University of Rhode Island - Renaissance / Grist Yearbook (Kingston, RI)

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were the political, military, commercial, agricultural, religious, social diversity that continues to shape the uncertain destiny of the colony on the shores of Narragansett Bay. The historic buildings in this area remain the scene of an intriguing drama of contrasts, reminders of a climactic phase of the social, economic, cultural evolution that was and is still taking place in America. 5

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onrmsTCMD — STANDS THE SNUFF MILL WHERE WAS BORN DECEMBER 3, I7S5 GILBERT STUART AMERICA’S FOREMOST PORTRAIT PAINTER ERECTED BY THE STATE OF RHODE ' SLAND 1933 Changes. Building upon foundations laid by others. Reaping harvests in fields that other hands have sown. Certain ideas have grown from seedlings into tall sturdy trees. By counting the rings around historical figures we can discern their influence. Weathering many severe struggles, the principles of Roger Williams have endured long enough to be reaffirmed during our nation’s bicentennial. A tree is known by the fruit it bears. Of the several distinctive features that made the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations different from its contemporaries, the focal points B Murray

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S. Johnson Cleaning Brush in front of South Hall 1896 (Library Archives) In an atmosphere of spirited debate, a Rhode Island tradition, R.l. carried on a lively experiment in democratic government. When President Lincoln signed the Morrill Land-Grant Act in 1862, a nation-wide venture bagan. After three decades of frustration and disappointment the legislature gave the Land-Grant college separate status by establishing the Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts at Kingston, now known as the University of Rhode Island. LMN In many ways, the University ' s history is a reflection of the state itself. It is a record of crises encountered, hardships weathered, and victories won. The wallop of the 20th century has changed the size and scope of URI so dramatically that there are only a few lingering traces of the small agricultural college established in the 1890’s. 6