Townie Pride: East Providence Nets Rhody Awards for Historic Preservation

A volunteer champion of East Providence’s historic places will be honored at the eighth annual Rhode Island Preservation Celebration.

The Rhody Awards, chosen by Preserve Rhode Island (PRI) and the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission (RIHPHC) from nominations by the public, honor individuals, organizations, and projects for their contributions to the preservation of Rhode Island’s historic places.

David J. Kelleher of Riverside will receive the Antoinette F. Downing Volunteer Service Award. For more than 40 years, Dave has educated the people of East Providence about local history and historic preservation. As principal at six East Providence elementary schools, Dave nurtured his students’ interest in history. It began with a Riverside slideshow he presented at Oldham School in 1975. Presentations on additional neighborhoods from Rumford to Watchemoket Square soon followed.

Local preservation causes became school projects. He led Kent Heights students to raise $5000 towards saving the Crescent Park Carousel. When Union Primary School closed, Dave ensured that the historic building would be preserved. As a board member of the East Providence Historical Society, he organized field trips to the John Hunt House and Bridgham Farm for the city’s fourth and fifth graders.

Dave volunteered for extracurricular history and preservation projects. He participated in the society’s efforts to preserve a historic amusement park building and the pumping station at Hunt’s Mills. With the East Providence Land Conservation Trust, Dave helped to save historic Bridgham Farm. His skills as an educator and communicator made him an ideal choice for the city’s Historic Properties Commission and he emerged as the liaison to City Council about historic preservation issues. Dave worked on several initiatives such as a demolition delay ordinance, saving historic Weaver House, and establishing the new Historic District Commission (yes, he is a member of that, too). The East Providence Chamber of Commerce engaged Dave to give citywide tours.

Having graduated from his career as a principal in 2002, Dave has turned his focus to Pomham Rocks Lighthouse. He and Don Doucette established the Friends of Pomham Rocks in 2004, and Dave has chaired its every committee. Dave shines as an interpreter of the light’s history. He developed an education program for Rhode Island’s fourth grade history curriculum on lighthouses, and he guides tours for Save the Bay and Providence River Boat Company in exchange for donations to Pomham Rocks. Dave is mentoring a new generation of lighthouse preservationists.

Nancy Moore, a colleague at the East Providence Historical Society, writes that Dave’s “ability to galvanize a group, lead it fairly, and handle thorny problems quickly has made him sought after as a leader here in the City.” Whether he is educating second graders or the City Council, there’s no better interpreter of Townie Pride than Dave Kelleher.