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The Cathedral of St. John Episcopal Church, on North Main Street in Providence, has been closed for 2 1/2 years, but could reopen as a museum and reconciliation center. Image by Max Binder. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.

Episcopal Diocese wants slave trade museum in old cathedral

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

The Cathedral of St. John Episcopal Church, on North Main Street in Providence, has been closed for 2 1/2 years, but could reopen as a museum and reconciliation center. Image by Max Binder. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.
The Cathedral of St. John Episcopal Church, on North Main Street in Providence, has been closed for 2 1/2 years, but could reopen as a museum and reconciliation center. Image by Max Binder. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island wants to open a slave trade museum and a national center for reconciliation in its now-closed cathedral in Providence.

The Providence Journal reports that diocese officials approved the plans for the Cathedral of St. John last month.

Diocese official Linda Grenz says Rhode Island’s role as one of the busiest slave-trading hubs in North America means the church has a responsibility to address it.

She says the diocese is looking for partners and grants to help open the center, and is already working with Brown University’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice and the Tracing Center, a Massachusetts-based group that works to educate the public about the history and legacy of race.

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Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.providencejournal.com

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

The Cathedral of St. John Episcopal Church, on North Main Street in Providence, has been closed for 2 1/2 years, but could reopen as a museum and reconciliation center. Image by Max Binder. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.
The Cathedral of St. John Episcopal Church, on North Main Street in Providence, has been closed for 2 1/2 years, but could reopen as a museum and reconciliation center. Image by Max Binder. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.