour features sites including the Rhode Island State House, St. John’s Cathedral, North Burial Ground, Market House, and India Point Park. The map also includes a gallery of rarely exhibited historic artifacts from the nineteenth-century Providence neighborhood of Snowtown, courtesy of the Public Archeology Laboratory, Inc.

Launch of Providence Walks: Early Black History

Providence Walks: Early Black History Self-Guided Walking Tour launched on January 30, 2020 with a press conference in the Center for Reconciliation’s Exhibition Hall. The event featured compelling talks from Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, former CFR staff member and map co-author Traci Picard, Bishop Nicholas Knisely of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, Kristen Adamo of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau, Ray Rickman of Stages of Freedom, and Heather Olson of the Public Archeology Laboratory.

In addition to these remarks, attendees enjoyed an up-close viewing of the historic artifacts from the nineteenth-century Providence neighborhood of Snowtown thanks to the Public Archeology Laboratory. They also explored the exhibition Unfinished BusinessThe Long Civil Rights Movement, curated by Brown University’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice and presented on loan by the Center for Reconciliation.

  • Press conference for “Providence Walks: Early Black History,” January 30, 2020. Photo by Mary Kuan.

Photos from the launch of “Providence Walks: Early Black History,” featuring Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza and map co-author Traci Picard. Center for Reconciliation, Providence, January 30, 2020. Photos by Mary Kuan and Julia Renaud.

Press


Providence Journal, 
“Hidden No More: Black history walking tour brings to light a separate reality” (January 30, 2020)

Rhode Island Monthly“Honor Black History with This New Tour in Providence” (February 3, 2020)

WPRI.com, “New Walking Tour Shows Early Black History of Providence” (January 30, 2020)