Narragansett tribe members and history groups urge town to approve companion monument at Hazard School

During the public-comment portion of the Jan. 12 meeting, members of the SKUSA 250 planning committee and local historical advocates urged the council to support a companion monument at the Hazard School to recognize Indigenous and Black patriots omitted from the town's 1932 Flagstaff Memorial.

Ken Burke, chair of the SKUSA 250 planning committee, said the committee had voted unanimously to seek town assistance and asked the council and staff for guidance on locating a companion monument at the Hazard School site. Burke said the monument would help "whole all the Indigenous and the slave populations" not represented on the older memorial.

Carol Stedman, who identified herself as a member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe, said her family has deep ties to the town and urged the council to place a companion monument where students and the public can learn from it: "If that monument is placed there, it can turn into a living learning library and classroom session for the school system." Sharon Henderson, of the South Kingstown Military History Recognition Committee, presented research showing names omitted from the 1932 memorial and said a companion marker would "complete the story" beside the original memorial.

Council response: Councilmembers asked staff how to proceed; staff advised the committee to submit a formal proposal to the manager's office and the council agreed to schedule the group for a future agenda to answer questions and discuss placement and fundraising logistics.

Next step: Town staff to accept a formal proposal from the committee and place it on a future council agenda for consideration.