13-R219

2013 -- H 6045

Enacted 04/25/13

 

 

H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N

RECOGNIZING THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE

SOUTH COUNTY MUSEUM

 

 

     

     

     Introduced By: Representatives Tanzi, and Lally

     Date Introduced: April 25, 2013

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, The South County Museum is an independent nonprofit organization,

founded in 1933, and originally located in a barn in the Village of Wickford.  It is funded by

memberships and through donations, grants, and admissions; and

     WHEREAS, After being relocated twice, the museum was eventually moved to its

current location within Canonchet Farm, which was the home of the 12th Governor of Rhode

Island, Col. William Sprague.  The site is now a 174-acre public park owned by the Town of

Narragansett; and

     WHEREAS, The main exhibit building, the Metz Exhibit Hall, was built in 1987.  Today,

the grounds also include a Carpentry Shop, Blacksmith Forge, the Carriage Barn, and a One-

Room Schoolhouse; and

     WHEREAS, The museum’s collections contain more than 20,000 items, dating from pre-

European settlement to the 1950s, and are displayed in the six exhibit buildings.  The museum

grounds also contain landscaped gardens and a heritage flock of our official state bird, the Rhode

Island Red, that make their home on site at the Living History Farm; and

     WHEREAS, Museums are the custodians of our material heritage and an integral part of

a robust and thriving culture.  They are the inheritance that, with joy and obligation, we leave to

those who will come after us; now, therefore be it

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

Providence Plantations hereby congratulates the Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers of the

South County Museum on the 80th Anniversary of its founding.  We commend their dedication

and efforts to ensure an important piece of Rhode Island’s history remains for future generations;

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 Daryl Anne Anderson, President, South County

Museum.

     

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LC02451

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