Portal:Rhode Island

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Rhode Island (/ˌrd-/ ROHD) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound; and shares a small maritime border with New York, east of Long Island. Rhode Island is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020; but it has grown at every decennial count since 1790 and is the second-most densely populated state, after New Jersey. The state takes its name from the eponymous island, though nearly all its land area is on the mainland. Providence is its capital and most populous city.

Native Americans lived around Narragansett Bay for thousands of years before English settlers began arriving in the early 17th century. Rhode Island was unique among the Thirteen British Colonies in having been founded by a refugee, Roger Williams, who fled religious persecution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to establish a haven for religious liberty. He founded Providence in 1636 on land purchased from local tribes, creating the first settlement in North America with an explicitly secular government. The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations subsequently became a destination for religious and political dissenters and social outcasts, earning it the moniker "Rogue's Island".

Rhode Island was the first colony to call for a Continental Congress, in 1774, and the first to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, on May 4, 1776. After the American Revolution, during which it was heavily occupied and contested, Rhode Island became the fourth state to ratify the Articles of Confederation, on February 9, 1778. Because its citizens favored a weaker central government, it boycotted the 1787 convention that had drafted the United States Constitution, which it initially refused to ratify; it finally ratified it on May 29, 1790, the last of the original 13 states to do so.

The state was officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations since the colonial era but came to be commonly known as "Rhode Island". In November 2020, the state's voters approved an amendment to the state constitution formally dropping "and Providence Plantations" from its full name. Its official nickname is the "Ocean State", a reference to its 400 mi (640 km) of coastline and the large bays and inlets that make up about 14% of its area. (Full article...)

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Harry Kizirian (Armenian: Հէրի Գիզիրեան; July 13, 1925 – September 13, 2002) was an Armenian American member of the United States Marine Corps who served during World War II. Kizirian's service lasted from February 1944 to February 1946, during which he spent seventeen months overseas. Kizirian took part in the Battle of Okinawa, where he landed during the first assault wave while heading a Marine fire team.

Having been awarded the Navy Cross, the Rhode Island Cross, the Bronze Star with Combat "V", and the Purple Heart twice, Kizirian is considered one of the most decorated marines of World War II. He is also the most decorated serviceman from Rhode Island. In 1961 he was appointed by John F. Kennedy as the postmaster of Providence, becoming (at age 36) one of the youngest postmasters in the United States. During his postmastership, Kizirian was instrumental in establishing the first automated post office in the country, which made the Providence post office an operational model for the United States and worldwide. (Full article...)
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The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD /ˈrɪzd/, pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the accessibility of design education to women. Today, RISD offers bachelor's and master's degree programs across 19 majors and enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduate and 500 graduate students. The Rhode Island School of Design Museum—which houses the school's art and design collections—is one of the largest college art museums in the United States.

The Rhode Island School of Design is affiliated with Brown University, whose campus sits immediately adjacent to RISD's on Providence's College Hill. The two institutions share social and community resources and since 1900 have permitted cross-registration. Together, RISD and Brown offer dual degree programs at the graduate and undergraduate levels. (Full article...)
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One hundred years after the declaration that all men are created equal, there began to gather in Newport a colony of the rich, determined to show that some Americans were conspicuously more equal than others.

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Waterplace Park is an urban park situated in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, finished in 1994. It is connected to 3/4 miles of cobblestone-paved pedestrian walkways along the waterfront known as Riverwalk.
Waterplace Park is an urban park situated in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, finished in 1994. It is connected to 3/4 miles of cobblestone-paved pedestrian walkways along the waterfront known as Riverwalk.
Credit: User:Loodog

Waterplace Park is an urban park situated in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, finished in 1994. It is connected to 3/4 miles of cobblestone-paved pedestrian walkways along the waterfront known as Riverwalk.

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