Juliette’s first language was French, and now she’s bilingual. She’s four years old, and goes to the Dr. Pat Feinstein Child Development Center on Westminster Street. Her parents found the school through friends who sent their kids there.

Juliette likes to “play house, to play on the trampoline” and her favorite color is purple. She also loves to dance – ”I just started lessons.” She has two big brothers, aged 14 and 17. They lend her their iPods.

Thanks to everyone who came to The Museum Of Westminster Street. This is the final week of the window at 191 Westminster Street – but we’ll keep posting more stories on here for the next few weeks. Thanks for stopping by!

The STOP sign originated in Detroit, Michigan, in 1915. The original STOP sign had black letters on a white background. In 1924, the background changed to yellow, and then in 1954 to the current design of red. Its minimum mounting height in urban areas is seven feet.

The stop sign on the corner is attached to a red post that is what remains of an old fire department call box. On top of it was a phone that allowed residents and businesses on this street to alert the Fire Department in an emergency. If you go to the corner of Dorrance and Pine Streets, you can see one with its call box intact. Long in disuse, the post continues to be painted red by the Downtown Improvement District, who retouch the paintwork every spring.

Between 1964 and 1989, this section of Westminster Street was pedestrianized, and known as Westminster Mall. The lead designer in opening it up to traffic again was RISD graduate Kim Ahern, now a landscape architect in Massachusetts. “When we started laying the sidewalk,” she says, “we discovered a lot of disused coal cellars underneath, so we had to waterproof everything before putting down the bricks.”

The trash can was commissiond in 2006. It’s one of a series made by The Steel Yard, a Providence-based community organization that fosters the industrial arts and small business. You can see the Steel Yard logo, a tool known as ‘pincers,’ on the side of the can. A team of artists worked on its creation: are Curtis E. Aric, Nate Nadeau, Heidi Born, Monica Shinn, Ally, Tim Ferland, D Tillery, Howie Sneider, Adam Morosky. The yellow stripe around it was painted by the Downtown Improvement District in 2009, to indicate that it, rather than the City of Providence, takes care of emptying this can.

Most of the poles on parking signs in Providence are green in color, but on this street, and in much of downtown, they are black. That’s because the Downtown Improvement District paints all of the street furniture every year, from the lamp posts to the parking meter poles, using Rust-Oleum protective paint in the color “Gloss Black.”

The lamp posts were designed and manufactured by Urban Metal, based in Pennsylvania. The design is called “Providence” with a “National” base. They were installed as part of the reopening of the street to traffic in 1989. They’re unusually tall, to bring attention to the architecture of the buildings, and they were originally painted dark green.

The tall black vent on the street helps to cool the electricity lines that run underneath this street. It is owned and maintained by National Grid, and painted by the Downtown Improvement District. Occasionally, you can see steam rising out of it, and hear a fan whirring as the heat escapes.

The building owners are responsible for the sidewalks in front of their property – which explains the variation in quality and materials as you walk down the street. Check out the sidewalk in front of Tazza, and along the Eddy Street side of Two Brothers Beauty Supply – it’s actually tar, stamped with brick shapes and painted red.

Westminster Street downtown is being transformed for a unique public event. LAST DAY SATURDAY!

The Museum Of Westminster Street will change your perspective on this street, and the people around you. Catch it while you can, and become make an exhibit of yourself.

Friday March 5, 11.30am-2pm
Saturday March 6, 12pm-4pm

Westminster Street, between Dorrance and Union Street

Included in Providence Business News, “Top Ten Things To Do This Weekend”

“Ready for some facts, memories, and stories in real time? The folks behind The Museum of Westminster Street believe that patrons don’t need to have four walls around them to ponder what’s before them.” – Providence Phoenix

Most days, you can find David writing poetry at a table in Tim Horton’s, on the other side of Dorrance Street. “I have an international following.” He worked in technology until 2005, when his $98,000 job went overseas. “I lost my home, my job, my marriage. I was homeless for 13 months. But I’m better off now then I was before. When you have to start over again, you appreciate what you have.” He’s been writing poetry for almost 40 years. You can read his poem about this window here

Mr Quasi Moto, who is part avocado, works with the group Big Nazo, whose studio is close by. In the mid 1980s, when this street was still pedestrianized, “I started doing some street performances on the corner of Union and Westminster. We needed a place to come and test the waters. We’d come out for an hour or two, work through material. We weren’t ready for the big time then.”

