Stages of Freedom has opened a retail location that will include seminars and exhibits on the experience of blacks in Rhode Island.
The Providence-based museum, at 10 Westminster St., will include books and items for sale, as well as historical exhibits that will rotate regularly. The inaugural exhibit, “Dear Lord Remember Me: The Black Church in Rhode Island,” will run through October.
The nonprofit’s mission includes cultural and historical activities, such as guided walks and lectures, that immerse people in the lives of blacks. Proceeds from the sales in the museum will help provide black children with free swimming lessons.
The history of slavery in Rhode Island often is hidden to people, according to Ray Rickman, executive director, and Robb Dimmick, program director.
On College Hill, Rickman said about one in every 10 households in the pre-Civil War era had slaves. People “assume zero,” he said. “This is the North.”
