Freedom of religion in practice: Roger Williams and the Hahn Memorial

“I acknowledge that to molest any person, Jew or Gentile, for either professing doctrine, or practicing worship meerly religious or spiritual, is to persecute him, and such a person (whether his doctrine be true or false) suffers persecution of conscience.” Roger Williams, 1644

As antisemitism spreads and deepens in this country and around the world, two groups in Rhode Island have come together to use storytelling to educate the public about the history of the state’s Jews, and, in particular, one Jewish family.

It may seem like an unusual pairing at first. But considering the state was founded by a man whose belief that religious beliefs should be protected, a freedom that found its way into the First Amendment, it seems natural that the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association and the Roger Williams National Memorial, a park at the edge of downtown Providence, should work together using the story of the Hahn Memorial which is inside the park to try to combat antisemitism.

Soon after the historical association’s 2024 spring meeting where Park Ranger Andrew Schnetzer gave a presentation on the Hahn family, he and the association’s archivist Sam Turco decided to seek a competitive grant from the National Parks Service Foundation to do more research on the Hahns and to use it to tell the story of the Hahn Memorial, one of the key features of the Roger Williams National Memorial.

When the $72,500 grant was awarded to the two organizations late this past summer, Turco said, “We at the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association look forward to the opportunities presented to us through this grant. Not only do we intend to bring to light the legacy of the Hahn family, we hope to educate the public about the influential Jewish history embedded in the state of Rhode Island.”

Schnetzer said, “There were so many reasons why this grant opportunity is such a good match between the National Park Service and the RI Jewish Historical Association. First, the Washington DC office reached out to us over a year ago to seek our participation in the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.”

He added, “The reason seemed obvious – Roger Williams established the practical foundations for the separation of Church and State in the mid-1600s which opened the door for the second permanent Jewish settlement in America, in Newport. But we immediately made a more direct connection to the National Memorial (in Providence). In 1929, J. Jerome Hahn was the first person to preserve the land that eventually became the National Memorial itself – we have been calling that lot “The Hahn Memorial” for decades.”

Schnetzer said that once they started digging more deeply into the story of the Hahn family, “there was a clear need to collaborate with experts in RI Jewish history. RIJHA was our first call.”

The Hahn Memorial, an octagonal well, is in a small courtyard and is traditionally considered the freshwater spring around which Roger Williams established the Providence settlement in 1636. It is the only memorial in New England inside a national memorial.

Judge Jerome Hahn, the first Jewish supreme court justice in Rhode Island, owned the land and a house on the site of the spring not far from the site of Roger Williams’ 1636 house and trading post, along a major thoroughfare and gathering place of the Narragansetts. In 1928, Hahn donated both to the city of Providence in honor of his father, Isaac Hahn, the first person of Jewish heritage elected to public office in Rhode Island. Roger Williams may have wondered why it took so long. The memorial was owned and maintained by the city until 1974 when it was given to the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Isaac Hahn, a prominent 19th century Jewish businessman and community leader, was remembered for his contributions to various industries and his civic engagements, including his tenure in the Rhode Island General Assembly and his role in establishing the Sons of Israel and David Synagogue.

Isaac’s son, Jerome Hahn, played a significant role in Rhode Island’s legal history. He was the second Jew to pass the Rhode Island Bar Exam, and later served as an associate justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

The grant will address the remarkable contributions of the Hahn family by engaging both youth and adult audiences.

Turco and Schnetzer said, “First, we will create a 4th–6th grade lesson plan and accompanying Junior Ranger Activity Booklet that could be used in classrooms, at the National Memorial site, and around the state.”

They said that the grant also will be used to create a traveling exhibit designed for adult audiences and will be installed in libraries, community centers, and local/state/federal visitor centers in the area and be accompanied by formal talks and programs.

Schnetzer said, “The growing partnership between the National Park Service and Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association (RIJHA) will broaden the community profile of these organizations within the thriving and active urban setting of Providence.”

LINDA LOTRIDGE LEVIN is president of the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association and a professor emerita of journalism at the University of Rhode Island.