FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 27, 2025
CONTACT
Lauren Craig
Press@NewportHistory.org
Momentum Builds in Development of Newport’s Center for Black History
Local partnerships grow, design firm engaged, and promotion through regional speaking engagements continues
NEWPORT, RI – The Newport Historical Society (NHS) continues to build momentum in the development of its Center for Black History at the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House, which is on track to open in the summer of 2026.
Representatives from BankNewport–a key community partner who donated $100,000 to the project–visited the site today to present a check and review ongoing improvements to the 328-year-old building. They toured the space along with students from Rogers High School’s AP Black History class and Victoria Johnson, a former principal at Rogers and a key community partner on the WLHH project who also serves as a corporator of BankNewport and is a founder of the Newport Middle Passage Port Marker Project. The group was given an update on the vision for programming and events to be hosted within the center.
In addition to the BankNewport contribution, the Historical Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service has committed a $300,000 Save America’s Treasures grant for the project, which U.S. Senator Jack Reed helped to secure.
“Preserving the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House is essential to keeping alive a more complete history of our City by the Sea,” said NHS Executive Director Rebecca Bertrand. “Funds from Save America’s Treasures and our local partners like BankNewport–as well as a growing community of donors–allow us to ensure the Center for Black History is a key part of Newport’s historical landscape, especially as the nation’s 250th anniversary approaches.”
With the campaign well on its way to its $4.5 million goal–thanks in large part to a leadership gift from Edward Kane and Martha Wallace–the NHS has retained New York-based firm Ralph Appelbaum Associates, Inc. for the planning and design of the house’s interior and exhibition space.
In a series of speaking engagements across New England, Center for Black History Director Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes has not only shared her scholarship on Black history, but also the vision for Center programming with organizations such as Atlantic Black Box, the New Hampshire Black Heritage Trail, and the Greenwich (CT) Historical Society. Dr. De Barros Gomes was also the keynote speaker at Connecticut’s America250 Commission’s conference.
“The Newport Historical Society and our emerging Center for Black History are leading the way in sharing the stories of the Black community in Newport and imparting how crucial they have been, and continue to be, to making the city what it is today,” said de Barros Gomes.
Capital improvements to the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House–Newport’s oldest standing home–are underway, with planned improvements including a new HVAC system, an ADA accessible entrance and lobby, and other structural upgrades.
To learn more about the Newport Center for Black History or to contribute to the Voices Campaign, visit www.voices.newporthistory.org.