“Owning Our History” Exhibit at Rhode Island State House

Visit Owning Our History, an exhibit curated by Dr. Christopher West and inspired by the findings of A Church in a Triangle, a book-length report on the involvement of early church members in slavery and slavery-related businesses.

The original research contained in A Church in a Triangle was commissioned as part of the Church’s 300th anniversary initiatives. The book, published in 2025, offers new insight into the relationship between Providence’s white elite and the slave trade.

The exhibit is installed in the Lower Level of the Rhode Island State House. The exhibit includes the acrylic painting "Do You Feel Like Shouting?" by Renée Elizabeth Neely-Tanner, the 2024 Artist Research Resident of the RISD Museum of Art and the 2023 Heimark Artist in Residence for the Ruth J. Simmons Center at Brown University.

The Rhode Island State House is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The exhibit will remain on display until March 2026.

To learn more about the exhibit, visit firstunitarianprov.org/owning-our-history/.