About the Redwood Library and Athenæum: Chartered in 1747 by 46 prominent citizens of Newport with “nothing in view but the good of mankind,” the Redwood Library & Athenæum is a hybrid museum, rare book repository, and the oldest continuously operating lending library still in its original structure, the nation’s oldest public neoclassical building. Designed by Peter Harrison, the Library is a registered National Historic Landmark.
The Redwood contains over 200,000 titles in its Circulating and Special Collections, with another 751 titles forming the Original Collection, purchased by the founders in 1750 and housed in the historic Harrison Room. Collections strengths include: colonial American history and material culture, early modern architecture and garden design, and the history of Newport, Aquidneck Island and Rhode Island. The Redwood also possesses substantive holdings of historic printed materials, archives and private papers. Featured on permanent view is an exceptional collection of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century portraits by noted artists such as John Smibert, Robert Feke, Gilbert Stuart, in addition to a range of sculpture, furniture, and decorative arts. Two gallery spaces feature temporary exhibitions, while the Redwood’s Reading Room, with its iconic green leather chairs and original Palladian windows, is a welcome sanctuary for visitors. Lectures, gallery talks, and musical events are scheduled throughout the year, and unique gift items and used books are available in the gift shop.
As an athenæum born of the American Enlightenment values of liberty, equality and democracy, and capitalizing on its unique position as a catalyst for intellectual pursuit across periods and disciplines, the Redwood is approaching its fourth century in the service of a rigorous and accessible humanities education for the benefit of the widest possible audience.
The Redwood is open daily: Monday-Saturday from 9:30 - 5:30 pm, open late on Wednesdays until 8:00 pm. It is open Sunday from 1:00 - 5:00 pm. There is a guided tour offered Monday-Saturday at 10:30 am. Admission is $10. Visitors under 18, students, and members are free. There is no admission fee on the first Sunday of each month, or for exhibition opening receptions.
The Redwood Library was chartered in 1747.
The Redwood is a National Historic Landmark, chartered in 1747.
A wide array of periodicals and other reading material is available in the Reading Room.
Two galleries feature rotating exhibitions.
Visitors and members enjoy relaxing in the Reading Room.
The Children's Library offers free weekly story time.
The gardens feature the John Russell Pope Allee and the Redwood Summer House.
Visitors enjoy the specimen trees and public gardens at the Redwood.
Three historic rooms and two galleries are open to the public.
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