Local history is not a trivial matter in Portsmouth

I think this is a great way to expose students to local history.”

Doug Smith, Portsmouth Historical Society

PORTSMOUTH — Portsmouth High School senior Luke Ingalls and his friends on the “Madagascars” team were struggling with some questions they had never come across in their U.S. history classes:

• Where was anthracite coal found in Portsmouth in 1809?

• What was the name of the local gentlemen’s farm that Reginald Vanderbilt established in 1902?

• Who were the two Narragansett Native Americans who negotiated the sale of Aquidneck Island to the first settlers?

 “They’re hard,” Luke said of Town Historian Jim Garman’s questions near the end of the first Portsmouth History Trivia Night, held at the Gulf Stream Bar and Grille Thursday night.

Did his team study in advance?

“Not even a little bit,” Luke acknowledged.

Test your own knowledge of local history. Click here to read the same questions the students received during the Portsmouth History Trivia Night.

It was a different story on the other side of the room, where a younger team — from Portsmouth Middle School, in fact — was closing in on a stunning victory.

“Most of the team did study, and we helped each other,” said Anastasia Wheeler of The Tumbleweeds, which took the lead in the second of five rounds and never looked back.

“The Portsmouth Middle School team kicked some high school butt,” said Dave Rogers, the emcee for the evening that was organized by the Portsmouth Historical Society.

“We wanted to start with students. To me this is a lot more fun than studying something or hearing a lecture,” said Doug Smith, the Society’s vice president, who added the group plans on hosting a similar event for adults at The Valley Inn or Greenvale Vineyards in the near future.

“You guys are the guinea pigs,” he told the six teams of students who came out to field questions at the restaurant, which is part of local history itself: It’s housed in an original Quonset hut, built in 1942 as part of the U.S. Navy's PT-Boat Training Center at Melville.

Mr. Smith said the event came together after PHS history teacher Tim Ryan, a Society board member, told the others he wanted to see more local history incorporated into the school curriculum. 

“For me that’s a goal for next year,” said Mr. Ryan, who teaches 11th- and 12th-graders.

The Society “kicked things around” and decided to organize the contest as a way of building enthusiasm for preserving and supporting local history. One of the owners and managers of the restaurant, Reada Evans, volunteered to host the event. Mr. Rogers, a local businessman, former Navy SEAL and Congressional candidate, was recruited to be emcee.

“I think this is a great way to expose students to local history,” said Mr. Smith. “It’s fun and there’s no heavy lifting. And somebody might say, ‘This happened in my town? I should learn about it.’”

Tight contest

There were 25 questions in all, ranging from the early settlers in 1638 to the 1938 Hurricane and beyond. They were written by Mr. Garman, who’s also the president of the Portsmouth Historical Society.

“I started with 116 questions and cut it down to 25,” said Mr. Garman, who had a ball formulating the quiz, which featured five rounds of five questions each.

The rules were simple: No smartphones or other devices were allowed and friends, family members and school employees who came out to root on the students weren’t allowed to offer any hints.

Team Mava, a group of PHS juniors, took an early lead after round one. After that, however, it was all Tumbleweeds. The group of eighth-graders — Anastasia Wheeler, Daisy Fernandez, Jarrett Reeves, Brandon Joaquin and Aquinnah Thayer — impressed with their knowledge on all things Portsmouth and narrowly won after results from the final round were tallied.

The winners took home donated gift certificates for Rocco’s Little Italy, Subway and iTunes, as well as framed copies of the Portsmouth Compact, the 1638 document that marked the town’s settlement. 

The second- and third-place winners (the Wampanoags and Madagascars, respectively, decided after a one-question tiebreaker question) won gift certificates to North End Pizzeria and Steve’s Pizza. Every participant also took home copies of Mr. Garman’s book, Looking Back: Historic Tales of Newport County.

“The middle school has bragging rights,” said Mr. Smith, who hopes to make the event an annual one, with a “plaque or trophy moved between schools.”

Mr. Ryan had no problem with the middle school students defeating some of his own.

“I think it’s awesome,” he said. “I’m glad they won. They’ll be pushing the high school kids next year.”