The International Tennis Hall of Fame has launched its newest digital exhibit, Breaking Boundaries in Black Tennis, which highlights the breakthroughs, evolution, and impact of Black tennis players and influential contributors to the sport globally.

The initial launch of Breaking Boundaries features 70 individuals representing 19 nations, and will continue to expand with many more inspiring stories to be added on an ongoing basis. Fans are also encouraged to submit their own suggestions of athletes and contributors for inclusion through a form included in the exhibit.

Visitors to the exhibit can browse athletes’ and contributors’ profiles by navigating an interactive map grouped by region. Breaking Boundaries features biographical information and interactive profiles that highlight the on-court achievements and the lasting impact of players’ successes on the sport of tennis.

MORE DETAILS

Bristol Art Museum Presents In Bannister’s Footsteps Speakers, Exhibit and Video by Barnaby Evans on Saturday, February 7, 2026. 

Exhibition and screening of a 9-minute video that documents the Bannister Community Art Project and highlights the vast accomplishments of this relatively unknown artist, followed by speakers and a lively audience conversation.

MORE DETAILS

Join Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes for a lecture, February 17th at 6:00 PM at the Redwood Library, featuring Doors of Return: Ancestors, Rebirth, and Regeneration in Newport’s Black Community, 1696-2026 with Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes.

MORE DETAILS

On February 28, in time for Black History Month, the Newport Art Museum will host the first public viewing of the George T. Downing statue maquette.

This 18‑inch bronze study honors a Gilded Age hero of Newport and will be the first public artwork in our city to honor a person of color. Sculptor Vinny Bagwell will speak about her creative process and the choices that bring Downing’s legacy to life in bronze.

MORE DETAILS

The Newport Historical Society has created a dedicated page for Rhode Island's BIPOC history and heritage. The goal: to bring the history of people of Native American and African descent in Rhode Island into a more public light. 

MORE DETAILS

Bowen’s Wharf, In the 18th century, the city of Newport was a major hub of the North American slave trade. During that time in present day Bowen’s Wharf, slaves arrived and departed in sailing ships and labored in trades related to maritime commerce, including serving as shipbuilders, sailors, caulkers, sailmakers, carpenters, rope-makers, painters, barrel-makers and dock workers.

More Details

John Stevens Workshop, John Stevens II (1702-1778) was a skilled craftsman, cutter of gravestones, and stone and brick mason. Like all artisans in colonial Newport, he supplied the maritime traders, particularly the African and West Indies slave trade. The shop today houses the business of renowned stone carver Nicholas Benson.

More Details

“God’s Little Acre,” a section of the Newport’s Common Burying Ground is where you’ll find the largest surviving collection of burial markers of enslaved and free Africans.  This historic burial ground is the final resting place of 17^th and 18^th Century African slaves and free persons of color who contributed greatly to the commerce, society, and religious life of Colonial Newport.

More Details

East Ferry Wharf, Jamestown Rhode Island was a special place for commerce and transit across southern New England. However, slavery also tread this path through Jamestown for almost two centuries. Jamestown is a neighbor to Newport, the originator of the largest number of American-owned slave voyages in the nation.

More Details

Patriots Park, this park is the site of the Battle of Rhode Island and has been designated a National Historic Landmark, by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior.  It commemorates the historic battle of the Revolutionary War.  It has a memorial to the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, and The Battle of Rhode Island, August 29, 1778. 

The Bloody Run Brook is where the First Black Militia fought, and the site honors the first Black slaves and freemen who fought in the Battle of Rhode Island as members of the First Rhode Island Regiment; The Black Regiment. Located at the intersection of West Main Road (Rhode Island Route 114) and Rhode Island Route 24 on West Main Road.

More Details

The DeWolf Tavern is cloaked in a renovated 1818 coffee and sugar warehouse constructed from repurposed slave ship ballast. Bristol-based maritime merchants James and William DeWolf built the warehouse and attached distillery for their “Triangle Trade” enterprise. Remnants of wooden barrels used in making rum were unearthed during the building’s restoration and one is on display on site.

More Details 

Visit Lindon Place, the family home of the DeWolf’s for a revealing look at the family’s involvement in the Slave Trade. Tour highlights include tales of DeWolf family exploits, from their privateering and slave trading to their financial ruin and triumphant return to prosperity during Victorian times. Visitors are welcome to stroll the sculpture-filled gardens where they will find Greek bronzes and an 18^th Century gazebo.

More Details

The Eddy-Cutler House, 30 State Street, was built circa 1806-1812 by Warren merchant and slave trader Benjamin Eddy. Captain Eddy was an owner and captain of at least three slave voyages, the snow Eliza in 1801 and the ship Agent in 1806 and 1807.

Eddy purchased the property only months after delivering 139 captives to the Charleston docks in June 1806, and before leaving in September for another journey to Africa.

More Details

The James Driscoll House, 26 State Street, is a three story Federal Mansion built by James Maxwell for his daughter Hannah Maxwell Driscoll, traditionally said to have been a wedding present.  The property was sold to him by John Child in 1806.

James Maxwell was a sea captain and slave trader in the Triangle Trade and reputed to be one of the wealthiest men in Warren.

A large part of Maxwell’s wealth may be attributable to the sale of enslaved captives, such as those aboard Maxwell’s schooner Abigail, which left Warren in September 1789. The captain of the vessel, Charles Collins, purchased 64 slaves on the coast of Africa, and sold them in the Americas by June of 1790. Of the 64 captives embarked on the ship, only 53 survived the voyage.

More Details

The history of slavery in Barrington spanned a period of nearly two hundred years and predates the establishment of the town itself. Slavery continued throughout the eighteenth century. The 1774 census documents a population of 601, with 57 enslaved peoples, including 18 people listed as “Indian.” At least 12 enslaved people from Barrington, including Scipio Freeman, fought for their freedom during the Revolutionary War with the First Rhode Island Regiment.

More Details