Stages of Freedom Museum of African American History to unveil marker to Black philanthropist [Video]

Stages of Freedom will unveil a historic marker recognizing Christiana Carteaux Bannister on Saturday, October 28, 2024, 10am at 15 Westminster Street, Providence.

The event is free and open to the public and followed by refreshments. Save the Date!

Mrs. Bannister, of African and Narragansett descent, and her husband Edward, were Providence’s Black Victorian power couple, using their resources, connections and genius to build bridges across the racial divide to create lasting institutions in the City, such as the Providence Art Club and Bannister House.

Mrs. Bannister, highly successful in business as a “hair doctress,” used her funds to help raise Black troops for the Civil War, abolish slavery, and finance her husband’s award-winning career as a landscape artist. The plaque, made possible in part by a grant from the Black Philanthropy Bannister Fund, is located in a small park soon to be named for Mrs. Bannister, directly across from Stages of Freedom’s African American Museum, and within view of the magnificent …