Ocean State Libraries

Rhode Island's Mill Villages is a fascinating visual history of the development and evolution of over 150 years of life in Simmonsville, Pocasset, Olneyville, and Thornton. Some 200 rare and historic photographs are coupled with detailed and informative captions that immerse the reader in the daily lives and environments of these communities. In the years surrounding the Civil War, European immigrants and textile workers came to Rhode Island to work...

"When a distressed urban neighborhood gentrifies all the ratios change: poor to rich; Black and Brown to white; unskilled to professional; vulnerable to secure. Vacant lots and toxic dumps become condos and parks. Upscale restaurants open and pawn shops close. But the low-income residents who held on when the neighborhood was at its worst, who worked so hard to make it better, are gradually driven out. For them the neighborhood has not been restored...