Residents of the Newport, Rhode Island area have established a grass-roots organization to create a memorial marker in Newport. This is a community movement to commemorate and honor those many thousands lost in the Middle Passage of the slave trade which was centered in Newport from the 17th to early 19th centuries. We will also will honor those who survived the middle passage, thrived and created a broad and deep heritage which still enriches us to this day.
We have joined a national clearinghouse, the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Marker Project, which has identified forty-eight ports across the east coast of the United States (including Providence, Bristol and Warren, Rhode Island) which were destinations in the middle passage of the slave trade. In Newport, we have been meeting since January 2016, establishing goals, developing strategic plans, and starting community outreach with the goal of publicly launching the Newport Middle Passage and Port Marker Project.
Founding Committee:
Matthew Boyle – Educator, Thomas Middle School
Josephine Brown – Women’s Newport League
Peter Fay* – Jamestown, RI
Ernest B Gibbons, Jr. – Business Executive
Cynthia Hamilton, Ph.D. – Dept. Chair, Africana Studies, URI (ret.)
Victoria Johnson* – High School Principal, FL & RI (ret.)
Carole Peterson – Mount Zion AME Church
Patricia Barry Pettit – Marketing Consultant, R.I.
John Pope – Certified Public Accountant
Judith K. Porter – Channing Memorial Church
Charles Roberts* – Director, First Night Newport
Earl Smith III – Assistant Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, URI
Brian Sullivan, Ph.D.- Founder, Newportant Foundation
Ruth Taylor – Director, Newport Historical Society
Gerald Williams – Talent Development Program, URI
James Winters – President NAACP
Eileen Westgate – Educator (ret.)
* Steering Committee Member
Bios of the Newport Middle Passage Port Marker Project:
Martha Crane Anderson is a retired regular and special education teacher and diagnostician. She served in several settings and communities, predominantly in Newport.
Josephine Brown, community advocate, is a retired community leader having served in many organizations.
Rev. Dr. Susan J. Barnes is an Episcopal priest with a PhD in art history. She retired to Newport in 2018.
Laura Clarke is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor serving Newport middle school aged youth.
Peter Fay is a public historian from Jamestown who has been active in civil rights and educational campaigns for the past four decades.
Elizabeth Foulke is a Rogers alum and the co-editor of the Ocean State Review. She is currently working towards her PhD in English at the University of Rhode Island.
Clinton Gardiner is a native Rhode Islander, retired attorney, and descendant of African Americans who resided in colonial Newport.
Ernest Gibbons was the first executive Person of Color in national retailing (at Filene’s department store in 1956), and was first Vice President of the largest AARP Newport Chapter (Chapter 207) in Rhode Island for six years.
Cynthia Hamilton, PhD, is a retired Professor Emeritus, an academic, and author with MS who is still an activist after years of community organizing.
Victoria Johnson, a native Newporter, was the first African American female principal of a High School in the Rhode Island, at Rogers High in Newport.
Deborah Jones, born in Newport, is a certified occupational health nurse for the Department of Defense, and seeks understanding, productive, and ethical solutions for all patients and acquaintances.
Fern W. Lima worked for government facilities in the Newport area in IT, serving as the first EEO Officer for the Naval Hospital and ended her 36-year government career as Security Specialist for the Naval Underseas Warfare Center.
Carole Peterson is a native of Newport. She taught Spanish at Bloomfield High School in Connecticut for seventeen years, spending the summers in Spanish-speaking areas such as Malaga, Spain, Costa Rica, Mexico City, Mexico, and volunteering in the Hispanic community in Hartford, Connecticut.
Patricia Pettit is a marketing and communications specialist and Chief Communications Officer at the Redwood Library & Athenaeum.
John S. Pope, CPA, is a specialist in taxation, working for personal and tax-exempt organizations.
Earl N. Smith II is Assistant Dean of Student Academic Services in the College of Arts of Sciences at the University of Rhode Island, an Africana Studies professor, and co-director of URI Cabo Verde Study Abroad program.
