The Comfort of Home

The comfort of home is what I am grateful for this Thanksgiving. I am grateful for a warm home to come to at the end of a long day of chasing dreams and finances.

This is a wonderful quote that was sent to me and I am passing it along to you. "
I count you among my blessings". Here's to a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, fun and food (and, of course, hope, inspiration and possibility!).

Victorian Mourning at the Hearthside House in Lincoln

Welcome to Hearthside House.
The "Victorian Mourning" exhibit, on display this month at The Hearthside House in Lincoln, Rhode Island, explores the unique traditions surrounding mourning during the Victorian era.

Americans took their cues from Queen Victoria, making mourning one of America's first big businesses. "Mourning clothes for ladies were really the first ready-made, off-the-rack clothes that you could buy,"
The exhibit also examines the significance that flowers and food played in Victorian-era funerals, as well as many of the actions following death that were customary, such as having a small funeral tea or dinner in the home of the family.
For more on this event and dates of the exhibit, go to:
http://www.hearthsidehouse.org/news/2012.victorianmourning.html

Staging of a comparison Shot

 The photo on the left was taken by Rufus Waterman in 1900. In the photograph is Mrs. Waterman and the Talbot's cook, Marie Jackson.
 This comparison photo on the right was taken by David Cruz in 2012. In this photo is Mrs. Kathy Hartley and Estelle Barada (me)
 Both photos was taken in the Hearthside House's kitchen.  How amazing.

1812 at Hearthside

This past month I enjoyed a step back to the year of 1812, The docents and myself dressed in that period and open the house for a  guided tour of actual artifacts from the War of 1812.

 On display was the  Guerriere's bell and a model of the U.S.S. Constitution. Part of this wonderful exhibit was navigation equipment used on early Naval ships.  One of the docents gave information about the battle with the Guerriere.

The War of 1812: Connections with Hearthside & Great Road |

The War of 1812: Connections with Hearthside & Great Road | The Valley Breeze

The Old Brick School House.

The Old Brick School House, a small but dignified building, embodies a special kind of significance in the history of Providence. http://www.ppsri.org/organization/old-brick-schoolhouse Although it stands somewhat crowded by current neighbors, the Brick School House still makes a significant statement about the democratic and civic ideals of 18th century Providence.

The Brick School house served many educational functions. Among its occupants were a school for black children, a cooking school, and a fresh air school for tubercular children, the first such program in America.

In the early nineteenth century, many African Americans were educated in the Old Brick School House. In the 1820s, a Quaker ran a private school for African American children.
 In 1828, the town of Providence established a public school system and created a separate school for African Americans until the state legislature outlawed racially segregated schools in 1866.
The public segregated school was called the Meeting Street School, the African school, and the colored school.

 On Saturday, July 28 at 5:00 p.m., I  with many others, joined The Rhode Island Black Heritage Society in the unveiling of a plaque at  the Meeting Street School, which, in 1828, became the first public school in Rhode Island to be open to African American children.

It was once again, history in the making and I was honored to be in attendance for this celebration..

It was very nice to see the community come out and show there support. By preserving and teaching our history to the children, makes for a better future.

 The Meeting Street School will be persevered and looked after under the expert stewardship of James Hall and the Providence Preservation Society,