Rhode Island Historical Society

Founded in 1822, the RIHS is the fourth-oldest state historical society in the United States. It is a private organization, founded and supported by its membership. The RIHS holds the largest and most important historical collections relating to Rhode Island. These collections include 25,000 museum objects, more than 100,000 printed books, 110,000 photographs, 3,400 sound recordings (including oral histories and music), 9 million feet of moving picture film, over 1,100 manuscript collections (measuring over 7,000 linear feet), 3,400 maps, 20,000 prints, 16,000 pieces of ephemera, 15,000 architectural drawings, and several smaller, miscellaneous categories of historical holdings. These collections grow every year, due to gifts and purchases.