February 24, 2019: Exhibit: The World War II Collection of Kevin Heskin. Heskin’s exhibit showed examples of his remarkable collection, touching upon all aspects of the war, from all of the countries involved. He has uniforms belonging to Spanish, German, Japanese, and American soldiers, plus examples of the varied weapons the armies used, including swords, bayonets, gas masks, and more
March 10, 2019: Book Talk: The World in One Square Mile: Central Falls. Morgan Grefe from the R. I. Historical Society spoke about her children’s book, an illustrated history of Central Falls, told from the viewpoints of immigrant children in periods ranging from 1700 to 2006.
March 31, 2019: Exhibit: Lime Rock, from the collection of Dan Bethel. Bethel’s collection of ephemera relates to the Blackstone Valley’s history and culture. He showed his recent acquisitions from Lime Rock. New material includes items relating to Mount Moriah Lodge and Eddie Dowling.
April 28, 2019: Concert by Michael DiMucci: Americana III, featuring the music of the 1950s and 1960s at North Gate.
May 19, 2019: The BVHS Annual Meeting, followed by the Christine Nowak Lecture, given by Kevin Klyberg, on the “Blackstone Canal: Highway to the Headwaters.” The meeting and talk will take place in the barn of the Captain Wilbur Kelly House Museum.
September 21, 2019: Great Road Day. Northgate and the Bakery open.
BVHS displayed new and old selections from their collections on Great Road Day. Six large-format aerial photographs of the Saylesville Highlands donated by Alan Laird of Lincoln were on display. Laird believed that a developer had commissioned them. The prints were marked on the back “Avery Lord: Advertising Commercial and Industrial Photography, Motion Pictures and Aerial Views.” The Bicentennial Quilt given to the society by the City of Pawtucket, and a folk art dollhouse handmade by Claire Boutiette from Manville were also on display.
October 20, 2019: Rivals Unto Death. Rick Beyer, author of The Ghost Army, gave a talk about his book on Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, and the three decades of their intertwined political careers and rivalry leading up to the famous duel.
November 17, 2019. William Draper, Combat Artist. National Park Ranger Josh Bell introduced the work of William Draper, listed as a combat artist, from Hopedale, MA, who was embedded during World War II. He discussed how Draper was given this opportunity, and showed photographs of his artwork, done both during and after the war.