Gaspee license plates would 'reclaim' Rhode Island’s role in history

Representative Joseph McNamara and Senator Erin Lynch Prata have introduced legislation to create a license plate to benefit the Gaspee Days Committee. The plates would serve to commemorate the “first blow for freedom” and, in McNamara’s eyes, assist Rhode Island in reclaiming its rightful place in history.

Many history books do not mention the burning of the Gaspee but instead focus on the Boston Tea Party, he said Monday. McNamara said having a plate depicting the Gaspee would help to bring more recognition to the event, especially when Rhode Islanders travel outside the state and make the plates visible in other places around the country.

“This story is so much more profound and meaningful, and it still gets very little reference nationally. We have to do a better job in promoting our history and reclaiming our place in history. This is a small part of that,” he said.

Lynch Prata agreed the plate would play a role in educating the public on the event.

“This plate will be a tribute to a great event and a great organization,” she said in a statement. “The committee has worked very diligently to celebrate and educate Rhode Islanders about this seminal moment in state and American history.”

Though the artwork of the plate would be up to the Gaspee Days Committee, McNamara said he’s already heard from artists expressing interest in having their own paintings or renderings of the Gaspee featured on the plate, and he’s passed those along to the committee. The option to design the plate might also be extended to students or members of the committee, he said, the same way students designed plates to benefit the Rocky Point Foundation (that legislation was spearheaded by Representative Joseph Solomon). Regardless of who designs it, McNamara feels there’s already enthusiasm for the plate.

“There’s a lot of excitement about the opportunity for Rhode Islanders to be able to have Gaspee Days license plates that really celebrates our place in history as the first conflict of the American Revolution,” McNamara said. “I know that there is a lot of interest in depicting this particular event and memorializing it on a plate.”

As he lives “in the heart of Gaspee Plateau,” McNamara has many of his own memories of Gaspee Days. He said he and his family have a party for the event each year, and he feels “especially privileged” to have grown up in the “birthplace of the American Revolution.”

In order for the state to produce a specialty plate, the Gaspee Days Committee will need to secure a minimum of 900 orders. According to a press release, the plate would include a $40 issuance surcharge for those individuals ordering them, with $20 of that going to the Gaspee Days Committee and the other $20 going to the state’s general fund, as with other specialty plates. A $10 surcharge for annual renewal of the plates would go directly to the committee.

McNamara introduced the plate legislation, H5424, in the House with Representatives Camille-Vella Wilkinson, Patricia Morgan, David Bennett and Joseph Solomon. Lynch Prata’s legislation, S0363, in the Senate was introduced along with Senators Jeanine Calkin and Michael McCaffrey. As of April 26, McNamara’s bill was recommended held for further study and, as of May 5, Lynch Prata’s was scheduled for consideration on May 10.

McNamara said those interested in having their designs for a plate considered can contact the Gaspee Days Committee via their website, gaspee.com. Lynch Prata was not available for further comment.