Roger Williams Letters on Display at RWU on Monday
Series of events includes lecture and workshops examining antiquated writing, practicing 17th-century writing with a quill
BRISTOL, R.I. – Original letters written by Rhode Island founder Roger Williams will be on display at the Bristol campus of Roger Williams University on Monday, April 9, as part of a “Reading Roger Williams Workshop.”
“It is a unique opportunity for our students to see Roger’s handwriting and touch the paper he touched,” RWU Assistant Professor of History Charlotte Carrington-Farmer said. “Handling original documents written by our namesake brings history to life in a way that transcribed copies simply can’t match. Having original Roger Williams letters on the campus of Roger Williams University is something I’ve dreamed of since I started working at RWU in 2012.”
From 2 to 4 p.m. Monday, students may transcribe those original letters and take part in paleography (the study of ancient or antiquated writings) with Carrington-Farmer and Julie A. Fisher, author of “Ninigret, Sachem of the Niantics and Narragansetts,” who is working as a consultant on an ethnographic study for the Roger Williams National Memorial. (Sign-up at ccarrington-farmer@rwu.edu to attend this session in the third floor University Library classroom.)
From 4 to 5 p.m. Monday, students and members of the public may view original letters by Roger Williams and try their hand at 17th-century handwriting during a “Writing with a Quill” workshop with National Park Service Ranger John McNiff, who works at the Roger Williams National Memorial, in Providence. (No sign up in needed for that session, which is also in the third floor University Library classroom.)
From 5 to 6 p.m. Monday, students and members of the public can enjoy a lecture by Fisher titled “What is Roger Williams?” (No need to sign up for the lecture, which is in RWU Marine and Natural Sciences Room 200.)
The events are sponsored by the RWU Center for Scholarship, Assessment, Learning, Teaching and Technology and the Department of History and American Studies. The Rhode Island Historical Society is kindly loaning the Roger Williams letters for the event.