Collection on the Redwood Library and Athenaeum (RLC.Ms.030)

Historical note

The Redwood Library and Athenaeum, located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, was chartered in 1747 by Abraham Redwood (1709-1788) and a group of forty-five other proprietors. The Library was built by architect Peter Harrison (1716-1775) and opened in 1750. The Redwood Library and Athenaeum is a library, museum, and historic building that stays true to its 1747 charter by maintaining a cultural and educational institution for “propagating Virtue, Knowledge and useful Learning.” It also is the oldest continuously operating library in its original building in America.