You can live your whole life in a place and never fully understand it, but the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission is always trying to change that. This year’s 31st annual Rhode Island Statewide Historic Preservation Conference, happening on Saturday April 30 in North Kingstown and Exeter, is all about Building and Preserving South County. There are walking, bus and boat tours, workshops, and lectures planned, all for only $40 – including lunch and snacks – letting you spend a day seeing a new, yet familiar side of our state.
South County is unique because many of the first historic preservation efforts took root here, including the state’s first local historic districts and one of the state’s first historic house museums. According to Sarah Zurier, historian and a coordinator of the conference, the history of South County is important to our common identity as Rhode Islanders because, “There are so many historic places, our favorite places, like Wickford Village, the local post office, etc. that are in the national registry historic district.”
Everyday, Rhode Islanders interact with buildings that still stand, but more than that South County represents a shared history in Rhode Island and the nation, the good, the bad and the ugly.
Sarah argues that “Slavery as an economic institution helped shape the landscape of South County.” The Keynote Speaker Dr. Joanne Pope Melish, an Associate Professor of History Emerita at the University of Kentucky, would agree with this assertion. The institution of slavery changed, and still continues to affect, the landscape of South County. It is important for Rhode Islanders to know the whole story, which will be explored in Dr. Melish’s keynote speech.
What does South County mean to you? How does its rich history make South County what it is today? Join the pre-conference conversation by using the hashtag #WhatIsSouthCounty on Facebook. There will be an interactive panel of historians discussing what it means to be South County.
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