Rhode Island Genealogical Society All Day Annual Member Meeting

The next meeting of the Rhode Island Genealogical Society will be held on Saturday, May 16, 2026. This hybrid meeting will be in person at New England Institute of Technology, 1 New England Tech Boulevard, East Greenwich, RI 02818, and on Zoom.
Proxy Voting will be open April 30 - May 13, 2026 for RIGS Members. All members will receive instructions via email on April 30th.

LUNCH BUFFET ORDERING ENDS FRIDAY MAY 8
RIGS Annual Meeting — May 16, 2026
Schedule:
• 9:00 AM – Check in with coffee and light refreshments
• 9:30 AM – Welcome, News & Announcements
• 10:00 PM – Charlotte Carrington Farmer
• 11:15 AM – John McNiff
• 12:30 PM – Lunch - Deli lunch buffet $16.00 includes sandwiches, chips, and cookies
• 1:30 PM – Michael J. Leclerc, CG
DIRECTIONS:
From the North: Head south on I-95. Take Exit 24A - RI-2 East Greenwich/West Warwick. Turn right at the end of the ramp onto RI-2 S/Quaker Ln. At the traffic light, turn right on to Division Road. At the traffic Circle, continue straight to stay on Division Road. Take the first left and follow the road left to the front of the building.
From the South: Head north on I-95. Take Exit 24A - RI-2 South to RI-4, East Greenwich. Merge onto RI-2. At the traffic light, turn right onto Division Road. At the traffic Circle, continue straight to stay on Division Road. Take the first left and follow the road left to the front of the building.
Speakers will be recorded, and the videos will be posted for members to access after the meeting.

Registration for this event is free for anyone who wishes to attend, either in person or online. Join RIGS now to enjoy all our great member benefits, including free Zoom/Hybrid Meeting registration to all of our events and access to our meeting recordings!

Our Program will include the following speakers:

Charlotte Carrington-Farmer received her Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and she is a Professor of History at Roger Williams University. Her book, Roger Williams and His World was published with Broadview Press in 2025. Her research centers on dissent in seventeenth-century New England, and she has published book chapters on Thomas Morton and Roger Williams, and an article on Mary Williams. In the field of equine history, she has published a journal article, two book chapters, and a state of the field essay on equines in colonial New England and the early modern Atlantic world. Her second book: Equine Empire: Horses and the Making of the Atlantic World, is under contract with the University Press of Kentucky and will be published next year. She is active in the field of public history and has received funding and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Yale University, the Mellon Foundation, and the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium.
Roger Williams and His World: Book Talk
Join Charlotte Carrington-Farmer (Professor of History at Roger Williams University) to as she talks about her new book: Roger Williams and His World: https://broadviewpress.com/product/roger-williams-and-his-world/#tab-description. Roger Williams, a 17th-century English immigrant to New England, was famously banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 for his “new and dangerous opinions” on religious freedom, the separation of church and state, and Indigenous land rights. Following his banishment, Williams settled the town of Providence with the permission of the Narragansett Sachems, creating a colony that was arguably the freest in the western world. Williams is the most written-about person of 17th-century New England, yet he is notoriously difficult to read. This collection draws together a wide range of primary sources by and about Williams in order to make this history accessible to a broad audience. It frames Williams within his wider world, encompassing all aspects of his life, from the famous to the lesser known. The included source texts vividly bring to life Williams’s early years in England, his migration to New England, his banishment, the founding of Providence, his revolutionary views on religious freedom and the separation of church and state, and the wide-ranging interactions he had with Indigenous peoples. This collection draws you into his 17th-century world firsthand, revealing the competing impulses and tensions at play.

John McNiff, a Rhode Island native, is an historian, archaeologist, storyteller, and performer with a lifelong passion for early New England. McNiff is what happens when you drop a historian into a storm at sea, hand him a musket, a script, and a trowel, and ask him to explain the 17th century in a way that makes you feel it. McNiff doesn’t just teach history, he performs it, lives it, and translates it for the modern soul. McNiff majored in history at Rhode Island College, worked as a commercial fisherman and in advertising sales, then earned a MA in Anthropology at Binghamton University, and launched a career in archaeology. His fieldwork has taken him across New England, England, and Mexico. For 27 years, McNiff served as a Park Ranger with the National Park Service, at the Roger Williams National Memorial in Providence, specializing in Roger Williams, European contact with Native inhabitants, and 17th-century New England history. McNiff retired from the National Park Service in 2023 after 27 years of service. He continues to tell the story of Roger Williams and Rhode Island history in public programs both here and abroad.
Meet Roger Williams
So many people say history is boring. Not this time. This program is unlike any lecture you’ve ever attended. No PowerPoint, no slides, just Roger Williams himself, speaking directly to you.Historian and archaeologist John McNiff steps into the shoes of Rhode Island’s founder in a compelling first-person portrayal. In bringing Williams to life, you’ll experience the struggles that drove English men and women to leave their homeland for a “so-called” new world — one that was already home to thriving Native nations. Step into the 17th century, where religion, politics, and the very structure of society were up for debate. What was it like to live in this “New England”? Could neighbors of such different cultures live side by side? What was the legacy of Roger Williams’ life work, and who is responsible for seeing that it continues? Roger Williams will speak for about 45–50 minutes, followed by open time for questions and discussion.

Michael J. Leclerc, CG is a popular genealogical presenter, teacher, author, and editor worldwide and will discuss “Resources at the American French Genealogical Society.” He has been a facilitator and instructor in Boston University’s Genealogy Studies Program for over a decade. He holds credentials as a Certified Genealogist® from the Board for Certification of Genealogists.

AFGS in Woonsocket is one of the premier repositories in Rhode Island. They’ve been building their collection for 50 years. While the foundation of the collection is focused on resources for those of French Canadian heritage, they go beyond that as well. There are a number of resources for those of other ethnic backgrounds in Rhode Island. Learn about the society, their incredible publishing program, and the many resources that are available by visiting there.

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