Special Events

July
Friday, July 3, 4-6PM
Open House Showcase of Historical Society properties presenting recent improvements and restorations to our members, friends, and the general public. Includes the Museum & Shop at Brick Market, the Colony House, Great Friends Meeting House, the Wanton- Lyman-Hazard House, and the Seventh Day Baptist Meeting House. For more information or reservations call 401-846-0813.

August
Newport Antiques Show, see below

September
Saturday, September 5, 1pm
Newport Artists and Writers Walking Tour
This Labor Day weekend the Newport Historical Society will offer a limited engagement walking tour showcasing celebrated Newport artists and writers of the 19th century. This one-time tour covers the Kay/Catherine “Top of the Hill” neighborhood and focuses on celebrated artists and writers such as Jane Stuart, Henry James, Clement C. Moore, Julia Ward Howe, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The tour passes many architecturally significant properties (which are themselves works of art) including houses designed by Richard Morris Hunt and the firm of McKim, Mead and White.

The tour begins at the Museum & Shop at Brick Market, 127 Thames Street, and ends at the Jane Stuart exhibit at the Redwood Library & Athenæum to include the exhibit "Newport's Own: Portraits by Jane Stuart." Approx. 90 minutes. The cost is $15 per person, $10 for NHS members; reservations are strongly recommended as space is limited. For details or to make reservations call 401-841-8770.

Thursday September 24, 2009 at 7PM
Margaret Shepherd to Speak at Newport’s Colony House

Margaret Shepherd, author of the new book The Art of the Personal Letter (Broadway Books 2008) and the bestselling The Art of the Handwritten Note (Broadway Books 2002), as well as the renowned calligrapher who helped make calligraphy accessible, will discuss American letter writing at the Colony House on Washington Square.

The Art of the Personal Letter and The Art of the Handwritten Note will be available for purchase at the event for $16 plus tax, and Margaret will sign books after the presentation. General admission is $5 per person, and $1 for members of the Newport Historical Society.

October

Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 5:30PM          
Newport’s Architecture Lecture with James Yarnall, Ph.D.

The Newport Historical Society is pleased to host an evening lecture and book signing featuring Newport’s architecture with art expert James Yarnall at the Colony House on Washington Square.

Dr. Yarnall authored the comprehensive book Newport Through Its Architecture: A History of Styles from Postmedieval to Postmodern (University Press of New England 2009) which is complete with hundreds of full-color photographs, drawings and illustrations and earned the “Award of Merit” from the American Association for State and Local History.

Yarnall, a professor of art and architectural history at Salve Regina University, edits publications for the Newport Historical Society and its semi-annual journal Newport History.

Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 5:30PM
Aquidneck Island’s American Jezebel: Author Eve LaPlante to Speak

The Newport Historical Society is pleased to host Eve LaPlante, author of the best-selling biography American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans (HarperOne 2005), in the historic Colony House on Washington Square.

American Jezebel was marked as a starred review by Publishers Weekly and was described as, “Fast-paced and elegant... A first-rate biography.” The Boston Globe described it as, “Powerful characters, a compelling tale, and a strong narrative writer in LaPlante... [This] fascinating book deserves wide reading. It shows religious zealotry in an American context, from the inside out.” And Booklist wrote that, “LaPlante paints a fascinating portrait of this complex mother of 15 and…deftly depicts the girtty world of colonial New England.”

General admission costs $5 per person and $1 for Newport Historical Society members. The book will be available for purchase for $14.95 plus tax. This event is co-sponsored by Marriot.

November

Thursday November 5, 2009
Textile Historian Rabbit Goody to Speak

In conjunction with "Homespun to High Fashion," the nationally recognized textile historian Rabbit Goody will speak in the historic Colony House on Washington Square. Rabbit Goody is the owner, director, and designer for Thistle Hill Weavers, a custom mill that has been producing historically accurate reproduction fabrics, trim, and carpet for 20 years. Her reproduction fabrics appear in many movies including Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Master and Commander, Amistad, The Titanic, Cinderella Man, and the Polar Express, among many others.

The lecture costs $5 per person and $1 for NHS members.

Saturday November 7, 2009 from 10AM to 11:30AM
One Stop to Make Your Photos Top: Photo expert Sarah Churgin will Share Advice

Do you ever wonder how to sort the boxes of old photos at the back of your closet or the files of digital photos on your hard drive? Photo organizer and archivist Sara Churgin will host an intimate workshop at the Museum & Shop at Brick Market, 127 Thames Street in downtown Newport, in a three part workshop.

The workshop begins with photo archiving, specifically sorting, organizing, and storing. Churgin will also discuss how to care for photos that are generations old to ensure that they will last for generations to come.

Churgin will then cover preparing to create an album or scrapbook using her three-step method of sorting, organizing, and scrapping. And she will conclude by sharing advice on sorting, organizing and showcasing digital photographs.

The program costs $25 for the general public and $15 for Newport Historical Society members. Reservations are strongly recommended as this is a personal presentation and space is very limited. For reservations call: 401-841-8770.

The Newport Antiques Show

Saturday, August 8, 2009
10:00am - 6:00pm

Sunday, August 9, 2009
10:00am - 5:00pm

Gala Preview Party
Friday, August 7
6:00pm - 9:00pm

Review of show from Antiques and the Arts Online

For More Information:
401-846-2669
www.newportantiquesshow.com