User:Vashti James/sandbox

The Centennial Women were a group formed to raise funds for a separate Women's Pavilion showcasing women's work at the 1876 Centennial Exposition. In a little over a year the RI women raised over $10,000 with spectacles such a recreation of the burning of the Gaspee that drew a crowd of 9000, the writing and publication of a monthly newspaper, Herald of the Century, and an art exhibition. The Women's Pavilion at the 1876 Centennial successfully highlighted women's "economic right to self-sufficiency" and included exhibits from recently-founded design schools, displays of new patents by women entrepreneurs, and a library containing only books written by women. The Rhode Island Centennial Women submitted their newspaper, Herald of the Century, to this Women's Pavilion's library.

At the end of the World's Fair, the RI Centennial Women had $1,675 left over and spent some time negotiating how best to memorialize their achievements. Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf proposed that the group donate the money to found what would become the Rhode Island School of Design, and this option was chosen by a majority of the women on January 11, 1877. The school was incorporated in March 1877 and opened its doors the following fall at the Hoppin Homestead in downtown Providence, RI. Metcalf directed the school until her death in 1895. Her daughter, Eliza Greene Metcalf Radeke, then took over until her death in 1931.