Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, has completed renovations of a nineteenth-century home that was occupied from 1884 to 1899 by African-American artist Edward Mitchell Bannister. A founding member of the Providence Art Club, Bannister was best known for his landscapes and seascapes. In 1876, he won the first-prize bronze medal for his oil painting “Under the Oaks” at the Philadelphia Centennial. Many of his works are now in the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
The home at 93 Benevolent Street, originally built in 1854 near the Brown University campus, was purchased by the university in 1989. At the time, the house was in disrepair. The home was restored on the outside to resemble how it appeared in the late nineteenth century. The interior of the home has all the modern conveniences.
The renovated home will be sold to a member of the Brown University community. A plaque noting the historical significance of the home has been placed on the side of the house.
