The Newport Historical Society (NHS) announced on Monday its $4.5 million Voices Campaign at the oldest surviving home in Newport, the National Historic Landmark building, the 327-year-old Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House at 17 Broadway. Alongside Senator Jack Reed, State Representatives Lauren Carson and Marvin Abney, NHS Board President Douglas Newhouse and Executive Director Rebecca Bertrand spoke about the revolution that the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House will undergo to become the new Center for Black History in Newport, R.I.
“This historic house, one of the oldest in Newport, will be transformed into a place of learning and exploration, including exhibitions, classroom space and a sculpture garden of contemporary art to center the experience of black Newporters, and make a more accessible representative history of our city,” announced Bertrand.
“Opening in the summer of 2026, this space, programmed in collaboration with community partners, will serve as a gathering hub: a space for research, scholarship, education, exhibitions and community engagement, conversations and learning that will happen here for all ages, will foster critical conversations about race and equity, and ensure that all will have a more inclusive and accessible understanding of our history.”
The capital campaign has already gotten off to a terrific start, having raised 70 percent of the funds already, a significant portion of the $4.5M target. Historic preservation champions Edward Kane—who is on the NHS Leadership Council—and his wife Martha Wallace kickstarted the champaign with a leadership gift.
“I’m proud to deliver this federal funding,” added Senator Reed during the announcement ceremony and tour of the house. He helped secure a $300,000 Save America’s Treasures grant to go towards the campaign’s strong start.
“We need to preserve and share this history and make it accessible to the broadest audience possible. And I will continue fighting for federal funding to ensure that our cultural institutions have the resources they need to uplift the history and contributions of all people who are part of the American story.”
The Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House has seen its fair share of history. Originally built for Stephen Mumford, a merchant and a founding member of Newport’s Seventh Day Baptist congregation, it has also housed Loyalists, Revolutionary War soldiers, merchants, RI governors, and generations of Newporters, including enslaved Africans Briston, Jenny, Casen, and Cardardo.
“Newport is known to many as the City by the Sea, a summer playground for the nation’s wealthiest family dynasties, and a place to experience the glamour of the Gilded Age. You cannot understand that side of our history without also exploring the fundamental role of the Black and Indigenous people in the city’s foundation,” said Newhouse. “On behalf of the Board, we are excited to see this campaign kickoff and are proud of the vision and leadership of Rebecca and the NHS team in ensuring that we represent a more comprehensive and inclusive history in Newport.”
In 2005, historians discovered a nkisi bundle (spirit bundle) in the attic—where the enslaved workers were quartered—underneath the floorboards there. It is likely to have belonged to Cardardo, who had been freed later in this life and also served during the American Revolution as a Continental Army soldier.
“It’s so extraordinary. This is the only nkisi spirit bundle that’s been found in all of New England,” said David Scott Parker, the architect overseeing the upgrades to the building.
Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes, an NHS Board member, held up a cowry shell during the ceremony, which she described as “an important spiritual and social belonging that was somehow transported from the African continent to Newport.
“Newport Historical Society has made critical progress to making this history more accessible,” Gomes continued, “By creating a designated center, a sacred space to learn about experience and celebrate black history and culture.”
“One of the oldest artifacts in Newport was found here,” added Charles Roberts, the founder and Executive Director of Rhode Island Slave History Medallions in Newport, R.I., who attended the ceremony on Monday. He commended NHS for working with an alliance of Black organizations and the Newport Middle Passage to “collaborate the history of these stories.
“My family’s been here since 1889,” Roberts continued. “So it’s important for us to know and be able to have the public realize” about Black history in Newport.
“The experience of Black people in Newport–enslaved and free–is central to the history of Newport, yet our voices remain underrepresented. We must do more to make our stories, our people, and our contributions to this city more accessible, and this alliance is an important step forward,” said Victoria Johnson, a founding member of the Newport Middle Passage and Port Marker Project, along with Roberts.
The capital campaign for the center is designed to incorporate several infrastructure improvements including a new HVAC system with humidity control, an Americans with Disability Act (ADA) accessible entrance and lobby, functional restrooms, a new roof, and upgraded electrical systems, among other projects. The NHS is looking to break ground for the center before 2025. Additionally, NHS hopes to bring on a permanent program director to oversee the Voices Campaign, including both fixed and rotating exhibitions on Black history at the center.
“The enslaved people actually had their own back stair because the masters were not supposed to see them,” said Parker, about transforming the slaves’ entrance in the back into the main entrance for the public. Placing the entrance out back will also allow a ramp to be implemented, making the building ADA accessible. “So now everyone will come through that entrance.
“We were also trying to make the facility more multi-purpose for exhibitions, but also for lectures or events,” Parker added.
To learn more about the Voices Campaign, visit www.voices.newporthistory.org.
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All photos by Veronica Bruno for What’sUpNewp
