Schedule of Events
Wedding Ceremony
half past four o'clock in the afternoon
St. Joseph Church
92 Hope Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02906
Reception
five forty-five in the evening at
The Providence Athenæum
251 Benefit Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02903
A Nightcap
eleven o'clock in the evening at
The Beatrice Hotel Rooftop Bar
90 Westminster Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02903
RECEPTION VENUE
The Providence
Athenæum
The Providence Athenæum (pronounced ath-uh-NEE-um or ath-uh-NAY-um) is an independent, member-supported library founded in 1836. It is home to a collection of nearly 180,000 books, including texts dating back as early as the 1300s.
The word "athenæum" originates from ancient Greece, meaning "temple of Athena," a place in Athens where poets, philosophers, and orators would gather to read and discuss their work.
Over the past 200 years, the Providence Athenæum has welcomed illustrious writers, spirited thinkers, and members of the Providence community—including Edgar Allan Poe. In the fall of 1848, Poe arrived in Providence to court Sarah Helen Whitman, a widowed poet who lived a few blocks away and was a frequent Athenæum visitor.
I have pressed your letter again and again to my lips, sweetest Helen — bathing it in tears of joy, or of a “divine despair."
Edgar Allan Poe to Sarah H. Whitman — October 1, 1848