How Stone Walls Tell Block Island's History 

"How Stone Walls Tell Block Island's History" examines how the iconic stone walls on Block Island should be considered historical objects which can be used to reframe the island's history. The stone walls were originally used for marking the land and displayed new ownership of the Island from the native Manisseans to the English settlers. The walls have increasingly become a feature of the landscape, as their identity in history has been overshadowed by new monuments placed on the island during the 20th century. These new monuments are not representative of the island's history and especially negate the narratives of Black and Indigenous islanders who built the walls. The walls offer the opportunity today to question the past, including what role the walls have served and how we can utilize them today beyond their aesthetic identity.