Selections from Rhode Island Collections

David Ward raking quahogs off the Rhode Island coast. Rhode Island Folklife Project. Photo by Tom Burns, August, 1979.

The smallest of the United States in landmass, and one of the original Thirteen Colonies, Rhode Island is located in the New England region. Providence is both the state’s capitol and its largest city. Nicknamed “The Ocean State,” Rhode Island has an extensive shoreline and its history is very much intertwined with the sea. Agriculture and industry — especially textile milling and specialized manufacturing — have also played an important part in Rhode Island’s history and culture.

The following examples from the American Folkife Center's Archive include folklife interviews, ethnographic photographs, songs, ballads, instrumental music, and oral histories from various collections. This sampler serves as an overview and introduction to the American Folklife Center's extensive holdings documenting this state's cultural heritage. For a more complete list, see the finding aid, Rhode Island Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture.

View Selected Photographs From the Collections

Browse the Rhode Island Audio Samples and Notes (18 tracks)

These audio recordings require free media software available from RealPlayer.

• Track 1. Sam Hinton sings the ballad, “The Bombardment of Bristol,” 1947.
• Track 2. Interview with John R. Champlin, 1934.
• Tracks 3 & 4. William Webster sings “Change the Green Laurels ... ” and "Daisy Dean," 1952.
• Track 5. Interview with boat builder Alfred Potter, Rhode Island Folklife Project, 1979.
• Tracks 6 & 7. Interview with apple grower Frieda Steere, Rhode Island Folklife Project, 1979.
• Track 8. Gaspee Days fife and drum bands, Local Legacies Project, 1993.
• Track 9. Interview with Eric and Ella Thomas Sekatau, Rhode Island Folklife Project, 1979.
• Track 10 & 11. Interview with Romeo Berthiaume on soirées; and sings "Le Soupe aux Pois." Rhode Island Folklife Project, 1979.
• Track 12. Anthony Matthews sings “Come Ye Disconsolate.” Rhode Island Folklife Project, 1979.
• Track 13. Interview with George Peter Ducharme. Veterans History Project, 2004.
• Track 14. Len Cabral tells the story of “Coyote and the Stars.” International Storytelling Collection, 1992.
• Track 15. David and Levon Ayriyan Concert, 2006.
• Examples from the StoryCorps Collection, 2007:
  • Track 16. Interview with Makna Men on coming from Cambodia.
  • Track 17. Muriel Mackie: Childhood; Pearl Harbor; Air Raid Warden.
• Track 18. Performance by the Greencastle Band. Rhode Island Folklife Project, 1979.