Ruth S. Taylor is a career non-profit administrator and consultant and is Executive Director of the Newport Historical Society.
Eileen Westgate is a 4th generation Newporter, retired teacher, and avid fan of Newport history.
James Winters is a retired Newport police officer and is President of the Newport NAACP, an advocate for the Homeless, and serves as the Executive Director of Newport Housing Hotline.
Donors
The Newport Middle Passage Port Marker Project is grateful for the support of its 2020 donors:
Mr. & Mrs. Marvin Abney
Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Amado
Martha Crane Anderson
Leslie & Virginia Anderson
M. Theresa Antone, RSM
Florence Archambault
Mary Ellen Atkins
Susan Barnes
Bill & Louise Boatwright
Stephen Borkowski
Matthew Boyle
Josephine Brown
Mrs. Margaret Bulmer
Charlene Burton
Arthur Burton
Linda Butterworth
Mr. & Mrs. Jean Calixte
Mary Canole
Hon. David & Maureen Carlin
Mr. & Mrs. Karl Carr
Brian & Nancy Carroll
Adelle Childs Banks
Mr. J. Clement Cicilline
Laura Clarke
Mr. & Mrs. Martin Cohen
Deanna Conheeny
Janice Cooper
The Rev. June Cooper
Susan Cooper
Mrs. Elizabeth Dees
Diana Dinsmore
Virginia Eagan
Harry Edmonds
Elaine Edelberg
Peter & Laura Estrela
Peter Fay
Arthur & Eleanor Ferreira
Mr. & Mrs. Francois Fil-Aims
Elizabeth Foulke
Bari Freeman
Jo Eva Gaines
Clint Gardiner
Ernest Gibbons
Paul Golden
Joe & Iris Green
Dr. Cynthia Hamilton
Craig A. Hammonds
Charles Hayes
O’Neill-Hayes Funeral Home
Arlene Hicks
Sherri Hollins
Stephanie Huckel
Aaron Hughes
Sam & Ruth Jernigan
Victoria Johnson
Darrel & Vickie Johnson
Beryl Johnston
Deborah Jones
Judy Jones
Berna Kaiserians
Valerie Kalwak
Lewis Keen
Michael & Patricia Norton Kidder
Susie Kim
Gay Lawton
Elizabeth Wi Leatherman
Firestone Foundation
Benedict Leca
Kathryn E. Leonard
Deborah Lewis Jones
Fern Lima
Barbara Lisbon
Miguel & Anita Lopes
Christina Martin
Mary Martin
Joan Mason
Lorraine McBride
Dr. Charles&Diane McCaffrey
Donna McCarthy
Janet & Edward McCarthy
Paul & Linda Michaud
Beth Milhem
Diane Minor
Harriet Moore
Fred Nalle
Reginald Nalle
David & Melissa Narcizo
Newport County Kiwanis
Mary O’Malley
Marjory O’Toole
Mr. & Mrs. Clarence Page, Jr.
Lacie Patterson
Carole Peterson
Gerard M. Peterson
Patricia Pettit
Teresa Pinto
John Pope
Ronald Price
Ken & Alicia Quirk
Joseph & Sharon Reynolds
Mr. & Mrs. John M. Rice
Shirley Ripa
Barbara Roberts
Cynthia Robinson
JoAnne Rosemont
Mr. & Mrs. Joaquin Rozario
Maxine Shavers
Paula Silvia
Regina E. Slezak
Olive & Joyce Sutton Smith
Madeline Smith
Earl N. Smith, III
Timothy Somes
Mr. & Mrs. Kendrick Spencer
Keith Tavares
Patricia Taylor
Ruth Taylor
Mr. & Mrs. Duane Thompson
The Rev. Vincent Thompson
Maureen Toppins
Audrain Triplett, CDR USN (Ret.)
Kathleen Trombley
Joyce Watts
Eileen Westgate
Maureen Wheeler
Karen White
James Winters
Sheila Winters
Henry & Deborah Winthrop
Cheryl Yeack – In honor of Victoria Johnson
Alice W. Young
Tom Zeigler