Upcoming Exhibitions

Providence Unveiled: Stories from the Archives

June 3 – September 10, 2019

The Providence Athenæum has occupied its home on Benefit Street since 1838, bearing witness to the evolution of the city of Providence for nearly two centuries. Providence Unveiled: Stories from the Archives aims to uncover the stories of people and places of historic Providence through an exploration of materials housed in the Athenæum’s archives, painting a picture of the surrounding neighborhood throughout time.

The exhibit is part of the larger Year of the City: The Providence Project, an unprecedented year-long exploration of the history, life, and culture of Providence’s 25 neighborhoods through exhibitions, performances, walks, lectures, and conferences produced by more than 50 different curators.

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Walt Whitman: Poet of the Body

October 15, 2019 – January 5, 2020

The Providence Athenæum will host a portion of the exhibition “Poet of the Body”: New York’s Walt Whitman on view at the Grolier Club in New York from May 15 – July 27, 2019. The display at the Athenæum will celebrate the history of Leaves of Grass, featuring the library’s rare first edition inscribed by Whitman, along with items from the extraordinary private Walt Whitman collection of Susan Jaffe Tane.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of Whitman’s birth, and the Athenæum is participating with the Walt Whitman Initiative in celebrating the life and work of the “Good Gray Poet.”