August 19, 2024
By: Leah Crowley, WPRI12
NEWPORT, R.I. (WPRI) — The Newport Historical Society (NHS) is getting nearly $400,000 in federal funds to help historians preserve Newport’s oldest surviving residence and turn it into a center for Black history.
The funding is part of the NHS’s “Voices Campaign” which is attempting to raise $4.5 million to transform the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House.
The NHS said the landmark was built during the 1690s, around the same time the first slaving voyage brought captive African people to Rhode Island.
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed helped secure the funding and toured the house on Monday. His office said the money will also go toward making the house “a multi-purpose center and museum that elevates the stories of enslaved and freed Africans, African Americans, and their descendants.”
The money will help fix issues with the building’s exterior, increase accessibility in accordance with ADA standards, and install safety features, electrical upgrades and plumbing.
The Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House was once home to a father and son who both served as governors of Rhode Island. A Quaker-lawyer named John Wanton, a Speaker of the Rhode Island House named Benjamin Hazard, and an officer in George Washington’s army named Daniel Lyman also owned the house in the past.
A number of enslaved Africans lived in the attic, including Briston, Jenny and Casen, who lived there with Hazard, and Cardardo, who lived there with Wanton.
Cardardo was later freed and served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. In 2005, historians found a nkisi bundle beneath the floorboards of the house that they believe belonged to him.
“This bundle contained a cowry shell, an important spiritual and social belonging that was somehow transported from the African continent to Newport,” NHS board member Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes said.
The historical bundle was previously loaned to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
“In its commitment to this story, its commitment to the enslaved people who lived in the attic … NHS has conducted a full archeological survey of the attic space to ensure we are telling the story as surely as we are able, and just yesterday … a second cowry shell was discovered under the floorboards,” de Barros Gomes revealed on Monday.
“Clearly this work, research and these stories continue,” she added.
The NHS bought the historic property in 1927, but due to its condition, the house has been closed to visitors for years.
“Our collections and properties, including the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House, have long contained the artifacts of this critical chapter in our history,” NHS Executive Director Rebecca Bertrand said.
“I invite the community to join us in the pursuit of a better understanding of our shared past and how it informs our lives today,” she continued, “and we look forward to welcoming many visitors to the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House in the future.”
Read this story online: https://www.wpri.com/hidden-history/black-history-month/slaves-belongings-found-under-floorboards-of-historic-newport-home/