2026 events
Opening Day!
tea and history
May 9th SATURDAY – Mother’s Day Tea with Esmé Zodrow-MacDonald, Family Life in Colonial Days. How might the Smiths & Updikes have lived at the Castle long ago?
*see Tea Page Here for more info
Conversations at the castle
Thurs., May 14th 6:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker: Elizabeth Caden
"Rhode Island Quakers in the War of Independence" Quakers almost from their founding refused to participate in military activities, and Rhode Island Colony generally honored that position of conscience. The War of Independence challenged their position and forced hard decisions. This talk will explore how the Quaker community coped with the War of Independence, and with changes to civilian life in the colony due to the British occupations and disruptions to maritime trade.
Elizabeth Cazden is a retired lawyer and Quaker historian based in Providence, RI. She has written and spoken in both academic and public settings on Quaker history, with a special focus on New England Quakers' participation in the enslavement of Africans and in land expropriation from Indigenous communities. She is also an active Quaker, having served in many capacities for New England Yearly Meeting and national and international Quaker organizations.
See Conversations at the Castle Page for More Details
Breakfast talk
Sat. May 23rd 9:30 a.m.
Smith’s Castle historian Marilyn Harris will talk about “Women During the American Revolution”
*see breakfast talk page for more details
Conversations at the castle
Tues. June 9th 6:00 p.m.
Jamestown historian Peter Fay : The Untold Story: Rhode Island African Americans as Loyalists
The pivotal role African Americans played in helping the British suppress rebel resistance in Rhode Island in the early years of the War of Independence has been largely overlooked. In 1775, General Nathanael Greene of Warwick condemned the burning of rebel houses in Jamestown, noting that “Col. Joseph Wanton's Negroes piloted [British Captain] Wallace’s crew about the island and pointed out the houses to burn.”
Peter Fay examines why such acts of agency by Black loyalists have been largely excluded by historians, while narratives of Black patriotism, especially the celebrated Black Regiment, have been elevated. Recovering these untold stories from the historical record and examining their erasure will shed much light on the racial-political lens through which America still views itself today.
See Conversations at the Castle Page for more details.
Tea and history
June 14th – with Dr. Jane Lancaster, Arthur Bowler: In Slavery and Freedom. We’ll follow the extraordinary odyssey taken by an “ordinary” enslaved man in the 18th century.
*see Tea Page Here for more information
Conversations at the Castle
Tues., June 23rd 6:00 p.m.
Historian Christian McBurney will give a presentation. The second American Revolution: Rhode Island’s role in the Abolition movement in the North, 1763 to 1784. RI historian Christian McBurney will speak on the RI and Providence Plantations’ role in the abolition movement in the North during the Revolutionary period. McBurney has authored several books on RI history and is the founder and editor of the Online Review of Rhode Island History.
See Conversations at the Castle Page for more details.
Breakfast Talk
Saturday, June 27th 9:30 a.m.
Trustee and OLLIE instructor Mark Burnham
Come learn about the complicated life of one of RI's Founding Fathers, Stephen Hopkins, and how this self-taught person helped shape political and economic life in the U.S. colonies. We'll look at some events in Rhode Island leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and shortly thereafter, all through his eyes and experiences.
See Breakfast Talk Page fore more details.
Breakfast Talk
Sat. July 11th 9:30 a.m.
Historians John Dower and Marilyn Harris will give a presentation on “Revolutionary North Kingstown,” southern RI during the American Revolution.
John Dower, Smith’s Castle Trustee and President Emeritus and Marilyn Harris Smith’s Castle Historian. Learn all about North Kingstown during the American Revolution. From the Narragansett planters to the runaway slaves, their story paints an every day picture of the Revolutionary period.
See Breakfast Talk Page fore more details.
breakfast talk
Sat. Sept. 12th 9:30 a.m.
Rhode Island State Historian Keith Stokes talks about the African-American response to the onset of Revolution, and the oral history and cultures kept alive despite the upheavals. How did the enslaved feel about the phrase “All Men Are Created Equal?” Come join Keith for a talk about the African American response to the onset of the Revolution, the oral history, and the cultures that kept this “unwritten” history alive, despite the upheavals and deliberate attempts at erasure.
See Breakfast Talk Page for more details.
Conversations at the castle
Tuesday September 15th at 6pm
East Greenwhich in the American Revolution
Matt Carcieri East Greenwich Historian gives a talk on East Greenwich’s response to the American Revolution. Through a focus specifically on the events of 1775 in to 1776, the talk will reveal the daily experiences of the residents of East Greenwich and the Revolutionary Rhode Island in the early years of the conflict.
See Conversations at the Castle Page for more details.
Breakfast talk
Sat. Sept 26th 9:30 a.m.
Historian Robert A. Geake will offer a presentation entitled “Early Reparations in the Wake of the Revolutionary War: The Struggle for Widows and Heirs of Patriots of Color for Recognition and Reward.”
See Breakfast Talk Page fore more details.
