Tavern Talk - "Newport’s Town Records: Lost and Found" with Cherry Fletcher Bamberg

Thursday, March 19, 2026 Richard I. Burnham Resource Center | 82 Touro Street, Newport Admission $15 – $20 per person | *Student Discounts now available $10 with valid student ID 6:30pm to 7:30pm doors open at 5:30pm for a complimentary reception   The story of the loss......More

Thursday, March 19, 2026 Richard I. Burnham Resource Center | 82 Touro Street, Newport Admission $15 – $20 per person | *Student Discounts now available $10 with valid student ID 6:30pm to 7:30pm doors open at 5:30pm for a complimentary reception   The story of the loss of a large chest of Newport town records at the end of the British occupation of Newport in October 1779 and its recovery in December 1782 has been told many times, but verifiable details have been few and published versions conflict. Did the British steal the records? Were they taken by Newport Loyalists hoping to recover their property if the British won the war? What ship took the records to New York? When exactly did it sink? How long were the records underwater before being rescued? Historian Cherry Fletcher Bamberg will discuss her comprehensive research on these sunken records, offering the most complete and accurate account to date of the loss and recovery of Newport’s colonial records—arguably the most significant in Rhode Island. The story of the lost cargo – which contained the vital records (births, marriages, and deaths), probate, deeds, residency examinations, tax materials, town council and town meeting records – spans America, England, and Canada and involves a wide range of figures, including British military leaders, Loyalist officials, Rhode Island politicians, and even General George Washington. This Tavern Talk will clarify conflicting versions of the incident, identify the questions that remain unresolved, and illuminate why the events of the British occupation—the most turbulent period in Newport’s history—continue to complicate the use of the city’s pre-Revolutionary records today.   Book now!

Richard I. Burnham Resource Center, 82 Touro Street, Newport, Rhode Island, 02840

Revolutionary War Veteran's Pension Transcription Project

Tuesday, March 31st, 2026 Richard I. Burnham Resource Center | 82 Touro Street, Newport 4pm to 6pm | Free 250th Anniversary Event RSVPs are recommended   Become a citizen archivist! In celebration of the 250th anniversary of American Independence, the National Archives ......More

Tuesday, March 31st, 2026 Richard I. Burnham Resource Center | 82 Touro Street, Newport 4pm to 6pm | Free 250th Anniversary Event RSVPs are recommended   Become a citizen archivist! In celebration of the 250th anniversary of American Independence, the National Archives and National Park Service are collaborating on a special project to transcribe Revolutionary War Pension Files of more than 80,000 of America’s first veterans and their widows, containing more than 2 million documents.  These records may contain valuable details about Revolutionary War veterans and their families, such as rank, unit, period of service, age, residence, date and place of marriage, and date and place of death of spouse. You may find copies of marriage or other family records, information pertaining to military activities or details about soldiers’ lives, along with letters, diaries, or family trees within these records. Become a citizen archivist and unlock the details and stories found within these rich records! Participants will learn about the value of wartime pensions and hear service stories about patriots from the Blackstone Valley. Rangers will provide training on how to access pensions and transcribe these vital records online. Are you ready to join us and contribute to the nation’s 250th anniversary? For more information about the project visit: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/americanrevolution/revolutionary-war-pension-project.htm Book now!

Richard I. Burnham Resource Center, 82 Touro Street, Newport, Rhode Island, 02840

West Point Band Regimental Brass Quintet Recital at the Colony House

Tuesday, April 14th, 2026 6:30pm to 8pm The Colony House | Washington Square, Newport Free Public Event The West Point Band is the U.S. Army’s oldest band and the oldest continuously-operating unit at West Point, drawing on over 200 years of history in its mission to pr......More

Tuesday, April 14th, 2026 6:30pm to 8pm The Colony House | Washington Square, Newport Free Public Event The West Point Band is the U.S. Army’s oldest band and the oldest continuously-operating unit at West Point, drawing on over 200 years of history in its mission to provide world-class music to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets, and to serve as ambassadors of the United States Military Academy and the Army to local, national, and international communities. The band traces its lineage to the field musicians assigned to maintain the tradition of military drill and ceremony after the Revolutionary War, when General George Washington established a post at West Point on the Hudson River in 1778. Since then, the band has evolved into a cultural institution that performs to great acclaim for presidents, dignitaries, kings and queens, and its most treasured audience – the American people. The brass quintet performs a wide range of chamber music, including beautiful works by Claudio Monteverdi, Samuel Ward, Oskar Bohme, Plog, and other romantic and contemporary composers. This performance is free and open to the public, please reserve your seat(s) below: Book now!

The Colony House, Washington Sqaure, Newport

Tavern Talk - "Stealing America: The Hidden History of Indigenous Slavery in U.S. History" with author Linford D. Fisher

Wednesday, April 29, 2026 The Colony House | Washington Square, Newport Admission $15 – $20 per person | *Student Discounts now available $10 with valid student ID 6pm to 7pm doors open at 5pm for a complimentary reception Indigenous enslavement was a colossal phenomeno......More

Wednesday, April 29, 2026 The Colony House | Washington Square, Newport Admission $15 – $20 per person | *Student Discounts now available $10 with valid student ID 6pm to 7pm doors open at 5pm for a complimentary reception Indigenous enslavement was a colossal phenomenon of almost unimaginable consequences that ensnared nearly 600,000 Native Americans in North America. In a saga that predates 1619, this double–stealing of Indigenous people and their lands upends virtually every known narrative of American history. Captured Natives, often deliberately misidentified as Black slaves, were used not only on southern plantations, but on small northern farms and were routinely shipped overseas. While the American Revolution pealed the bells of freedom for colonists, it paved a larcenous trail of westward expansion that decimated tribes and plundered Indigenous lands. Even after Congress outlawed Native slavery in 1867, Americans forced Indigenous children into boarding schools and white homes, where they labored under forced assimilation. This practice was not outlawed until the latter twentieth century, when Indian nations finally secured increasing rights and self–determination. The most comprehensive work of its kind, Stealing America presents a five–century genocidal history, more commonly known as the “American dream Epic and groundbreaking, Stealing America boldly rewrites American history by putting Native enslavement and rampant land theft at the epicenter of America’s past   Book now!   This program is in partnership with: