Providence Athenaeum

First-time readers of Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) are often surprised by how little Wollstonecraft actually says about rights. There is no proposed woman’s bill of rights, no plea to grant women the right to vote, or to assemble, or to have a jury of their peers. What Wollstonecraft explores […]

David W. Blight, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale, will discuss Douglass' connections to Rhode Island, his vision for freedom, and his relationships with fellow Rhode Island abolitionists. The talk will be accompanied by African […]

Join us for an evening of Gothic poetry and flash fiction in partnership with School One. There will be a reading of "The Raven" orated by Kiani Pope, youth poet of Rhode Island, and local high school students will read their own Edgar Allan Poe-inspired works. Ravenous: The Enduring Legacy of Poe exhibition will be […]

You would have to be a pretty clever bird to want to hang out at the library! Help welcome Zachariah, a real live raven, and the Audubon Society of Rhode Island to the Providence Athenæum. In conjunction with their special exhibit Ravenous: The Enduring Legacy of Poe, the Athenæum is partnering with the Audubon Society […]

Inspired by one of literature’s most haunting figures, award-winning author Lynn Cullen crafts a tale about Edgar Allan Poe, his poet mistress, and his obsessive young wife, featuring many historical characters well known to the Athenæum. Book signing to follow the program. -- Lynn Cullen grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and is the bestselling […]

Join us for a community talk-back showcasing Echoing Histories, a documentary video created by filmmaker David H. Wells which follows his wife Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, a Rhode Island immigrant artist and woman of color, as she navigates cultures and immigrant experiences around the world. The discussion will be led by scholar and critic Bakirathi Mani […]