THE BH&PS WANTS TO TELL YOUR FAMILY'S STORY IN 2026!
COMING TO AMERICA IS A COMPLEX AND BEAUTIFUL TAPESTRY AND WE WANT TO KNOW ALL ABOUT IT.
UPDATE, December 2025: We have collected a number of Italian and Portuguese stories from Bristol families and are still searching for stories from Irish families.
The BH&PS Exhibit for 2026 is going to be all about immigration with a focus on the years from 1850 to 1940. And our collections do not include many letters, artifacts, or ephemera of immigrant families from this time period. If your family settled here in Bristol and you have stories, correspondence, photographs, or anything that you are willing to let us borrow to display or to copy/digitize, please reach out to us!!
We want to hear about the challenges and contirubtions of immigrants while showcasing the impact of immigration on the social, cultural, and economic landscape of Rhode Island. And we would like to provide viewers of this new exhibit with a historical framework to look at the very human stories of individuals and families building a new life and seeking new opportunities here in Rhode Island.
IF YOU HAVE A STORY TO SHARE, PLEASE REACH OUT TO THE BH&PS CURATOR, LISA DECESARE:
Just send an email to Lisa - or give us a call and ask to speak to Lisa.
Lisa DeCesare
Curator & Exhibit Coordinator
401-253-7223 BH&PS
This 2026 exhibit will run from February through December 2026 and will incorporate corresponding programming including books clubs, lectures, walking tours, and kids’ crafts and activities.
PAST EXHIBIT
Our 2025 exhibit, "The Collectors of Curiosities: The History of the Wunderkammer " or what was called the "cabinet of curiosities" was an enormous success.
Typically amassed by wealthy individuals or scholars during the 16th to 18th centuries, wunderkammers often included artifacts from the natural world, exotic items from far-off places, anatomical specimens, rare minerals, artworks, and antiquities. The BH&PS shared its most interesting, curious and diverse objects including 200-year-old Fijian war clubs, etched glass cups from the World’s Fair of 1893, 19th century wooden water pipes from Bristol, and a collection of sand from beaches all over the world.
PAST EXHIBIT
Our 2024 exhibit "PLAY!" presented the wide range of fascinating toys from the Society's collections,
We all know that the nature of play has changed over time. This extraordinary exhibit featured activities which were popular here in Bristol long ago. Visitors could see for themselves how toys and play can be different when viewed through the lens of history, sociology, anthropology, education, folklore, philosophy, psychology, and even literature.
PAST EXHIBIT
BRISTOL VETERANS AND THE EVOLUTION OF MILITARY FUNERARY RITES
The challenges of military service are well known. But what about when a soldier dies in combat? This exhibit illuminates what happens to Veterans who make the ultimate sacrifice and how the practices of caring for our military dead have changed alongside changing tactics of war.
PAST EXHIBIT
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL'S SCHOOLS FROM 1680 TO 1800
Students in class at the Burton School located at 140 High Street, Bristol.
PAST EXHIBIT
LOST MAIN STREET: MOM & POP BUSINESSES OF BRISTOL'S PAST
As part of a RI Council for the Humanities Grant, the BH&PS created a "walk" through of LOST MAIN STREET.
PAST EXHIBIT
DIFFERENT TOOLS, DIFFERENT VIEWS
Doughnut mold made from salvaged German medals and bullet casing by Corporal Jack [Graro].
PAST EXHIBIT
THE FACES OF THE BRISTOL RUBBER INDUSTRY
Rubber worker standing next to a 1000-pound ball of rubber.
PAST EXHIBIT
NEVER DONE: WOMEN'S WORK
The extraordinary photograph above pictures a woman applying wallpaper assisted by an unknown man.