Explore the Collections Barn with some animals that lived in Little Compton. 

The artifacts in the Collections Barn offer insight into the agricultural history of Little Compton. There’s an ox cart, carriages, plows, fishing equipment, even a cow vomit rope. Who better to give tours of these things than the animals who knew them well. Use your cell phone to call (401) 214-6926 and choose tours from a cow, a dog, a horse, a fish, and an owl. And the mouse who curates it all. Get the animal-eye view of Little Compton history. 

Best done at the barn, so you can see the things the animals remember. But you can call from home. Or take a look at the tour brochures. 

With thanks to the students in the Brown University public humanities program that created these. 

Landscape Walk – Sakonnet Point Then & Now 
Friday, July 26
8:30 AM
Meet at the DEM Board Ramp
Park on Bluff Head Avenue or the Town Dock
John Berg of The Nature Conservancy will lead a one-hour landscape walk of Sakonnet Point with Marjory O’Toole of the Little Compton Historical Society.
Free and Open to the Public
Limited to 25 participants
Registration required at 401-635-4035

GRAVESTONE CLEANING WORKSHOP
Wednesday, July 24 ( AM to Noon) 
The Old Burying Ground on the Commons
Free

Learn to clean historic gravestones safely using materials and methods approved by the Association for Gravestone Studies. Help remove harmful lichens from the gravestones on the Commons and preserve these important historic objects for the next generation to learn from and enjoy.

Once you have attended a workshop you are welcome to join us on any other cleaning day or to borrow a cleaning kit to work at your own pace.

Additional cleaning days:

Aug. 15 5 to 7 pm
Aug. 22 9 am to Noon
Sept. 11 9 am to Noon

SPEAKER AND BOOK SIGNING

Sean Moore, Ph.D.

Slavery and the Making of the American Library

Tuesday, July 23 7 PM

Little Compton Community Center

The Commons

Free & Open to the Public

Hear Professor Sean Moore speak about his extensive research into the many connections between slavery, philanthropy, and the founding of American libraries in his talk entitled “Slavery and the Making of the American LibraryEarly American Libraries: Bristish Literature, Political Thought, and the Transatlantic Book Trade, 1731 – 1814.”

Slavery and the Making of Early American Libraries explores how libraries in colonial America stood at the nexus of two transatlantic trades: the book trade and the slave trade. Books were hand-made by craftsmen in this period and were therefore very expensive, meaning that those Americans made wealthy by slavery and related enterprises like sugar, rum, and shipbuilding were some of the few who could afford books imported from England. They pooled their money in founding pre-public “proprietary subscription libraries” where one would have to buy a share in a library in order to borrow a book, and those shares were so expensive that clergy and other good people could not afford them and could only be made “honorary members.” Much of Dr. Moore’s research focuses on the Redwood Library and Athenaeum of Newport.

Following the talk Dr. Moore will be signing copies of his new book by the same title. Sean Moore is an Associate Professor of English at the University of New Hampshire and an award-winning author. He has family ties to Little Compton and is a frequent visitor here. This event is co-sponsored by the Little Compton Historical Society and the Brownell Library. It is free and open to the public. No reservations required. Doors open at 6:30. There will be a free-will donation jar at the door.

2019 Season

Join us this season as we explore the science and history of Little Compton’s changing landscape from its formation as an ancient continent to the present day. Local historians, residents, and environmental scientists have collaborated to share their insights with the public.

Look for our beautiful and informative new book on the subject available in July!

Exhibit Preview Party & Book Launch – Friday, July 5 – Tickets available NOW

Family Day – Saturday, July 6 – Noon to 4 pm – Free & Open to the Public

Exhibit Open:       July – August          Thursday – Sunday              1 to 5 pm

Contact us at 401-635-4035 or lchistory@littlecompton.org for more information.

The Little Compton Historical Society invites community members to a final opportunity to see their 2018 Special Exhibition “Remember Me: Little Compton’s 46 Historic Cemeteries” on Monday, October 8 from 1 to 4 pm during their annual Cider Social.

As usual the Cider Social is free and open to the public.  There will be complimentary cider and donuts while supplies last, free tours of the Wilbor House Museum, a candy haystack, corn husk-doll making, and a station at which visitors of all ages can make reproduction mourning jewelry similar to the mourning rings on display in the exhibition. The exhibition also contains information on each of Little Compton’s 46 historic cemeteries, the history of cemetery preservation in Little Compton, and a variety of objects that shed light on historic burial and mourning practices including a wreath made from human hair and an impressive collection of mourning dresses dating from the 1860s to the 1920s. The Remember Me project was funded in part by The Rhode Island Foundation, the Rhode Island State Council for the Humanities, and The Ocean State Charities Trust.

During the Cider Social the Historical Society will also host a sale of donated antique and vintage items. The Society is hoping to “clean house” and sell all of the items it currently has in storage, so shoppers can look forward to some very attractive prices especially as the day wears on. The items that are offered for sale have been donated specifically for that purpose and have been deemed inappropriate for the museum’s permanent collection.

For those unable to attend the Cider Social on Monday, the Special Exhibition will be open this weekend from 1 to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday.