Thursday, April 21, 6:30-8:30pm??
John Brown House Museum, 52 Power St., Providence
What Went On Behind Closed Doors After Dark in the 1700s?
The RIHS Is Glad You Asked.
(PROVIDENCE, R.I.) ??? On April 21, the Rhode Island Historical Society???s “After Dark at the Museum” will give visitors the rare opportunity to tour the John Brown House Museum by (battery-operated!) candlelight and discover what went on during private evenings ??? and late nights ??? at home in the late 18th century.??????
???After Dark at the Museum??? will cover such topics as:
After-dinner drinking & entertaining
Seduction novels that were in vogue
Providence’s brothel riot
Pre-marital sex and pregnancy
Unchaperoned excursions with members of the opposite sex
“Disorderly” women and the “sources of dissipation” they frequented
Rhode Island’s notorious “Green Cottage” and other morally questionable entertainment
As part of the RIHS???s ???Fashioning Rhode Island??? programming theme for 2016, this is a special one-time event that will show the private side of public history. Visitors will be encouraged to make their way through the John Brown House Museum at their own pace, and they will have the opportunity to speak with docents and RIHS staff stationed throughout the first and second floors. Historically accurate refreshments will be served.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased on site the evening of the event. Admission is free for RIHS members.??
About the Rhode Island Historical Society
Founded in 1822, the RIHS is the fourth-oldest historical society in the United States and is Rhode Island???s largest and oldest historical organization, as well as its only Smithsonian Affiliate. In Providence, the RIHS owns and operates the John Brown House Museum, a designated National Historic Landmark, built in 1788; the Aldrich House, built in 1822 and used for administration and public programs; and the Mary Elizabeth Robinson Research Center, where archival, book and image collections are housed. In Woonsocket, the RIHS manages the Museum of Work and Culture, a community museum examining the industrial history of northern Rhode Island and of the workers and settlers, especially French-Canadians, who made it one of the state???s most distinctive areas.