Business Checking +
$ 250 .
*
A little boost for local businesses .
washtrust . com
Offer is subject to change and may be withdrawn at any time . Subject to 1099 reporting . Fees may reduce earnings . Member FDIC . Must open a new Business Checking Account with funds from sources other than Washington Trust . Minimum to open account is $ 50 . Four ( 4 ) deposits or withdrawals credited / debited to the newly established Business Checking account with sources labelled as an ACH are required within ninety ( 90 ) calendar days of the account opening date . After the fourth deposit / withdrawal has been credited / debited from the Business Checking Account , Washington Trust will make a $ 250.00 deposit into an interest-bearing Business or Consumer Account of your choice within thirty ( 30 ) calendar days . Additional terms and conditions apply . Must mention offer at time of account opening .
REPORTER
long period of time ” and a responsibility to bring his family ’ s story forward . While his cousin , UMass Amherst Foundation Vice President of Advancement Kimberly Dumpson , works on a book about the Rice family , the two also use the family trove of 500 letters and other materials as the foundation of occasional community lectures and articles .
“ I think there has been a resurgence in Black history in Newport because of the rich Black history and interesting Black Newporters and their contribution to civil rights . Newport was on the front line of the abolitionist movement , wealthy plantation owners visiting in the summer versus Black and white abolitionists ,” he says . “ All this makes for interesting history in a historic town attracting international visitors .”
For the last four years , the Newport Historical Society has been building the stories of less prominent Black citizens by mining its manuscript archives and other regional historical collections for references to enslaved and free Black and Indigenous people . NHS ’ s Collections and Digital Access Manager Kaela Bleho has identified more than 1,700 individuals , whose records have been catalogued and digitized in a publicly accessible database .
The 328-year-old Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House , a brick-red clapboard structure with narrow , twelve-over-twelve windows , will become a teaching tool for public school students , a hub for scholarship , a destination for tourists and a place where residents can connect Colonial and contemporary Newport at events like exhibitions of Black artists . It is Newport ’ s oldest surviving residence , and slaves once occupied its third floor . In 2006 , an African spirit bundle was found under the attic floorboards .
“ For a long time , people have been aware of Newport ’ s role in the transatlantic slave trade , but are not aware of the extent of its involvement , of the wealth that was generated , of the volume of people that were trafficked from Africa and brought to Newport ,” says NHS Executive Director Rebecca Bertrand . “ This will be one of the only spaces in New England that ’ s dedicated to telling this story in a historic house . And I hope
44 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I FEBRUARY 2025