For Immediate Release Press Contact: Sarah Carr | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (401) 769-9675
What: Open House for Woonsocket 5th Graders’ Gallery Exhibit & Essay Contest [FREE EVENT]
When: Wednesday, May 31, 5-7pm
Where: The Museum of Work & Culture, 42 S. Main St., Woonsocket, R.I.
Exhibit, Essay Contest Celebrate Students’ Civic Pride & Creative Talents
‘Woonsocket Proud’ Open House at Museum of Work & Culture on May 31
(WOONSOCKET, R.I.) – On Wednesday, May 31, 5pm, the Museum of Work & Culture will welcome Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt and Superintendent of Woonsocket Schools Dr. Patrick McGee to an open house celebrating the gallery exhibit “Woonsocket Proud: Woonsocket 5th Graders’ Reflections on Pride.”
The gallery exhibit is part of the Museum’s “Woonsocket Proud” program, a civic pride initiative featuring the life story of Woonsocket native and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Napoleon Lajoie as an example of a longstanding point of pride for the city.
Each student has created a tile describing something they are proud of, be it a personal accomplishment or their family, school, or community. These pieces have been gathered to create a mosaic-style board for each classroom. The exhibit will be on display in the Museum of Work & Culture’s changing gallery space through June 11.
Additionally, the Museum of Work & Culture is sponsoring an essay contest as part of the program. Participating students were asked to reflect on Lajoie’s character and tenacity and explain how they planned to pursue their own passions to become a person their community can be proud of.
Essay contest judges include Baldelli-Hunt, Dr. McGee, and Rhode Island Historical Society Director of the Newell D. Goff Center for Education and Public Programs Geralyn Ducady.
Winners will receive a copy of Before the Babe, the Emperor by Greg Rubano, a family membership to the Rhode Island Historical Society, and tickets to a Pawtucket Red Sox game.
Made possible by two legislative grants from the Rhode Island Senate and House of Representatives, Woonsocket Proud has allowed the Museum of Work & Culture to provide free admission for all of Woonsocket's 5th graders, as well as the development of a special presentation by Rubano. Rubano’s presentations focus on Lajoie’s humble beginnings and good character, drawing comparisons between his life and those of the children, while encouraging them to reflect on how they might become a source of pride for their community.
About the Museum of Work & Culture
The interactive and educational Museum of Work & Culture shares the stories of the men, women, and children who came to find a better life in Rhode Island’s mill towns in the late 19th- and 20th centuries. It recently received a Rhode Island Monthly Best of Rhode Island Award for its SensAbilities Saturdays all-ability program.
About the Rhode Island Historical Society
Founded in 1822, the RIHS is the fourth-oldest historical society in the United States and is Rhode Island’s largest and oldest historical organization, as well as its only Smithsonian Affiliate. In Providence, the RIHS owns and operates the John Brown House Museum, a designated National Historic Landmark, built in 1788; the Aldrich House, built in 1822 and used for administration and public programs; and the Mary Elizabeth Robinson Research Center, where archival, book and image collections are housed. In Woonsocket, the RIHS manages the Museum of Work and Culture, a community museum examining the industrial history of northern Rhode Island and of the workers and settlers, especially French-Canadians, who made it one of the state’s most distinctive areas.
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