EXHIBITS

SCHOOLS:

LESSONS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

This upcoming exhibit will highlight the development of the public school system in Bristol from the hiring of the first school master, Samuel Cobbitt in 1685, to the struggle to keep our students learning through the pandemic. The exhibit will feature photographs of Bristol schools and students as well as 19th century school artifacts, including schoolbooks, writing slates, merit slips, and school bells.

SLIDE SHOW

LOST MAIN STREET:

MOM & POP BUSINESSES 

OF BRISTOL'S PAST

While we are closed to the general public due to COVID-19, please enjoy the slide show of photographs and ephemera associated with those lost businesses which no longer grace the downtown streets.

LOST MAIN STREET, our current exhibit, is a collection of historic photographs, business cards, posters, signs, and other objects from businesses of Bristol's past, focusing on the Mom and Pop's that made Bristol very unique. 

AMBROSE EVERETT BURNSIDE

1824-1881

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Military History

Business Interests

Senate Career

BURNSIDE MATERIALS IN THE BH&PS COLLECTION

For more information, please reach out:
401-253-7223

info@bhps.necoxmail.com

www.bhpsri.org

www.facebook.com/bhpsri/

Instagram:  Bristol_historical_society

THE FACES OF THE BRISTOL RUBBER INDUSTRY

The rubber boom had quite an impact on Bristol and its urban environment. While many people are familiar with the National India Rubber Co.'s building on Wood Street, Bristol was home to seven factories that made products using rubber. During the 100 years that rubber products were made in Bristol, thousands of Bristolians worked in the factories. Job safety and security were among the many issues they faced on a regular basis.  This exhibit highlighted the history of these factories and documented their locations in and around the town.

The photograph above pictures a rubber worker standing next to a 1000 pound ball of rubber.

DIFFERENT TOOLS, 

DIFFERENT VIEWS

We all use tools to observe, learn, work, and communicate. Tools serve as extensions of ourselves, designed to help us learn what we can do as well as overcome the natural limitations of our bodies.  

Selected by our staff, the 60 objects in our exhibit highlight common tools used by Bristolians of varying genders, ages, and socioeconomic classes.  

The photograph above is a donut hole cutter.

NEVER DONE: 

WOMEN'S WORK

The lives of women during the 17th and 18th centuries were vastly different than today’s American woman. The accepted role was to get married, have children, and (most importantly) obey their husbands.  Although the majority of women chose to stay home, where society believed a woman should be, some ventured out into the working world to work for others in order to support themselves and their families.  But whether a woman sought paid employment, or stayed at home to work in the domestic realm, she was always working.

The extraordinary photograph above pictures a woman applying wallpaper assisted by an unknown man.