Daemion works for City Year, a nationwide organization that gives 17- to 24-year-olds the opportunity to engage in 10 months of full-time community service. Its local base is above where Bowl & Board used to be. He coordinates community projects for City Year volunteers. “I graduated from the University of Oregon and wanted to do something different. In his spare time, he likes going to the library and “checking out random books.”

Kristen works at Craftland, where she also sells notebooks that she makes, with covers made from old maps. “I have a textile background, which means I wear scarves most of the time. It’s one of my little addictions. I’m like the Carrie Bradshaw of scarves.”

In the 1870s, Christiana owned a high-class hair salon in a building where the store Oop! is. Though she was African-American at a time when few owned high-profile businesses in the city, her salon business thrived. It went by the name “Madame Carteaux”, Bannister’s first married name. Today she is better remembered as an abolitionist, a fundraiser for “colored regiments” and as the founder of the first Home for Aged Colored Women in the city, today a nursing home called Bannister House.

Danielle works part time in clothing store Clover, and part time as an art-and-design teacher at an elementary school in Cumberland, RI. “We don’t have a dedicated art room, so I’m art-on-a-cart. None of the students can see I have tattoos. I get them done at Federal Hill Tattoo on Atwell’s Avenue. They’re about the things in my life that mould the person I am.”

Juan has been head of security in the AAA building for the last 16 years. “You never know, sometimes we have trouble. But we like things to be quiet.” Before he worked here, “for 25 years, I was supervisor of maintenance at City Hall. Before that, I was in the marines as a boilerman. I traveled halfway around the world, to England, Scotland, the Mediterranean, West Africa.”

Deborah is one of the downtown parking attendants. “For 21 years, I worked in a bank, taking care of people who wanted to open big trust accounts. I used to write checks for millions of dollars.” Seven years ago she switched to a less stressful job that involved being outside – though she does sometimes have to suffer irate motorists. “We’ve gotten grabbed by people. One attendant got hit by a car. We can call for backup, the cops will be here in two minutes.”

Lou has been working as a street cleaner on Westminster Street for about four years, pushing a distinctive yellow cart.

“I do this in the mornings, and then at night I’m a drug and alcohol counsellor. I’ve been working there for about twenty years. It keeps me going.”

He works at a halfway house on the West Side, where young men with addictive dependencies go to try and rebuild their lives. Some are sent there by the courts, others end up there through interventions by family or friends.

“In the house is 22 guys, so you have 22 personalities, that’s what you got to deal with.

“You have to, not judge, but figure out what kinds of problems they have. You come to me, and we’ll talk about what you’re going through and what you can’t kick. I have to sit and let you talk, and then I can pinpoint what’s what. I’m not saying I’m Mr Perfect because no-one is, but if you were to sit down with me, I could point some things out.

“Myself, you, me, we have to be leaders. If we’re not leaders, they got no-one to look up to. Let’s reach out and help somebody, get somebody’s hand, tell someone you love them.

“I’ve been clean for twenty years now, I love helping people, reaching out to them.

“Some fall and don’t make it back. That’s the sad part.”

Sin works as a bartender at The 201, next to this window, every Thursday night. She specializes in improvized cocktails: give her a name, and she’ll make you a drink to fit it. She’s previously been a stage carpenter at Trinity Rep, and toured the world with a children’s show. Next fall, she’ll be starting graduate school, to get a Masters degree in teaching Latin. “Classics has always been a passion of mine. It’s about time I explored it professionally.”

