2016 Plaque Presentation & Photo Identification with Maureen Taylor

2016 Plaque Presentation
featuring Maureen Taylor, Photo Detective

Wednesday, May 18, 2016, 7–9 PM,
Barrington Senior Center (Lower Level of Library)

Presentation: Photo Identification with Maureen Taylor, Photo Detective
Recognized by the Wall Street Journal as “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective,” Maureen Taylor skillfully demonstrates how to use clothing, jewelry, beards and settings to unlock the mysteries of old photographs.

Houses to be Plaqued:

Abbie E. Rhodes House, 25 Third St. (1891)
Harriet Lee Jackson House, 166 Nayatt Rd. (1913)

Both houses were built as summer cottages as Barrington evolved from an agricultural town into a premier summer colony destination.
A slide show on these houses and presentation of plaques will be followed by Maureen Taylor’s special presentation.
Presentation is free and open to the public.

Revisit Barrington History

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Installed in the Spring of 2015, Revisit Barrington History is the permanent exhibition highlighting Barrington’s history as reflected in our core holdings of artifacts, maps, and documents, and in our core activities in stewardship of Barrington’s past. In the museum, visitors walk through the most important themes and periods of Barrington’s development as a community:

• Pokanoket Indian settlement
• the first European settlers – Baptist settlers at Nockum Hill
• the growth and change of Barrington since colonial times (map sequence)
• Barrington as an agricultural community, and early schools
• Barrington’s militia and military history
• immigration and industry in Barrington in the 19th and 20th centuries
• our summer community and coastal businesses
• our inventory of historic, plaqued houses

Portions of this exhibition are updated dynamically as new research and acquisitions allow us to improve our showcase of Barrington’s heritage.

2015 Holiday Season Newsletter Now Available

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Click here to view whole newsletter (PDF).

Contents:

• Barrington 300—Just Around the Corner!

• BPS 2016 Annual Meeting Luncheon, January 10, 2016: Martha L. Werenfels presentation: “Breathing New Life into Historic Manor Houses: Three Projects,” including Barrington’s Belton Court

• Digging Into the Vault: Plaque News

• Harold N. Biggs Bird Carvings Acquired for the Museum Collection

• Other Recent Collection Acquisitions

BPS 2016 Annual Meeting and Luncheon

Sunday, January 10, 2016, 12:00 Noon
Bluewater Bar and Grill, 32 Barton Ave., Barrington

Guest Speaker: Architect Martha L. Werenfels, AIA, LEED AP: “Breathing New Life into Historic Manor Houses: a Look at Three Rhode Island Projects.” Ms. Werenfels will discuss three projects featuring sensitive repurposing and restoration of historic private homes, with special reference to Barrington’s Belton Court, whose proposed renovation as part of a project involving assisted living and elder care is currently before the Barrington Planning Board.

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Reservations for the lunch are now closed (as of Thursday, January 7, 2016). The event is fully subscribed. Thank you for your interest.

Spring 2015 Newsletter Now Available

Click here to view.

Highlights:

 • ‘Revisit Barrington History’: reorganized Museum exhibit

 • Barrington Historical Maps series now online.

 • Early Barrington Documents update

 • Barrington Infantry: Spotlight on Barrington’s Early Militia Flag

• Barrington’s Italian Families, oral history video by BHS senior Liam McGuirl

• Spinning Wheel Restored

• Nockum Hill News

• Grapes & Grains wine-tasting event, Thursday, June 4

Annual Meeting and Dorr War Presentation

Sunday, January 11, 2015, at Noon
Bluewater Bar and Grill
(formerly Tyler Point Grill)
Guest Speaker: Russell J. DeSimone

The Dorr War is little known outside Rhode Island but was fought over the right to vote and representation in state government. Find out how losing a war does not always mean the defeat of the ideas that started it! We will also be displaying the pennant that the Barrington Militia carried in the final Dorr War battle at Chepachet.

Russell J. DeSimone is an independent scholar who has spent a lifetime studying Rhode Island history and published several manuscripts including “Broadsides of the Dorr Rebellion” and “The Dorr Rebellion Chronicled in Ballads and Poetry”. He is currently co-historian-in-residence for the Dorr Rebellion Project Site at Providence College.

