Portsmouth lands a revolutionary exhibit
For the first time, the American Revolution Experience Traveling Exhibit is coming to Rhode Island — and Portsmouth is its first stop on Friday
If your mental picture of the American Revolution begins with George Washington crossing the Delaware and ends somewhere around the surrender at Yorktown, you’re going to want to take a closer look.
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Portsmouth lands a revolutionary exhibit
For the first time, the American Revolution Experience Traveling Exhibit is coming to Rhode Island — and Portsmouth is its first stop on Friday
PORTSMOUTH — If your mental picture of the American Revolution begins with George Washington crossing the Delaware and ends somewhere around the surrender at Yorktown, you’re going to want to take a closer look.
There were the generals, of course. There were the statesmen and the famous battles. But there were also women passing along information about British troop movements, Black soldiers fighting for independence, Native people caught up in the conflict, military mapmakers, drummer boys and countless ordinary people whose lives were turned upside down by a war that was anything but ordinary.
Those are the people Janice Hawthorne-Byrne wants Portsmouth to meet.
Hawthorne-Byrne, a member of both the Daughters of the American Revolution’s (DAR) Battle of Rhode Island Chapter and the Portsmouth Historical Society, is the driving force — with a little help from her friends — behind bringing the American Revolution Experience Traveling Exhibit to town. She’s the exhibit project manager, in fact.
The free exhibit will be at the Portsmouth Historical Society, 870 East Main Road, from Friday, Aug. 21, through Sunday, Aug. 30. It marks the first time the traveling exhibit has come to Rhode Island.
“We’re the first location in Rhode Island to get it, which is pretty cool,” Hawthorne-Byrne said. “Nobody else in Rhode Island had asked for it.”
The exhibit was created in 2022 through a collaboration between the American Battlefield Trust and the national DAR. The Battlefield Trust’s mission, Hawthorne-Byrne said, is “to save American battlefields and historic properties.”
The original exhibit consisted of one traveling kit. Its popularity led to three more, and the four kits now travel around the country. The Portsmouth exhibit arrives here from the Groton Public Library and, after its 10-day stay here, will head to North Smithfield.
Hawthorne-Byrne began working on bringing it to Portsmouth about a year and a half ago, after learning about grants available through the Rhode Island 250 Commission under Secretary of State Gregg Amore’s office.
There were plenty of rules to navigate. One requirement was that a municipality had to be named on the grant, which led Hawthorne-Byrne to Town Administrator Richard Rainer Jr.
Then she noticed another possibility.
“Then I dug deeper and noticed they had one for a 501c3, and the D.A.R. is a nonprofit,” she said. “So I thought maybe I could apply for this for the traveling exhibit.”
The next challenge was finding a place to put it.
Hawthorne-Byrne approached the Portsmouth Historical Society board with Prudence Island resident Laurie Greaney, the local DAR’s chapter regent.
“And we got it,” she said.
On Monday, Greaney she’s excited for the DAR to have a hand in illuminating Portsmouth’s role in the American Revolution, especially during the country’s 250th anniversary.
“It’s a great honor for us to host the exhibit,” Greaney said. “It’s been traveling around the country since 2023 and the fact that it’s in Portsmouth on the semiquincentennial is fantastic.”
‘Hopefully it’s going to fit’
The exhibit will occupy the meeting room upstairs in the former Christian Union Church, built in 1865. The building’s new elevator makes the second floor accessible to all.
Twelve large panels will fill the room, along with interactive digital kiosks that use storytelling, illustrations, technology, artifacts and primary accounts to tell the stories of people who lived through the Revolution.
“We have about 15 pews from back portion of the room upstairs removed and put it storage,” Hawthorne-Byrne said. “Twelve tall panels will be placed there. Hopefully it’s going to fit; we’re going to find out.”
The exhibit’s central question is one that would have confronted countless Americans in the 1770s: Would they risk their lives and livelihoods to pursue liberty, or remain loyal to the British crown — potentially putting themselves at odds with neighbors, friends and even family?
“The whole point of this exhibit is to bring to light the stories of the American Revolution that we’re not all that familiar with,” Hawthorne-Byrne said. “We’ve all heard about George Washington and Nathaniel Greene and that’s great, but there are a lot of other people who were part of the story … such as the women who stayed home and passed notes to identify troop movement.”
There were also many people of color who contributed to the American cause, including members of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, which is honored by a monument at Patriots Park here in town.
“And they did not get enough credit,” she said.
The exhibit deliberately widens the lens beyond the men whose names appear in history books.
“What about some of the other people who contributed to the success of this?” Hawthorne-Byrne said. “The people behind the scenes were pretty instrumental in any war.”
Even the drummer boys had an important job.
“The drummer boys apparently had a really important role because they kept the troops marching in line,” she said.
Living history
The 10-day Portsmouth visit will be more than a collection of panels. Hawthorne-Byrne and the DAR have used grant money to bring in speakers, actors and living-history demonstrators, while also organizing a genealogy workshop and other programs.
Among the highlights will be readings from Revolutionary War diaries by Portsmouth Community Theater, a living-history presentation about women and their wardrobes, and a program focusing on Nathanael Greene and Polish military engineer Thaddeus Kosciuszko.
There will also be a Family Day on Aug. 29 featuring 18th-century reenactors and colonial-life demonstrations.
The Aug. 30 program, “Forgotten Patriots,” will turn the spotlight to the significant but often overlooked contributions of people of African descent during the fight for independence.
Hawthorne-Byrne hopes the exhibit will do more than attract visitors for 10 days. She sees it as a possible beginning for a continuing partnership between the DAR and the Portsmouth Historical Society.
The exhibit is free and open to the public, and Hawthorne-Byrne emphasizes that the effort is about education and community service, with all the money going to the Society.
And, after all the grant applications, planning, organizing and preparation, the countdown is almost over.
“It’s been quite a whirlwind but we’re almost there,” she said.
Now comes the hard part: fitting 12 tall panels into a 161-year-old building.
“Hopefully it’s going to be standing-room only,” Hawthorne-Byrne said.
For more about the DAR’s Battle of Rhode Island Chapter, go here.
Keywords
Portsmouth Historical Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, American Battlefield Trust, American Revolution Experience, Portsmouth Community Theater