Daniel works for Centrex, a drinks distribution company. About once a week he comes to Westminster Street to deliver to Eno, Tazza, and The 201. “Beer, wine, liquor, water, Red Bull, you name it. I’ve been working for this company for eight years. It’s a job, that’s all that matters.”

Nathan is a manager at Subway on Weybosset Street. He works between 50 and 60 hours a week. Right now, he’s carrying a bottle of vinegar over to the store. He lives with his brother, and they have three cats. “My favorite sub? The Italian.”

On the spot where the window now is once stood the Chin Lee Chinese restaurant, whose menu offered more American dishes than Chinese. It was opened in 1914 by Chinese immigrant Dong Goon Chin. His family lived for a while here above the restaurant. In 1924, the family moved to New York City. That same year, a Chin Lee restaurant opened on Broadway, seating nearly a thousand people.

Some days, Al goes next door to Mama Teresa’s for lunch. “I usually go for the chicken pizza strips.” Then he returns to his desk at AAA, on the other side of this window, where he helps members compile information for upcoming road trips. His own favorite destination? “The Grand Canyon. It’s just beautiful.”

Jacob works in Farmstead, selling cheese, meats, and sandwiches. He also studies music at Rhode Island College. “My favorite band around here is [alternative brass marching band] What Cheer? Brigade. They embody the Providence musical spirit of being inclusive, they’re always in the middle of the crowd. It really makes a difference in how the audience perceives the music. “That’s what Providence is, the music is just a part of the city.”

Donna and Marie have lunch every day at Amenities deli, a block further down Westminster Street. “They fax us the specials each morning,” says Donna. “Everything there is delicious,” adds Marie. They’ve both been working at Rhode Island Housing, a few blocks away, for more than a decade. “They really take care of their employees and their customers.”

Sara is studying graphic design at RISD. We met her in November, buying a turkey sandwich at Farmstead. “I’m buying turkey because we didn’t have it for Thanksgiving. My boyfriend is a vegetarian, and we had tofu. “It was delicious though.”

Josie was managing a club in Taunton, MA about five years ago when “a dude walked in with two guns.

“He started going off about how this was a gay establishment, he pointed one gun at the bartender, and one gun right to me and our doorman. He put a gun to my head, had us lie on the ground, robbed us.

“It was pretty scary, I thought I was going to die. We had 12 customers in the bar at the time. The guy was in there for probably three or four minutes, but I swear, it felt like three or four hours.

“The bartender that was on at the time, he was a drag queen. When the guy with the guns left, we ran to the women’s room and locked the door. The cops showed up, and we’re on the phone saying “How do we know it is really the police?” It was surreal, it doesn’t hit you until after the fact, then your body’s in shock.

“I kept doing that job for another week, and then my mother said to me, “You know, this really isn’t a good time to be gay,” and I decided to leave.”

Josie, who is an electrician, moved to Providence three years ago, shortly after marrying her wife, who works as a Spanish teacher. She says they face a variety of reactions as a gay couple.

“Where my family is from, near Randolph, MA, is a little suburb of Boston. People there don’t have an open mind, and they don’t bring their children up to accept other people. There was one black family, it was Marvin Hagler the boxer’s son, and they were the only black family in the whole town. But behind closed doors everyone would talk about that.

“It varies where you go here. If you go to a gay-friendly establishment, you won’t have problems. But my wife and I have had our share of strange looks. It’s what people don’t understand, they fear. But I’m comfortable with who I am in my life. Whatever.”

According to the latest statistics from the US Census Bureau, 47.8% of people in Providence speak a language that isn’t English at home.

Over the last 30 years, the percentage of Providence residents who define themselves as ‘Hispanic’ or ‘Latino’ in the census has risen from 5.8% to 37.6%. Here in Downtown, the last census reported that 11.1% of residents fit in this category.

For English translations of the texts, see below.

