Grappling with Legacy:
A Lecture with Sylvia Brown on Rhode Island???s Brown Family and the American Philanthropic Impulse??
Presented by Newport Historical Society and Emmanuel Church
Newport, RI ????? When Sylvia Brown???s father handed much of his inheritance to Brown University in 1995, the gesture maintained a 300-year family philanthropic tradition.?? Less than a decade later, at the inaugural symposium of the University???s Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, one speaker declared ???there were no good Browns.??? ???Grappling with Legacy??? was born of the juxtaposition between these starkly opposed perspectives.??
On Thursday April 5, 2018, 5:30pm the Newport Historical Society and Emmanuel Church will cohost author Sylvia Brown for a discussion on how she has delved into one of the country???s largest family archives to understand what fuels a multi-generational compulsion to giving: self-interest?
A feeling of guilt?
A sense of genuine altruism?
The Brown family mirrors America???s evolving urge to do good ??? from colonial era charity, to reformist initiatives in the Early Republic, to the philanthropy of the Gilded Age, to social impact investing today.?? Sylvia will focus especially on the Brown family’s 20th century contributions to Newport.
Eldest of the 11th generation of Browns in Rhode Island, Sylvia Brown was attracted to development economics from an early age. Following her BS and MA degrees at the University of Pennsylvania, she pursued a professional career in various aspects of international development, from Wall Street to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Ten years ago, a course in strategic philanthropy redirected her focus to the non-profit sector and eventually prompted a return to her Rhode Island roots. Sylvia is passionate about donor education and giving with impact. She recently launched??Uplifting Journeys, boot camps for smarter donors, that take place in locations around the world.??
???Grappling with Legacy??? takes place at Emmanuel Church, 42 Dearborn Street, Newport, RI. Admission is free; donations are welcome. Book signing to follow.
Please RSVP online at NewportHistory.org or call 401-841-8770.
About the Newport Historical Society
Since 1854, the Newport Historical Society has collected and preserved the artifacts, photographs, documents, publications, and genealogical records that relate to the history of Newport County, to make these materials readily available for both research and enjoyment, and to act as a resource center for the education of the public about the history of Newport County, so that knowledge of the past may contribute to a fuller understanding of the present. For more information please visit www.NewportHistory.org
About Emmanuel Church
Since 1841 Emmanuel Church has been serving the community of the Fifth Ward. When its Tudor style wooden church came into disrepair at the end of the nineteenth century, Natalie Bayard Brown gave the current stone building as an outright gift in memory of her husband, John Nicholas Brown, who died of typhoid fever in May of 1900. Designed by Ralph Adams Cram, the present building was styled after fifteenth century English Gothic Revival Churches, with the interior designed by Bertrand Grovesnor Goodhue. The cornerstone was laid June 29, 1901 and the first service held June 3, 1902. Emmanuel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.