The Museum of Work and Culture

Last Friday Maura and I drove to Rhode Island to check on a friend’s cat while he was away. Hobbes the cat was doing fine but wasn't in the mood for company, especially that of strangers in his home. Once we were sure he had ample food and water to hold him until his owner came back we headed out again. It was a long trip for us to take to spend an hour with a cat so I had planned a stop on the way home.

On previous trips through Rhode Island I had noticed a sign for the Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket. I thought Maura might enjoy the visit and learn something while she was there. I got off at the Woonsocket exit from Interstate 295 and headed into town. On the way in we stopped for lunch at the Patriot Diner which looks like a classic place and has a menu to match. It’s the kind of place I like to eat in when I’m on the road. It’s quick and fairly reasonable and much better than fast food. Maura enjoyed her lunch of stuffed French toast. My cheeseburger wasn’t bad either.

Once we finished lunch we drove into downtown Woonsocket to find the museum. I promptly got lost and drove around in a strange town for a while before we found the museum. There were signs pointing the way but they were easy to miss in traffic. I should have printed out directions before I left home but that would have made things too easy.

Once we found the museum it was worth the trouble of getting there. The Museum of Work and Culture tells the story of the French Canadian immigrants who worked in the textile mills of Woonsocket. There are exhibits on their reasons for coming, the difficult conditions they faced in mills and in crowded tenements, on the labor movement that eventually helped to improve the poor conditions, and on the communities that the immigrants built centered on churches and schools. The exhibits had strong audiovisual elements and some interactivity. Maura enjoyed the visit as I expected she would. She enjoys history when it touches on the lives of ordinary people.

We left the museum after an hour or so. We had to be in Quincy, Massachusetts by 5:00 to pick up our weekly box of CSA vegetables from the Stillmans’ Farm stand at the Farmers’ Market and Jennifer from the T-station. It was a long day by the time we got home but an enjoyable one.