Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Anthropology teaching museum at Brown University in Providence, United States
The Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology is a teaching collection at Brown University in Providence holding approximately one million objects from around the world. The holdings range from Native American materials and Arctic items to African objects and pieces from Pacific cultures.
The collection was founded in 1928 by Rudolf F. Haffenreffer Jr., initially focused on Native American objects. The Haffenreffer family donated the entire collection to Brown University in 1954.
The museum works with Indigenous communities worldwide, giving them a voice in how their objects are displayed and interpreted. These partnerships shape the stories told and influence which perspectives visitors encounter.
The museum is relocating to Providence in fall 2025, moving from its previous location in Bristol to a site more accessible to visitors. The new location will be closer to the city center and easier to reach by public transportation.
The Herbert Spinden Photographic Archive documents Central American archaeology through extensive visual records of excavation sites and artifacts. This rare collection offers insights into archaeological work from an earlier era and shows how documentation methods have evolved over time.
Location: Providence
Inception: 1955
GPS coordinates: 41.82647,-71.40404
Latest update: December 6, 2025 17:43
Rhode Island appeals to travelers curious about places often left out of main routes. Along the coast, several lighthouses show the area's maritime history: the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum in Jamestown tells the story of sailors through its optical instruments, while the Southeast Lighthouse on Block Island, made of red bricks, has watched over the Atlantic since 1875. In Portsmouth, the Green Animals Topiary Garden features over eighty plant sculptures shaped like animals, one of the oldest such gardens in the United States. Parks and gardens invite for walks in quiet settings. Wilcox Park in Westerly surrounds a pond lined with old plants, Kinney Azaleas Garden blooms with three hundred kinds of flowers in spring, and Blithewold Estate in Bristol shows a 1908 house with forty-five acres of botanical gardens. For nature lovers, Napatree Point Conservation Area offers 2.4 kilometers of dunes and marshes where migrating birds rest, and Stepstone Falls reveal small cascades in the West Greenwich forest. In Providence, the Armory Arts District uses old 19th-century warehouses turned into sixty galleries and studios. Prospect Terrace offers a nice view of the Capitol and the city rooftops from a hill.
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