LETTERS

Loss of Pawtuxet Historic Walk

Posted 5/25/23

To the Editor:

I was really disappointed by the cancellation of this year’s Historic Walk, supposedly due to lack of student interest.

After moving to the Gaspee area some 18 years …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in
LETTERS

Loss of Pawtuxet Historic Walk

Posted

To the Editor:


I was really disappointed by the cancellation of this year’s Historic Walk, supposedly due to lack of student interest.

After moving to the Gaspee area some 18 years ago, I took the historic walk around Pawtuxet Village and was so impressed that I volunteered as a guide the following year and have continued to do so pretty much every year since. My son began participating as a performer while a 4th grader at Wyman Elementary, and later as a guide while at Aldrich and Pilgrim, and even during college (and, the best part is, I never had to coax him into doing so, as he got caught up in the costumed role-playing fun from the outset).

 But, sad to say, it seems the lack of enthusiasm among students this year coincides with a nationwide decline in the knowledge of and interest in American history and Civics. From my point of view, the past success of the historic walk (which I believe started in 1998) is due to the enthusiasm of our kids and the dedication of teachers and staff at participating schools--Wyman, St. Peters, Aldrich, Pilgrim-- as well as parents, family members and community volunteers. Although the number of student participants and stops on the tour has declined somewhat since I first started, the positive vibe generated by the annual event has remained strong.

As an educational experience, one doesn’t have to be a history buff like me to make local-national connections. For example, several of the 18th-century National Register houses along the tour route on Post Rd belonged to members of the influential Rhodes family--textile mill owners, ship builders, bankers, the power-brokers of the day.

 Ken Burns, in his acclaimed series on the Civil War, uses period photos of Pawtuxet Village and a uniformed Elisha Hunt Rhodes, whose battlefield diaries Burns quotes from to provide a sense of time and place. One of my favorite stops on the tour is the former Carder Tavern (1740). After the student actors had performed their carefully-rehearsed skit, I’d mention to my groups that my son attended college in Saratoga Springs NY, the site of a pivotal battle in 1777 that helped turn the tide of the American Revolution in our favor. Pawtuxet Rangers, who were escorting captured British prisoners- of-war from Saratoga to Boston (from where they were sent packing back to mother England), stopped off at the tavern to rest and reunite with their families.

Going forward, I certainly hope the Gaspee Days committee, area schools, and other interested parties can get the historic tour back up and running. To quote William Faulkner: “The past is never dead--it’s not even past.”


Peter Carney

Warwick

letter, Pawtuxet, walk

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here