Article by Christopher D. West, PhD, Curator of the Black Diaspora at the John Hay Library; excerpted from “The Origins Newsletter” from the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society.

The Rhode Island Black Heritage Society (RIBHS) is the living vessel of the hopes, dreams, desires, aspirations and vernacular culture of African Heritage communities of Rhode Island.  The vernacular culture of African Heritage in the Ocean State is in the records of the churches, civic organizations, and individuals that have walked the cities of Newport, Providence, Church Falls, and other communities in Rhode Island.

There are hundreds of boxes in the RIBHS collection but there is one that calls to me whenever I am in its presence and the people who inhabit it demand I share their story.  In the communities of African Heritage women in the late 19th century of Rhode Island being of service to the community was as routine as tithing on Sunday.  That desire to serve was coupled with a glaring need, a facility for elderly African Heritage women without the resources to care for themselves.  The Home for Aged Colored Women was established in April 1890 for retired Black female domestic laborers.

In the acid free box that contained the records of the home is a ledger…as you turn to the first page in careful penmanship are the lives of the women they served.  The name, age and other data is noted along with the date of their arrival into the facility.  As you move to the far right side of the ledger that begins in the 1890’s and runs through the 1950s is one final column, when that African Heritage woman took her last breath on this earth.

That transition from this earth was facilitated by Black women who sought no support from Federal, State, County, City, Township or other entities to fund their endeavor.  They are an example of the tradition of African Heritage women in the Ocean State who have formed civic organizations with political and philanthropic focuses. The records of these organizations have much to tell us about the lives, experiences and stories of Black people in Rhode Island.

There are two other records in that acid free box, incorporation documents for home with minutes of meetings and a dues ledger of contributions by the women to fund the home.  Without the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society these and thousands of objects, and photos that tell the complete story of Rhode Island would forever be lost to history.