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Explore Pawtucket’s History By Foot
Join local historian Joshua Choiniere for the popular one-mile guided walk that explores the founding of Pawtucket, Rhode Island and the establishment of an ironworks community in the town. The tour explores the sites of the first forge that became a thriving artisan community, the homesteads of the founding Jenks family members, and other related structures.
Admission: $5 per person. Suitable for all ages, but most appropriate for ages 12 and up. Requires some up-hill walking through downtown Pawtucket. Comfortable footwear recommended. 75 minutes. Light rain or shine.
Budding botanists at Blithewold
Escape to warmer climates during a special greenhouse “open house” to see what is growing under the glass at Blithewold! Gardens Manager Gail Read will be on site to answer questions and the greenhouse is bursting with a collection of living potted exotics, salvias, begonias, and ferns, plus seedlings and cuttings propagated from garden plants. An exhibit of nature’s curiosities gathered from the grounds will be on display in the potting shed.
Admission: Members, free; non-members, $5; non-member children, $2
Click here to register.
Go behind the scenes of a museum!
On November 16th, join Museum of Work & Culture’s Education & Program Manager Sarah Carr as she presents on Woonsocket Works, the most technologically advanced exhibit ever undertaken by the RIHS. She will discuss the work involved in developing a new exhibit, preview the technology being used, and explain how this new digital space will allow visitors to explore how the explosive growth of mill production transformed the people and landscape of Woonsocket. After learning about the exhibit, you can go and try out this new digital landscape at the Museum of Work & Culture for free! Admission to John Brown House and the Museum of Work & Culture is free on What Cheer Wednesdays.
Coming up: Each week “What Cheer Wednesdays” features a new theme, and these tours are sure to cue curiosity in kids and adults alike!
- Nov. 23: Learn about how John Brown would have set his dinner table.
- Nov. 30: Find out what wintertime was like during colonial times, and how the museum shuts down for the season.
- Dec. 7 & Dec. 14: Yet to be determined! Check back or visit RIHS’s website.
Puppetry showcase at the Museum of Work & Culture
From now through December 31st, the Museum of Work & Culture is showcasing an exciting and imaginative exhibit, “The Puppetry of Dan Butterworth” in the changing gallery spaces. The exhibit is a visual landscape of giant puppets, marionettes, shadow puppets, and a puppet theater. For kids and adults who are interested in imaginative creativity, the exhibit also offers a peek into Butterworth’s process and the creation of his puppets. This is a fantastic opportunity to help younger kids understand how creativity comes to life and can lend insight into their own methods and experimentations. Catch this rare showcase of such an inspiring artist!
Open Tuesday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Sunday: 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. Closed on Mondays.
Admission: Adults, $8; students & seniors, $6; Children under 10, free with an adult; RIHS members, free; Groups of 10 or more, $6 per person.
Go behind the scenes of a museum!
- Nov. 30: Find out what wintertime was like during colonial times, and how the museum shuts down for the season.
- Dec. 7 & Dec. 14: Yet to be determined! Check back or visit RIHS’s website.
Evening Lantern Tours
Feel transported through time on a lantern-lit tour of the exquisitely preserved neighborhoods of Newport’s Historic Hill. Hear the history of early American holiday traditions on this evening-time stroll and learn how colonial Newporters celebrated the holidays. These family-friendly tours work for those with little ones in strollers as well as older kids.
Admission: $15 per person. A $25 ticket includes a historic-style hurricane lantern with a flameless candle to use during the tour. Space is limited; call 401-841-8770 for reservations.
Behind the scenes of wintertime
On November 30th, see what it takes to close John Brown’s House each night—and for the wintertime! Learn what winter was like in 18th century New England, and how John Brown and his family would have spent the colder months. Free admission to John Brown House and the Museum of Work & Culture (with pop-up programming, too). In addition, you’ll be able to learn more about the Museum of Work & Culture’s fascinating Mill Project in Woonsocket.
Coming Up: Each week “What Cheer Wednesdays” features a new theme, and these tours are sure to cue curiosity in kids and adults alike!
- Dec. 7 & Dec. 14: Yet to be determined! Check back or visit RIHS’s website.
Santa Visits Newport on Sundays!
Santa Claus himself will visit each of the extravagantly decorated Newport Mansions, The Breakers, The Elms and Marble House, on Sunday afternoons in December. He’s ready to listen to your children’s wish lists and pose with your child for the memory! Bring the kids and your camera for a great photo op! December 4 – The Breakers; December 11 – Marble House; December 18 – The Elms. Santa’s visit is from 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. on each day. Included in tour admission. Find out more about Christmas at the Newport Mansions, and to purchase tickets visit NewportMansions.org.
Christmas at Newport Mansions
You are invited to make holiday memories in Newport with your family during the Christmas season! Bring children of all ages to The Breakers, The Elms, and Marble House, to see holiday decorations galore, model trains, and thousands of poinsettias, fresh flowers, evergreens, and wreaths. A total of 28 decorated Christmas trees will dot the interiors of the houses, with dining tables set with period silver and china, and windows lit with individual white candles, in keeping with the colonial tradition. The Breakers will feature the iconic 15 foot tall poinsettia tree in the Great Hall. Model trains, recalling the Vanderbilt family’s New York Central Railroad, will be on display in the second floor. On weekends, the trains will be operated by volunteers from the Little Rhody Division of the National Model Railroad Association. At The Elms, the ballroom will be transformed into a Gilded Age streetscape, complete with sleighs, a topiary horse, trees and mannequins dressed in period costumes. At Marble House, for the second year, fireplaces mantels on the second floor have been decorated by regional garden clubs in a friendly competition.
Open daily for tours until January 2, 2017. The Breakers and The Elms open daily at 9 a.m., Marble House opens at 10 a.m. The last tour admission at all three houses is at 4 p.m., and the houses & grounds close at 5 p.m. To purchase tickets, click here. On Sundays, in December, you can catch Santa at one of the mansions!
Christmas at Blithewold Mansion
Looking for some indoor activities for your young ones? The winter season exhibition, “Touring the Americas: 50 Years of Van Wickle Family Excursions,” at Blithewold Mansion will take you and your family on a journey with the Van Wickle Family, the former owners who occupied the house in the 1900s. Through an extensive amount of photographs and artifacts from the family’s travels, you can explore the mansion this holiday to experience some of the Van Wickle’s favorite destinations, while also ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the holiday wonderland of the decorated house itself.
Blithewold will be open through January 1st. The mansion is open for touring Tuesday through Sunday 11 am – 5 pm, closing later on Thursday and Friday at 8 pm. Family (2 adults + 2 kids), $26; Adult, $12; Senior, $11; Full-time student, $10; Military, $10; Youth 6 – 17, $4
Enhance your visit to the mansion by attending the Music in the Living Room Series (Dec. 15 & Dec. 29) with new performances each week. On Friday nights, join for Sparkle! a marshmallow-roasting-Christmas-carol-singing-cocoa-sipping-strolling-through-the-twinkling-garden-paths and fun-for-the-whole-family event, with a new performance around the bonfire each week.