HISTORIC BRISTOL WALKING TOURS

Meet Rei Battcher, a Bristolian, historian, librarian, historical reinactor, genealogist, and deed researcher extraordinaire. Directly descended from five Pilgrims on the Mayflower, he was born and raised in Bristol and holds BA and MA degrees in American history from Rhode Island College. Rei knows Bristol’s history like the back of his hand, and whether he is dressed simply as himself, or in the personas of either the elegant and infamous 18th century resident and slave trader Captain Simeon Potter or that of a Revolutionary War soldier, he loves to walk visitors around town, pointing out interesting details while also revealing many secrets from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. 

Meet Dr. Kevin Jordan, professor emeritus of Historic Preservation at Roger Williams University where he taught and was chair of the department for 25 years. He holds an undergraduate degree from Merrimack College and a MA and PhD in American history from Rutgers University. Known not only for his energy in bringing his students together with numerous historic projects in the Town of Bristol, Kevin also became the backbone for the creation of the Bristol Historic District, the Friends of Linden Place, the Bristol State House, Mosaico, as well as a board member or chair person for those and other organizations, including Coggeshall Farm, the Pastime Theater, and, of course, the Bristol Historical & Preservation Society.

Dr. Catherine Zipf is the Executive Director of the Bristol Historical & Preservation Society and is involved in all things historic and preservation in Bristol. She is also an award-winning architectural historian and studies the underdogs (and the elites when they were underdogs) of American architectural history. With an interest in race and gender, Zipf reconstructs lost or overlooked histories, providing a new, often surprising, viewpoint on the traditional narrative. Recent projects include Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, a book that examines Wright's career before the construction of Fallingwater, and The Architecture of the Negro Travelers' Green Book, a public catalogue of Green Book sites.