About Christian McBurney

Marian Mathison Desrosiers, The Banisters of Rhode Island in the American Revolution: Liberty and the Costs of Loyalties (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2021).

In 2017, Marian Mathison Desrosiers, formerly a …
Read More

In the first of my prior two articles on the history of mammals of Rhode Island, I addressed the wolves, moose, mountain lions and black bears that once roamed the …
Read More

In my prior article, I address what large mammals roamed the lands of the Narragansett, Wampanoags and Nipmucs in what is now Rhode Island before Roger Williams’s arrival at Providence …
Read More

I was curious to learn what large mammals roamed the lands of the Narragansett, Wampanoags, and Nipmucs in what is now Rhode Island, around the time of Roger Williams’s arrival …
Read More

After I published my book on the history of Kingston in 2004, a Narragansett Times reporter asked me who my favorite character in the book was. She expected me to …
Read More

In the early days of the abolition movement in the United States, by necessity, abolitionist work had to come primarily from white people because, before the American Revolution, most black …
Read More

While Massachusetts and Connecticut by the early 1800s had instituted reforms reducing the severity of corporal punishment, Rhode Island had not. Consider the crime of perjury before a court. According …
Read More

Looking to round out your Christmas or other holiday gifts to that special person who enjoys reading Rhode Island history? Look no further. And each can be purchased for the …
Read More

Did you know that Slater Mill, one of the most important historic sites in Rhode Island, was transferred in March 2021 to the U.S. National Park Service? I am embarrassed …
Read More

On May 27, 1791, Thomas Mount, a white man born in New Jersey, was hanged in the small village of Little Rest, now called Kingston, in South Kingstown. What makes …
Read More