The Iconic PVD Address To Explore This Fall That Has Nothing To Do With Apple Picking Or PSL
Ghosting.
All the kids are doing it these days.
But you know who did it before the digital age?
Edgar Allen Poe, that’s who! I mean you’ve heard all the stories and legends about his time in Providence, courting another poet/writer (Sarah Helen Whitman) at the Athenaeum and their subsequent breakup there. After she called off their wedding - because he’d broken a promise to refrain from drinking alcohol - only a few days before, he went downhill fast and was gone in a year.
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Stories persist to this day that his ghost haunts the Athenaeum at 251 Benefit St (Naaah…A better bet might be Sarah Whitman’s house that’s still standing and also on Benefit.) or that he cursed the Richmond Fountain out front, the one that just recently started running again this past summer. (I hear the party for that was awesome! Sorry to have missed it.) A big nope to that too because quite simply the fountain was added in 1873 and Poe was long gonesville at that point.
Photo courtesy of PattyJ.com
The thing about the Athenaeum is that if you’ve never been before, you might be intimidated by its facade, the Greek columns, the fountain (more about that in a sec) which was the first public drinking fountain of its kind in the area, everything. Well, pish posh!
Photo courtesy of PattyJ.com
Once you walk in, you’ll find the interior is everything you never knew you needed in your life at this very moment. Especially if you grew up on the pre-cursor to Google. Yes, I’m speaking about the card catalog.
Photo courtesy of PattyJ.com
Feast your eyes on theirs and so many other interesting artifacts from days gone by, including a bust of HP Lovecraft (He frequented the Athenaeum too! Also for the record, I’ve never heard a single person refer to it as ‘The Ath’. Is that a for real thing?), an 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass with notes by Walt Whitman himself (no relation to Sarah), and a copy of one of Gilbert Stuart’s paintings of OG Founding Father GW in the cozy reading room on the lower level. And that fountain? For the first time in over ten years, it’s running again with clean drinking water, so take a sip or fill up your modern day canteen (S’Well water bottles, mason jars, etc..) because that whole folk tale about how drinking from it means you’re cursed to never leave the city was probably started by some Bitter Betty (or Ben) with an axe to grind against PVD.
So hydrate away and know that the Athenaeum has more recently become a popular venue for weddings, cocktail parties and other events. (Absolutely love the idea of a wedding there! Search the hashtag on Insta, and you’ll find some pretty great event-related photos.) Also, they have a whole calendar of happenings for the entire family for this Fall, from movie nights for kids to live music and trivia. Why there’s even a wine and beer tasting this October that sounds like a lotta fun. In addition, it’s dog friendly (leashed pups please) and the staff is super approachable. For more info, go to provath.org.