Guests should pre-pay for lunch, $28 per person, indicating choice of Atlantic haddock, chicken piccata, or pasta primavera, and send payment by check by January 7, 2015 to Barrington Preservation Society, c/o Peggy Mello, 15 Appian Way, Barrington RI 02806.

BPS Presents — 12th Annual Winter Jazz Festival

cornetThe Barrington Preservation Society will sponsor its 12th annual Winter Jazz Festival on Friday, December 12, in the Barrington Congregational Church at 461 County Road, at 7:30 pm.

Under the direction of Barbara Hughes, this concert is the first full concert performance of the year by the Barrington High School Jazz Ensemble. Welcoming the holiday season with music, they will perform jazz and seasonal favorites for a near-capacity crowd. Refreshments will be served in the vestry following the concert.

Admission is $5 (free for BPS members), and tickets will be available at the door.

“Swim that Rock!” BPS Presents: Jay Primiano

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Swim that Rock! BPS presents: Jay Primiano

Wednesday, November 12, 7 PM, Barrington Senior Center (lower level of Peck Library)

Dressed in orange, foul weather gear and carrying a bull rake, Jay Primiano will introduce readers and writers of all ages to his recently-published book Swim that Rock, inspired by summers spent fishing and quahogging on Narragansett Bay.

According to Primiano, everyone has “rocks” or challenges they need to face, and story-telling is a way to deal with those rocks. Primiano and his best friend John Rocco spent the summer of 1982 quahogging together on Narragansett Bay and created a story from that experience of an awkward young man who loses his father at sea, faces financial hardship and discovers his own strength working on the water.

Poet, author and performer Primiano creates characters that take on a life of their own, and charts the action, while John Rocco, a professional illustrator, provides drawings of Narragansett Bay and the tools of the quahogging trade.

Published last year, Swim that Rock is available in local bookstores.

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Join the Barrington Preservation Society as we celebrate Barrington’s and Rhode Island’s maritime past with Jay Primiano.

The lecture is free and open to the public and complements the Barrington Preservation Society’s current museum exhibit: Barrington Ship to Shore. The museum (also on the lower level of Peck Library) will be open to the public at the conclusion of the lecture.

Exhibition: Barrington Ship to Shore

Barrington Ship to Shore

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Exhibition Dates: September 2014 through February 2015

The Barrington Ship to Shore Exhibit opens on Wednesday, August 27 and features a large pond yacht built by Pete Waterman’s uncle in the 1930’s, a nineteenth century ship’s engine telegraph and brass lanterns, vintage photos of the Barrington waterfront and yacht clubs, Thurston Sails, Blount Marine Corporation, Cove Haven and Stanley’s Marinas as well as stories about Albert Stearns’ schooner Mohawk refitted to serve as a Coast Guard patrol boat during World War II and Harold N. Gibbs, noted fisherman and naturalist who became the first director of Rhode Island Fish and Wildlife.

Gallery Talk: Master Shipwright Clark Poston on Restoring Wooden Boats

Gallery Talk: Thursday, September 4, 2014, 7:00 PM, Barrington Library Auditorium:

Master Shipwright Clark Poston on Restoring Wooden Boats

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Clark Poston will describe the process for restoring classic, wooden boats at a lecture on Thursday, September 4 at 7 PM in the Barrington Library auditorium.

Poston trained for seven years at the Mystic Seaport Museum with renowned boat builder John Gardner and then spent two years building and restoring wooden boats on Martha’s Vineyard at Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway before going to Europe as the lead shipwright on the archival restoration of Avel, an 1896 C. E. Nicholson cutter.

Poston then founded the John Gardner School of Boatbuilding in Annapolis, MD before joining the International Yacht Restoration School staff in 1998.

At IYRS, Poston played a key role in the design, development and roll out of three federally-accredited career training programs: a two-year program in wooden yacht restoration, a six-month marine systems program, and a new six-month program in composites technology. He is also responsible for maintaining the important relationship between the school and its industry partners.

The lecture is sponsored by the Barrington Preservation Society and complements its recently opened exhibit: Barrington Ship to Shore. Poston’s talk is free and open to the public.