The Rhode Island Historical Society is dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing Rhode Island’s history. Its offices are located at Aldrich House, 110 Benevolent Street, Providence Rhode Island, 02906. Information about its collections and historic buildings, and about its programs and events, may be found on this website.
Founded in 1822, the RIHS is the fourth oldest state historical society in the United States. It is a private organization, founded and supported by its membership.
The RIHS holds the largest and most important historical collections relating to Rhode Island. These collections include some 25,000 objects, 5,000 manuscripts, 100,000 books and printed items, 400,000 photographs and maps, and 9 million feet of motion-picture film. The RIHS owns and maintains the John Brown House Museum (52 Power Street, Providence), a National Historic Landmark built in 1788; the Aldrich House (110 Benevolent Street, Providence), also a National Historic Landmark, built in 1822; and the Library of Rhode Island History (121 Hope Street, Providence). The organization also maintains the Museum of Work and Culture (42 South Main Street, Woonsocket), a regional history museum devoted to the history of northern Rhode Island.
Through the Newell D. Goff Center for Education and Public Programs, the RIHS offers a variety of educational programs, including workshops, lectures, films, and walking tours of Providence. The Center also provides many professional development opportunities for teachers wanting to learn more about teaching Rhode Island’s history. The RIHS also presents exhibits, films, concerts, and many other community activities and programs. Its collections catalogue is available online, as are all issues of its journal, Rhode Island History.
As we preserve the past, our members ensure our future through membership fees, special gifts, and donations to the collections. Rhode Island's history is the story of all the people who have lived here. We need your help to tell those stories.
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Robert S. Burroughs hired John Holden Green to build the house in 1821. The house passed through several owners before Aldrich purchased it in the 1890s. Aldrich was known for exerting control over the Republican Party at the turn of the twentieth century and
creating the Federal Reserve Banking System. Aldrich's daughter, Abby, married John D. Rockefeller, Jr.. Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller was named after his grandfather Aldrich. Winthrop Aldrich deeded the house to the Rhode Island Historical Society in 1974, and Aldrich House currently serves as the Society headquarters and offers changing Rhode Island historical displays.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976
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