A Matter of Truth Newport: Chronicling 400 Years of Resilience in Newport, Rhode Island (1620-2020)

Good Morning, Newport! Today is Thursday, June 19, the 170th day of 2025. There are 195 days left in the year. Today is Juneteenth.

🚨 You need to know

It was 160 years ago that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed — after the Civil War’s end and two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

The resulting Juneteenth holiday — its name combining “June” and “nineteenth” — has only grown in significance over the past one and a half centuries. In 2021, President Joe Biden designated it a federal holiday, expanding its recognition beyond Black America

Here are some of the ways to celebrate Juneteenth in Newport today.

Through powerful narratives and songs, Valerie Tutson of the Rhode Island Black Storytellers will bring to life the enduring spirit, resilience, and cultural traditions of Black communities during Stories and Songs in Celebration of Black Freedom at Rough Point Museum this afternoon.

Keith W. Stokes, Rhode Island’s State Historian Laureate and co-author of A Matter of Truth, will deliver a thought-provoking talk on the ongoing journey toward truth, justice, and equity during A Matter of Truth Newport: Chronicling 400 Years of Resilience at The JPT Film & Event Center this evening.

What else you need to know

👉 Newport Public Schools confronts a $900,000 budget shortfall for the upcoming school year, despite implementing 10 staff layoffs and after receiving reduced funding from the city council, Superintendent Colleen Burns Jermain announced during her monthly interview with What’sUpNewp on Wednesday, June 18.

👏 Sybil Grayko, a second-grade teacher at Pell Elementary School, has earned the title of Newport Public Schools’ Teacher of the Year for 2025-2026.

📈 Yesterday’s most-read

The following were yesterday’s most-read What’sUpNewp articles.

  1. Morning Notes: Newport wants your ideas for Easton’s Beach makeover
  2. Student documentary filmmakers celebrated at newportFILM’s docUnbound screening
  3. Obituary: Claire B. Donahoe
  4. Morning Notes: Providence ranks among top 10 riskiest driving cities in America
  5. Newport Public Schools face $900K shortfall amid layoffs and funding cuts
  6. Middletown Police seek public’s help in identifying break-in suspect
  7. New eco-friendly shuttle service launches in Newport
  8. Rev. Meaghan K. Brower named new Rector of Trinity Church
  9. Obituary: Ruth Cote
  10. Home of the Week: 109 Corey Lane, Middletown

📅 What’s Up Today

Weather Forecast

  • Today: Areas of fog before 11 am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. Southwest wind 5 to 15 mph.
  • Tonight: Isolated showers between 9 pm and 11 pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. Southwest wind 11 to 14 mph. The chance of precipitation is 20%.

Marine Forecast

Sun, Moon & Tide

  • Sunrise at 5:11 am. Sunset at 8:22 pm. 15 hours & 11 minutes of sun.
  • High tide at 2:20 am & 2:55 pm. Low tide at 7:53 am & 9:05 pm.
  • The lunar phase is a Last Quarter Moon.

Things To Do

Live Music & Entertainment

Newport County Public Meetings

Cruise Ship Schedule

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...