Providence Athenaeum: History, Literature, and Beauty All in One
Located in the heart of Rhode Island’s capital, the Providence Athenaeum is one of the most aesthetically pleasing, historically-rich sites in all of the state. While nothing beats visiting the building in person, looking at pictures of the athenaeum gives a good preview to its breathtaking beauty.
Summoning all book nerds, history geeks, art connoisseurs and more — this is a site you won’t want to ignore!
The History
For those unfamiliar, an athenaeum is a library, institution, or some other building containing books, periodicals, and more for the purpose of literary study. Some athenaeums in the world today are classified as museums, schools, theaters and more, the Providence Athenaeum is most closely a library, just a bit more prestigious and fancy-looking. Whilst calling it just a “fancy-looking library” isn’t the most accurate definition, it’s close enough for the purposes of this blog.
The Providence Athenaeum was established in 1836, but its history doesn’t start there. Similar to the history of the Touro Synagogue, the year a site was founded does not necessarily mean that’s where its history begins. Dating all the way back to 1753, the Providence Library Company was established as a place where a large collection of books were held for the public. As one of the earliest libraries in the country, members such as Founding Father Stephen Hopkins paid subscriptions to purchase books to share with others. By 1836, the Providence Library Company merged with another organization, the Providence Atheneum, to create the site we know it is today, the Providence Athenaeum. The site is obviously quite old — in fact it was established a whole decade before the planet Neptune was discovered!
The architectural style of the athenaeum is Greek Revival, a popular style in the US in the early to mid 1800s. Since its establishment, the site has seen renovations and additions over the years, which has included multiple new stories to the building as well as a children’s library. Also, many notable figures have visited the site over the years, including names such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edgar Allan Poe, and HP Lovecraft.
Fun Facts
While anyone can visit the Providence Athenaeum, not just anyone can check out books and other items. The site follows a member-supported, independent system. However, for non-members, along with just visiting the site, self-guided tours are also available. These tours give a history lesson of the building and its many collections.
Going off the end of that last sentence, “many collections” is a bit of an understatement. The Providence Athenaeum contains more than 175,000 items made up of books of course, as well as sculptures and other various pieces of artwork, some dating back to the 1800s!
Also, did you know the Providence Athenaeum was the site of a tragic breakup for the ages? After his wife died in 1847, Edgar Allan Poe became infatuated with someone else not long later — Sarah Helen Whitman, a well-respected and talented poet in her own right. Poe would go on to visit Providence in pursuit of his new romantic interest and the two often visited the athenaeum together. However, in late 1848, Whitman was informed at the Providence Athenaeum that Poe had been drinking, which he had previously promised her he would no longer do. She called off the courtship then and there, surely causing Poe’s tell-tale heart to break in half.
Simon Says
Although I am not the biggest reader nor am I the biggest history buff, I really enjoyed my visit to the Providence Athenaeum quite a bit. Again, both the exterior and interior of the building are decorative and ravishing. If you can, I would prioritize going on a sunny day because there are large windows throughout that let in lots of natural light. My other recommendation would be to take advantage of the self-guided tours as it helped me feel a little less lost in the vast sea of books, artifacts, and pieces of art in every direction.
Providence is a city with a lot to offer and no shortage of sites that have an interesting history. While some might enjoy the athenaeum more than others, I would say if you are even remotely intrigued, taking an afternoon to visit will almost definitely be worthwhile. In the end, I would rate the Providence Athenaeum a 9.0/10. If I was still local during my college years I would have definitely taken advantage of their membership plan for full-time college students, which is much cheaper than the standard plan!
References
The Providence Athenaeum Staff. “Fascinating Facts.” Providence Athenaeum, n.d. https://web.archive.org/web/20151102034847/http://www.providenceathenaeum.org/facts/facts.html.
The Providence Athenaeum Staff. “Our Building.” Providence Athenaeum, n.d. providenceathenaeum.org/about/history/the-building.
Tripadvisor. “Providence Athenaeum.” Tripadvisor, n.d. www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60946-d105267-Reviews-Providence_Athenaeum-Providence_Rhode_Island.html.