En camino a su clase de español en la Universidad de Rhode Island, Jane, una profesora de inglés, cuenta, “I saw a movie about someone who writes a list of things to do before he dies. I went and found the lists I wrote when I was 20 years old. Number two or three on every list was ‘learn Spanish.’” (Vi una película sobre un señor que escribe listas de cosas que quiere hacer antes de morir. Fui a casa y encontré las listas que escribí cuando tenía 20 años. El número dos o tres en cada una de ellas era ‘aprender español’.)

Aneudy, líder de proyectos para City Year, visita escuelas públicas para ayudar a estudiantes con dificultades escolares a graduarse. “Soy dominicano,” dice, “y la mayoría de los jóvenes con los que nosotros trabajamos son hispanos. Nuestra comunicación se hace más fácil cuando hablo con ellos en español.”

Laura nació en Nueva York de una familia dominicana. Tiene siete años viviendo en Rhode Island y trabaja al lado de la ventana en AAA. “Yo hago cosas de matriculación. Cuando la gente tiene que renovar su licencia, yo soy la persona que lo hace. Y si alguien viene que no habla inglés y necesita seguros, les ayudo a ellos también. Es mi primer ‘real job’, y me gusta.”

Belén, staffing specialist para Manpower que está localizado en el tercer piso del edificio AAA, es puertorriqueña y lleva 30 años en Rhode Island. “Me considero una Rhode Islander. Aproximadamente el 75% de la gente que viene a Manpower es hispana, pero if they don’t speak enough English, we can’t help them get a job.” (si no hablan suficiente inglés, no les podemos ayudar a conseguir trabajo.)

Daniel es puertorriqueño. “From twelve generations on both sides of my family. In over 80% of the island, there’s someone with one of my last names.” (Doce generaciones de cada lado de mi familia viene de Puerto Rico. En más del 80% de la isla, hay alguien con uno de mis apellidos.) Trabaja como vigilante de seguridad mientras estudia justicia criminal. Lleva nueve años practicando artes marciales. “When you get into it, it starts to envelop you.” (Cuando te metes en ello, empieza a envolverte.)

Mario lleva 30 años en Rhode Island. “Quiero a este estado, me siento bien aquí. Me gusta la tranquilidad sobre todo.” Este colombiano quien vive en Pawtucket hace la limpieza de los cuatro edificios de Westminster Lofts de la calle Westminster. “Me gusta lo que hago, nos tiene que gustar lo que hacemos, no?”

English Translations

Jane, an English teacher, is on her way to a Spanish class at URI. “I saw a movie about someone who writes a list of things to do before he dies. I went and found the lists I wrote when I was 20 years old. Number two or three on every list was ‘learn Spanish.’”

Aneudy is a project leader for City Year. He visits public schools to help students who have academic difficulties so that they can graduate and go to college. “I’m Dominican. The majority of the young people we work with are Hispanic. It’s much easier to talk with them in Spanish.”

Laura was born in New York to a Dominican family. She’s been in Rhode Island for seven years, and works next to the Westminster Stories window in AAA. “I do the driving licenses. When people need to renew their license, I’m the person who does it. And if anyone comes here who doesn’t speak English, and they need insurance, I help them out. It’s my first ‘real job’ and I like it.”

Belén is a staffing specialist for Manpower, on the third floor of the AAA building. She’s Puerto Rican, and has lived in Rhode Island for 30 years. “I consider myself a Rhode Islander. About 75% of people who come to Manpower are Hispanic, but if they don’t speak enough English, we can’t help them get a job.”

Daniel is Puerto Rican. “From twelve generations on both sides of my family. In over 80% of the island, there’s someone with one of my last names.” He works as a security guard while studying for a masters in criminal justice. He’s also being a practicing martial artist for the last nine years. “When you get into it, it starts to envelop you.”

Mario has spent the last 30 years in Rhode Island. “I love this state, I feel good here. Above all, I like its peaceful nature.” Originally born in Colombia, he lives in Pawtucket and he cleans the four buildings owned by Westminster Lofts on and around Westminster Street. “I like what I do. We have to like what we do, don’t we”?

