RI Heritage Centers Share Rhode Islander’s Stories

Smaller institutions offer a narrative beyond the textbook

The AAPI History Museum is “not static” and offers changing exhibits

Photo by Robert Isenberg

Ribbon-cutting at the AAPI History Museum in Providence

Photo by Robert Isenberg

Indigenous belongings on display at the Tomaquag Museum

Photo by Robert Isenberg

Posted Friday, July 31, 2026 9:00 am

By Robert Isenberg

he first thing you may notice about the Cape Verdean Museum is how big it is; 4,000 square feet is a lot of space. Yet every wall and corner is put to good use: archival photographs depict early immigrants in Rhode Island. Shelves are packed with history books. A handwoven tapestry set festive characters against wave-like shapes. If you’ve never heard of the 1970s R&B group Tavares, you’ll learn how these afro-flaunting brothers were rooted in Providence and New Bedford. Upstairs, classrooms are set aside for learning Cape Verdean Creole, a distinctive blend of Portuguese and West African languages. The space is bright and spotless, and on a weekend afternoon, the exhibition buzzes with visitors.

The Cape Verdean Museum stands on Prospect Street in Pawtucket, and it’s a prime
example of heritage museums that have opened, one by one, across the state. The Tomaquag Museum in Exeter has celebrated Indigenous peoples in what is now Southern New England since 1959, and plans are in place for a gleaming new complex on the University of Rhode Island’s Kingston campus when enough funds are raised. The Asian American and Pacific Islander History Museum opened in Providence’s Jewelry District in early 2025, featuring exhibits and workshops that honor the AAPI experience. Last April, the African American Museum of Rhode Island opened in Providence’s West End.

In each case, an institution sheds light on a sizable ethnic group in Rhode Island that is little known among mainstream residents. Middle schoolers have long expected field trips to Sturbridge Village or Newport’s mansions, where textbook histories come to life. But even lifelong Rhodies might never know that Providence once had its own Chinatown, or that New England is home to the largest population of Cape Verdeans outside of their ancestral island chain. If you can’t name more than one pre-Columbian nation that once lived and hunted in Rhode Island’s woodlands, the Tomaquag Museum will quickly catch you up. Interestingly, Executive Director Lorén Spears does not refer to the woven baskets and preserved wampum inside glass cases as “artifacts” but “belongings.”

The power of each museum lies in its native narration, with spaces and collections curated by members of the communities they represent. For example, before she founded the AAPI History Museum, Jeannie Solomon grew up in Hong Kong and worked as an educator for decades. Similarly, Spears is a born member of the Narragansett Tribe.

The Cape Verdean Museum is a successful trailblazer: In 2005, a government worker named Denise Oliveira opened the original Cape Verdean Museum, a modest display of archival items from the diaspora. Some 17 years later, the museum moved into its current location, a two-story structure with a bold sign and half-timbered facade that faces a busy intersection. At the grand opening, the recently elected president of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, made a point to attend. Oliveira passed away the next year, but the museum is now thriving under Executive Director José DaMoura.

Representation is not an exact science, of course. Rhode Island’s Jewish heritage is spread out among several small institutions, while the state’s 52,000 Dominicans have no brick-and-mortar museum to date. But all these existing institutions had their naysayers, and emboldened communities have still willed them into being. As the nation celebrates its semiquincentennial, heritage museums are powerful reminders of how diverse a single place can be.