November 3, 2026

Dear Members,

We hope to see many of you in person or via Zoom on November 17 for the final lecture of the calendar year, before the 2026–2027 Series takes a winter hiatus.

After the hiatus, we’ll be back with a Zoom-only talk in February, on a date to be announced. Our final talk of the 25th Annual Lecture Series is scheduled for Tuesday, March 23, 2027, and will focus on members of an interesting Newport Irish-American family of the early 20th century.

If you have not yet reserved a spot for Stephen Puleo’s Nov. 17 talk about his book Voyage of Mercy, please do so. All the details and reservation links are below.

Please also mark your calendars for our 10th Annual Christmas Open House on Saturday, December 12. Details follow below.




👉 Be sure to scroll all the way down for all our news.

Third Program of 2026-27 Lecture Series

~ Our 25th Annual ~

VOYAGE OF MERCY:
 The USS Jamestown, the Irish Famine, and 
America's first Humanitarian Mission

 Guest Speaker:

Stephen Puleo

Tuesday, November 17, 6:00 p.m.

Wyndham Newport Hotel

240 Aquidneck Ave, Middletown, R.I.

and Live-Streamed via Zoom

Stephen Puleo’s book Voyage of Mercy tells the incredible story of the Great Famine, the Jamestown voyage, and the commitment of thousands of ordinary Americans to offer relief to Ireland, a groundswell that provided the collaborative blueprint for future relief efforts and established the United States as the leader in international aid.


More than 5,000 ships left Ireland during the Great Potato Famine in the late 1840s, transporting the starving and the destitute away from their stricken homeland. The first vessel to sail in the other direction, to help the millions unable to escape, was the USS Jamestown, a converted warship that left Boston in March 1847, loaded with precious food for Ireland. Captain Robert Bennet Forbes and the crew of the USS Jamestown began a massive eighteen-month demonstration of soaring goodwill against the backdrop of unfathomable despair—one nation’s struggle to survive, and another’s effort to provide a lifeline. 

Forbes’ undertaking inspired a nationwide outpouring of relief that was unprecedented in size and scope, the first instance of an entire nation extending a hand to a foreign neighbor for purely humanitarian reasons. It showed the world that national generosity and brotherhood were not signs of weakness but displays of quiet strength and moral certitude. Through July 1848, some sixteen months after the assistance began, Americans donated a massive amount of food, more than 9,900 tons, to sustain Ireland. The humanitarian transatlantic convoy from the United States that began with Jamestown’s unprecedented voyage did not stop until upwards of 150 ships from U.S. ports delivered food, clothing, and provisions to starving Ireland

• Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
• Complimentary light hors d'oeuvres & cash bar
• In-person fee: $10 per person, payable by cash or check to MNIH
• Zoom participation: Free.

Click a link below to sign up.

Copies of "Voyage of Mercy" will be available for sale and signing after the talk and Q&A, courtesy of Charter Books.

Our 25th Annual Series is made possible

by generous gifts from those listed below:

Sponsors as of Oct, 26, 2026

Our Interpretive Center, which closed for the season on October 25, will reopen for a special event on Saturday, December 12, from 12 noon to 4:30 pm. 

You are invited to our 10th Annual Christmas Open House—part of the 57th Annual Christmas in Newport, a citywide celebration that preserves the historic traditions of the holiday Season.

Click the graphic above for more information, including a photo of our beautiful Celtic ornaments, which will be available for sale during the open house. Click the logo below for the full calendar of Christmas in Newport events.

THANK YOU, MUSEUM DOCENTS!
Our thanks to the following who have worked one or more shifts
 at the Interpretive Center during the 2026 Season

*Interpretive Center Manager #Salve Regina University intern

April 1, 2026, marked the start of the Museum's new Fiscal Year, 
so members with Annual Memberships were asked to submit their dues: $30 Individual / $40 Family/Household.
(Those with Life Memberships do not owe annual dues.)

THANK YOU to everyone who has already paid their dues for the current membership cycle!


If you have an Annual Membership and have not yet submitted your dues, you can renew online NOW by clicking the "Membership Renewal" button below.

You may also call Ann, who 
will be happy to help you 
renewby phone.

Have questions about your membership status?

Please contact Ann at tpm1@earthlink.net or (401) 841-5493 
before making a payment, and she'll get right back to you.

Please do not send payments or other correspondence to our seasonal Thames Street Interpretive Center address.

CLICK the newspaper graphic for

past Members' E-newsletters.

Museum of Newport Irish History
Established 1996

a 501c3 non-profit organization

Mailing Address:

PO Box 1378, Newport, RI 02840

Interpretive Center:

648 Lower Thames Street, Newport RI 02840

Email: NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com

Click Here for Museum Board of Directors Contact Info. and list of deceased board members, fondly remembered.

The MISSION of the Museum of Newport Irish History is to tell the story of the Irish immigrants and their descendants in Newport County and the surrounding area from the colonial era to the present. It also seeks to preserve artifacts and mementos relating to their experiences and facilitate

research on Irish history and heritage.