State Representatives and Senators Witness Impact of Grant Money for Local Students
(WOONSOCKET, R.I.) – The Museum of Work & Culture is excited to welcome Representatives Stephen M. Casey, Michael A. Morin, and Robert D. Phillips, as well as Senators Marc A. Cote and Roger Picard, whose combined efforts provided funding for all Woonsocket fifth graders to visit the Museum free of charge.
On Wednesday, May 17, the Representatives and Senators will join fifth-grade classes from Globe Park Elementary as they arrive for their tour of the Museum and a special presentation by baseball historian and author Greg Rubano.
The $5,000 combined House & Senate grants will allow the Museum of Work & Culture to finance admission for 450 fifth graders, and also provided funding for the development & implementation of a three-part Civic Pride program aimed at having students reflect on why they should be proud of their city.
As part of the program, each student will create a piece of art expressing a reason they are proud of themselves, their school, or their community. These pieces will be displayed as part of a Woonsocket Proud exhibit in the Museum’s changing gallery through June 11. In addition, during each class’ visit to the Museum, Rubano will give an interactive talk on local baseball Hall of Famer Napoleon Lajoie focused on drawing comparisons between the lives of the students and the difficulties and accomplishments of the larger-than-life figure. As a follow-up to their visits, students will also be given the opportunity to participate in an essay contest where they will be asked to describe how they plan to become a source of pride for their city.
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About the Museum of Work & Culture
The interactive and educational Museum of Work & Culture shares the stories of the men, women, and children who came to find a better life in Rhode Island’s mill towns in the late 19th- and 20th centuries. It recently received a Rhode Island Monthly Best of Rhode Island Award for its SensAbilities Saturdays all-ability program.
About the Rhode Island Historical Society
Founded in 1822, the RIHS is the fourth-oldest historical society in the United States and is Rhode Island’s largest and oldest historical organization, as well as its only Smithsonian Affiliate. In Providence, the RIHS owns and operates the John Brown House Museum, a designated National Historic Landmark, built in 1788; the Aldrich House, built in 1822 and used for administration and public programs; and the Mary Elizabeth Robinson Research Center, where archival, book, and image collections are housed. In Woonsocket, the RIHS manages the Museum of Work and Culture, a community museum examining the industrial history of northern Rhode Island and of the workers and settlers, especially French-Canadians, who made it one of the state’s most distinctive areas.
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