Amazing Women Rhode Island

Reverend REBECCA SPENCER, is the first woman to serve as senior minister at the Central Congregational Church in Providence. She discusses retirement after 35 years, raising her cows on her farm, spiritual awakening, and how to find common ground in turbulent times.

Roberta Richman is an artist who spent 33 years at the RI Department of Corrections including warden of the Women’s Prison. She is not like the warden in Shawshank Redemption, but more like Mother Theresa! She began by creating art programs in the prison and later collaborated with community groups to create support systems to help people once they were released from prison.

Rhode Island is home to the fourth oldest state historical society in the country, Executive director, MORGAN GREFE of the RI Historical Society, discusses some of the state’s must-see social and historical sites. She also explains the historical significance of the ‘three-deckers’ where immigrant families lived and walked to nearby factory jobs.

Coastal management of the 420 miles of coastline really matters in the Ocean State. PAULA BONTEMPI, Dean of URI School of Oceanography, discusses the importance of the Blue Economy in our state, coastal resiliency, and the lure of Narragansett Bay.

The Narragansett Indians have been in Rhode Island for over 30,000 years, according to archeological evidence and oral history. LOREN SPEARS, a Narragansett tribal member and executive director of the Tomaquag Museum, discusses the history, culture and future of the indigenous people.