Additional Resources
Rhode Tour is a free mobile application and website that features several historically and humanities-themed tours and stories from around the state using multi-media such as photographs and videos. One tour, Rhode Island’s Black Heritage, features locations that speak to the role of Black culture in the state throughout history. The East Side of Providence tour features a stop at the John Brown House.
The Providence Journal published a series of articles called Rhode Island and the Slave Trade: Buying and Selling Human Beings
To read about one man’s role in promoting Black Rhode Islanders’ right to vote, check out this article.
The East Greenwich News published this article that provides information about Scalloptown, which was founded as a Black community.
For more information about Rhode Island’s role in the North American slave trade during the 1700s, read this article by Small State, Big History.
This website has an article about the role that the enslaved played in the success of Rhode Island plantations and the state’s involvement in the triangular trade.
The John Carter Brown Library has some information and an online exhibit relating to the slave trade in Rhode Island.
Here is more information about The Voyage of the Slave Ship Sally
This video, The Forgotten Slavery of Our Ancestors, is an introduction to the enslavement of Indigenous people throughout the Americas and includes the Wampanoag.
Relevant Articles from Rhode Island History Journal
Lemons, J. Stanley. “Rhode Island and the Slave Trade.” Rhode Island History Journal 60 no. 4 (Fall 2002): 95-104.
Meyers, John L. “Antislavery Agencies in Rhode Island, 1832-1835.” Rhode Island History Journal 29 no. 3 & 4 (August and November 1970): 82-93.
Meyers, John L. “Antislavery Agents in Rhode Island, 1835-1837.” Rhode Island History Journal 30 no. 1 (February 1971): 21-32.
Nadalin, Christy Millard. “The Last Years of the Rhode Island Slave Trade.” Rhode Island History Journal 54 no. 2 (May 1996): 35-50.
Van Broekhoven, Deborah Bingham. “A Determination to Labor…: Female Antislavery Activity in Rhode Island” Rhode Island History Journal 44 no. 2 (May 1985): 35-46.
Potential Field Trips and Locations of Note
The John Brown House Museum offers customizable tours based off age group and content while featuring important information about the slave trade and civil rights in Rhode Island. Virtual options available.
The Stephen Hopkins House once held enslaved people, and visitors can see where the enslaved lived and worked.
The Center for Reconciliation strives to confront the issue of slavery while promoting social justice, drawing from the legacy of the Cathedral of St. John, which was formerly a place of worship for Black people.
Brown University’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice offers plenty of information and walking tours that delve into the history of slavery in the area.
The Little Compton Historical Society has resources, including tours, regarding slavery in the state.
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