Hello, this is Carl Raymond, host of the Gilded Gentleman History podcast where every two weeks we journey into worlds light and dark in

America's Gilded Age, Francis Bellepuck, and England's late Victorian and Edwardian

heirs.

Visitors today to Newport, Rhode Island, the rocky salt-sprayed New England coastal city often see the grand mansions of Bellevue Avenue and Ocker Point and become lost in imagining the grand balls, receptions for royalty, and they listen to stories of complicated social warfare between some of the most famous families of the

gilded age, including, of course, the Aster's and the Vanderbiltz.

But this is truly only part of the story.

Newport, Rhode Island has many different histories in its nearly 400 years of history since

its founding in 1639.

One of the most important and essential to understanding Newport's history overall is the deep,

rich history of Newport's African heritage community and how it rose in a unique and

entirely different way than other communities of color to become a prosperous, affluent

entrepreneurial culture whose members forge new paths

in business, medicine, science, and technology.

I could not be more honored and proud to have as my guest today historian Keith Stokes,

whose deep research, writing, speaking, storytelling, and advocacy brings the extraordinary story of

Newport's African heritage to light and to continually widening audiences today.

Keith Stokes is a ninth generation son and resident of Newport.

He is descended for a number of the influential and groundbreaking members of Newport's African heritage community that built the city's infrastructure throughout the 19th century leading into the gilded age.

Keith's own career in public works and developing civic policy includes work for the

City of Newport as an elected official to his current role leading the State of Rhode Island's

division of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Keith has served on numerous boards, including

those of the Preservation Society of Newport County, Toro Synagogue Foundation,

...