Research and Laboratories
Our cultural and historic preservation students undertake significant undergraduate research throughout their course of study and through the completion of their senior theses.
Students can also take advantage of two laboratory spaces in Salve's Antone Academic Center - a unique restoration and renovation project that united two nationally historic and significant carriage house and stables complexes - Wetmore Hall, the original carriage house and stables for Chateau-sur-Mer, and Mercy Hall, the original carriage house and stables for Ochre Court. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006 as part of the Chateau-sur-Mer estate.
Faculty-Student Research Collaborations
Ice Age explores of New England archaeological project
Students conduct archaeological surveys and excavations at sites across New England, exploring sites related to the region’s initial settlement by Indigenous peoples 13,000 years ago. Excavated materials are cataloged and analyzed in the preservation lab. We partner with local Indigenous populations, landowners and science educators to make our work accessible to the community.
Geophysical surveying program
We partnered with community organizations such as the Jamestown Historical Society, Newport Historical Society, Newport Restoration Foundation, Preservation Society of Newport County and the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island at the St. Columbia Chapel to document and map their historic properties. Salve students are helping to map cemeteries discover hidden revolutionary war era structures and identify sites from the early founding of Rhode Island.
Architectural history
We partnered with the Newport Elks Lodge to research the history of its building and lodge. Founded in 1888, the organization has occupied its current building, “Parkgate,” built in 1879, since 1920. This research may help the lodge with grant applications for much-needed restoration work on the building and form a framework for the history of the lodge and its members.
Campus preservation survey
Initiated to honor Salve’s 75th anniversary, the survey sought to better understand our campus’ past. An excavation in front of Ochre Court explored what remains of the Edgewater estate. Built in 1869 by the Kernochan family, it stood for less than 20 years before being demolished to build Ochre Court. Students directed all aspects of the project - archival research, community engagement, site excavation, material cataloging and museum exhibit design. Future projects will include documentation of campus structures and archaeological survey of the historic grounds.
Public access and education
Partnering with Newport’s Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Memorial Restoration Committee, our program researched the history of their namesake memorial, erected in 1917 to commemorate a prominent citizen who died in the 1915 sinking of the Lusitania. We made our research public using a QR code placed by the monument and have conducted similar research for all public monuments in Newport.
Recent Research Topics
- “The Adaptive Reuse of Prisons”
- “Nineteenth-Century Ceramics in Newport: Finds from the Historic Newport Spring, a Study of Trade and Class”
- “Geothermal Technology in House Museums: Focus on the Preservation Society of Newport County”
- “Life After Light: The Adaptive Reuse of Long Island Lighthouses”
- “Mothers of Preservation: The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association’s Preservation, Restoration of Mount Vernon and its Legacy”
- “Historic Homes and Energy Efficiency: Creating Synonymity and Proposing Solutions”
- “From Behind the Balustrades: A Closer Look into Hopedene’s Shrouded Past and Reserved Beauty”
- “Robert Adam Interiors and Wakehurst’s Yellow Drawing Room: Imported Period Rooms in the United States”
- “History Lives: An Exploration of Interpretation Within Living History”
- “A Changing Relationship in Archaeology: Exploring the Importance of Indigenous People in Research”
- “The Threat of Rising Seas: How Climate Change is Affecting Preservation”
- “Setting the Stage: The Adaptive Reuse of New England Opera Houses”
Preservation Research Studio
A classroom in the Antone Academic Center doubles as the workspace for students conducting individual preservation research as part of internships, independent studies or theses. There, they access our vast research library, drafting tables and growing collection of historic building elements.
Community Preservation Laboratory
Here you’ll find the latest equipment and software used by professional preservationists for digital graphic design, 3D scanning, computerized architectural documentation, photogrammetry and geographic information systems (GIS), as well as geophysical equipment including ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity meter. This lab is also where we process and analyze all artifacts from our archaeological excavations.
