Starting at 2:30pm

• Cash for Crowns- February 12 (snow date 2/19)

• Newport Architects- February 26 (snow 3/5,)

• The Games Afoot! – sports- March 12 (snow date 3/19)

• Belmont circle deep dive- March 26

Starting at 2:30 pm

• Cash for Crowns- February 15 (snow date 2/22)

• Newport Architects- March 1 (snow 3/8)

• The Games Afoot! – sports- March 15 (snow date 3/22)

• Belmont circle deep dive- March 29

This lecture will take place in the Belmont Chapel at Island Cemetery. February 12 and 15 (snow dates 2/19, 2/22)

In season 3 of The Gilded Age television series, Gladys Russell is basically forced into marrying an English duke to enhance the Russell family’s social standing and to provide funds for the duke’s grand English estate. This practice was common in Gilded Age America. The lecture will share the stories of some of the more than three dozen women with Newport connections who married foreign aristocrats. (image is from HBO Gilded Age)

According to a book called Titled Americans (1915), there were 454 marriages between Gilded Age and Progressive Era American women and European aristocrats, most of whom were Britons. The Library of Congress noted in a reference guide that "American heiresses married more than a third of the House of Lords". Between 1870 and 1914, 102 British aristocrats, six of whom were dukes, married American women.

February 26 and March 1 (snow 3/5, 3/8)

Newport has always been known for its vast array of architecture with buildings ranging from the colonial era to the mansions of the Gilded Age. Many of the structures that still stand in Newport present an architectural history of the United States and Newport a special essence. The word architect as we think of today was not a profession as what it was considered prior to the 1860s. The first trained "architect" or architect who specifically went to school to be trained as such is often said to be Richard Morris Hunt, buried in Island Cemetery. Island Cemetery is particularly important to architects, not only does it have monuments designed by architects but serves as the final resting place for a handful of other significant architects and builders who have greatly contributed to Newport's architectural heritage and that of the United States. This lecture will discuss these individuals and showcase many of their structures that make Newport what it is today."

March 12 and 15 (snow date 3/19, 322)

People have competed in sports from the beginning of time but in the 1800s many of the sports enjoyed today were created or enhanced. The city of Newport and its people were instrumental in this evolution with one person, James Gordon Bennett at the epicenter of most. This lecture will focus on Bennet and Newport’s role in tennis, golf, horse racing, yachting and others.

.A close look at the Belmont-Tiffany-Perry Circle

March 26 and 29

Island Cemetery is an outdoor sculpture museum featuring the works of noted architects and artists. The most impressive family burial lot is the final resting place for members of the Perry, Belmont, and Tiffany families. Anchored by a massive Greek exedra designed by Richard Morris Hunt, the site also features elaborate monuments for family members. This presentation will focus on the people beneath the monuments. They were members of New York and Newport society, soldiers, sailors and more. Join us to find out about them and the connection to the Belmont Chapel.