2017 -- H 5079

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING SINCERE CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF ALBERT T. KLYBERG

     Introduced By: Representatives O`Grady, Costantino, Ackerman, Kennedy, and Ajello

     Date Introduced: January 11, 2017

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, It is with utmost sadness that this House has learned of the passing of Albert

T. Klyberg, a beloved husband and father, a prolific teacher, researcher and renowned Rhode

Island historian, and the former Executive Director of the Rhode Island Historical Society; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Klyberg was born in 1940. Upon completion of his doctoral degree

from the University of Michigan, he moved to Rhode Island, eventually making his home in

Lincoln. He was the devoted husband of Beverly Klyberg and the cherished father of two

children; and

     WHEREAS, For thirty years, Al Klyberg was the Director of the Rhode Island Historical

Society. During his tenure, the organization underwent rapid expansion, growing to include the

Robinson Research Center, the Aldrich House on Providence's East Side, and the Museum of

Work and Culture in Woonsocket; and

     WHEREAS, Albert Klyberg's panoply of contributions to this state included serving on

the Rhode Island Bicentennial Commission, teaching courses at the University of Rhode Island,

Rhode Island College, Providence College, and Bryant University, and serving as the managing

developer of the Museum of Work & Culture in Woonsocket. In addition, he was an incorporator

of the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, served on many local boards, including the Rhode

Island Council for the Humanities, and was the author of several influential books and articles

about Rhode Island; and

     WHEREAS, Eminently respected and widely admired, Mr. Klyberg received a

presidential appointment to the National Museum Services Board in 1981, and in 1986, received a

Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Rhode Island College. In 2003, he became the second

recipient of the Tom Roberts Prize for Creative Achievement in the Humanities, and in 2014, he

was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame; and

     WHEREAS, Al Klyberg's thirty years as Director of the Rhode Island Historical Society

and his 35-year crusade to bring the story of Rhode Island's heritage to the people of Rhode

Island, through a foundation that he was a leader in creating, are wholeheartedly commendable,

but they were only one small portion of a life that included myriad service to others, and was

aptly summed up by a colleague who stated, "There are people in this world who change the way

we think about a place. Al Klyberg was one of those people ..."; now, therefore, be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby expresses our deepest sympathies on the passing of Albert T.

Klyberg. There is no doubt that this brilliant and steadfast gentleman left Rhode Island a far better

place because of his life's endeavors and was an inspiration to us all; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mrs. Beverly Klyberg and Family.

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