Formal front parlor

8. Dark Work: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island Exhibit

Over the next two years, the John Brown House Museum will completely change over from historic house-style period rooms to themed exhibit spaces highlighting histories from Rhode Island’s complex and significant past. This room was originally the formal parlor and the main entertainment space for the Brown, Gammell, and Perry families. Over the years, this room has seen and served the most important guests that have entered the home. 


Now, this room is home to the Rhode Island Historical Society’s exhibit on Dark Work: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island. Based on the book of the same name by Christy Clark-Pujara, PhD, Dark Work examines how the institution of slavery was central to the development of Rhode Island. Through business records, legislation, objects, and letters written in their own hand, the exhibit explores the lives of the people living within the institution of slavery in Rhode Island.

John Brown House Museum
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. First Floor Hall
  3. 3. Front Hall Portraits
  4. 4. Sarah Brown Portrait
  5. 4a. Alice Brown
  6. 8. Dark Work: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island Exhibit
  7. 9. Mahogany Exhibit (From Forest to Foyer)
  8. 9a. Mahogany Collections
  9. 5. Maps of the World
  10. 6. Portrait and Platter
  11. 7. The Dining Room
  12. 7a. Sideboards in the Dining Room
  13. 7b. A Recipe
  14. 7c. Servants and Enslaved Persons
  15. 10. John and Sarah Brown's Bedchamber
  16. 10a. Necessary Chair
  17. 11. Marden Perry's Bathroom
  18. 12. Providence Landscapes
  19. 13. Large Bedchamber
  20. 13a. Sally and Charles
  21. 13b. Family Life
  22. 13c. Child's Walker
  23. 14. Second Floor Hall
  24. 17. Washington Wallpaper Room
  25. 18. Butlers Pantry
  26. 20. Carriage Room