Mandy is from Tennessee. One day, she went out to visit her sister in LA. “I met Curt there – end of story.” They’ve been married almost seven years. They now live in Rhode Island, and work together at Fidelity Investments. They visit The 201, next to the Westminster Stories window, pretty regularly – two months ago, Mandy’s band played a special gig there for Curt’s birthday.

Andrea and Josh are here to celebrate their anniversary. They live together in Boston, where they are both graduate students. They chose to come celebrate in Providence because “we’ve never been here before.” They’re staying at the Biltmore, and are heading for breakfast at Tazza. “Do you know where it is? Right over there? Great!”

In February 2004, Tazza hosted a celebration of International Quirkyalone Day – which takes place on Valentine’s Day. According to the Quirkyalone website, it’s “a call to arms to celebrate the possibiliies open to single people today. It’s not anti-Valentine’s Day. It just happens to fall on the same day.” To learn more, visit www.quirkyalone.net

Ten years ago, a man approached Tony the Dancing Cop with something for him to look after, and an idea. A few hours later, the man crossed the intersection of Dorrance and Westminster Street, with his girlfriend. Tony stopped the traffic… then the man got down on one knee. Tony handed him the engagement ring, and the man proposed right there in the middle of the street. “When she said yes, all the cars beeped their horns in celebration. It was a really lovely thing.”

Tiffany and Jessie were the first Rhode Islanders to get married in Massachusetts after the law changed. “It worked out perfectly – our marriage certificate was issued four years to the day after our civil union in Vermont, and it’s the anniversary of the day we met.” They’ve been together for 14 years, after meeting on the first day of college. “It’s still working out.”

For fifty years, until the late 1980s, engaged couples would get their portraits taken by Stephen Gabermann, whose final studio was in the Alice Building, opposite Craftland. Originally from Austria, he moved to the US in the 1920s, when he was still a child, and went on to serve in the navy at Guantanamo Bay during WWII. His pictures, which always carried his distinctive signature, were retouched by hand. Like he used to say, “People like to be flattered.”

Sharon and Charlie are window shopping on Westminster Street, “looking at things we can’t afford.” They’re been together for 30 years. He’s holding a book he just picked up at Symposium Books across the street, while she has a copy of Providence Monthly. “We’ve always loved Providence,” says Sharon. Charlie agrees. “You never know who you’re going to bump into.”

Where Design Within Reach is today, just opposite Two Brothers, used to be a store called Richley’s Cards and Gifts. On Valentine’s Day, it sold a variety of special items, including candles and cards. The store opened in 1962, and stayed the entire pedestrianization throughout of Westminster Street, closing a few years after the street was opened up again to traffic. The name itself was a hybrid of the names of the owner’s two children: Richard and Shelley.

Joe’s fame pops up at the most unlikely moments.

“Recently I was in the emergency room at the hospital, I had a wound in my head, blood coming out, and the nurse leaned down and said ‘I loved you in Cabaret.’”

He has been a member of Trinity Rep’s acting company for five years. He moved here from New York, and lived for a while in the Smith Building, around the corner from Westminster Street.

“It was great being downtown. I was heavily involved in the Downtown Neighborhood Alliance and the Hospital Resource Partnership. It was great – that’s how I met most of my friends, living, working, causing trouble downtown.

“This is my neighborhood. It’s a wonderful area because we’re not New York, and we’re not Boston, we’re right in between, and we have access to so many things in this region.”

He’s not positive about downtown’s current situation, however. “I think that downtown needs to become a place that is revitalized on the backs of artists, like all great cities, and we haven’t figured out a way to incorporate artists into downtown. It’s still a very expensive place to live, and we feed on the backs of the students who come to the universities here.

“I don’t think we’ve found a way for those people to be downtown who want to live and work in a community, and want to make those communities vital. That’s artists, and that’s the gay community. That’s why I moved to Federal Hill – because I couldn’t afford to live down here.

“It’s a tragedy, and we’re seeing the repurcussions right now. Those with the passion to invigorate the city can’t afford to be here. I think we have to make a choice between money and greed, or common sense.”