2013 -- H 6045

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LC02451

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2013

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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

     Referred To: House read and passed

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

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

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memberships and through donations, grants, and admissions; and

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

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

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

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Narragansett; and

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

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

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Room Schoolhouse; and

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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and be it further

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

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transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Daryl Anne Anderson, President, South County

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Museum.

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LC02451

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