Between 1994 and 1997, workers from the Public Archaeology Laboratory dug deep into the soil beside the Woonasquatucket River, unearthing the detritus of
In honor of Women’s History Month, RIC pays homage to the women whose legacies live on in the buildings named after them.
Craig-Lee Hall
Craig-Lee Hall is jointly named for Clara Craig and Mary Lee, two significant figures in college history.
When did the first person of color graduate from Rhode Island College? This deceptively simple question set me on a slow motion roller coaster search through the college’s archives and special collections.
Along the way, there were many dead ends, several mysteries, some surprises and, at last, a plausible answer. In outlining my quest, I share with you one of the lesser-known stories of the college’s 150-year history.
Fifty years ago this June, Rose Butler graduated from Rhode Island College (then Rhode Island Normal School ) and with 127 classmates left the confines of the Promenade Street campus in downtown Providence for a career in teaching.
On commencement day, 1919, she stood out in the auditorium as the only Negro receiving a degree. Today she stands out in Durham, N.C., and in many other cities throughout the country as a symbol of dignity and achievement.
Top 10 Facts You Didn’t Know about the 19
th Century Suffragette and Mountaineer
Annie hung a “Votes for Women” banner on Mount Coropuna in Peru at the age of 61 years old. It had taken her five attempts over four years and she was the first person to do it. She later referred to the experience as a ‘horrible nightmare’.
She never married and never had children. She did one of the few things open to women at the time: became a teacher, graduating from Rhode Island Normal School, (a teaching establishment) in 1872. Keen to continue, she wanted to apply to Brown University, like her brothers and father before her. She was refused admission because she was a woman. She moved to Michigan to teach languages and maths at Saginaw High School – during which she decided she wanted more. She wanted to go to university. Her father was appalled, telling her it was ‘perfect folly’ for her to consider doing so at the grand old age of 27 years old. Annie wasn’t having it and w