Marian Mathison Desrosiers, Ph.D.
Marian Mathison Desrosiers, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor (Retired) | History
Dr. Desrosiers taught history at Salve Regina University for over thirteen years. Twice she received Fulbright scholarships for study abroad, one to India and one to Russia, the knowledge from which she continually used in her teaching and writing. She served the profession as an executive board member of the National Council for Social Studies and the Massachusetts Foundation for Humanities.
In her two decades teaching secondary school, she became a National Board Certified Teacher and received summer grants from the National Science Foundation, Gilder Lerhman, National Endowment for Humanities, Robert Taft and Teaching American History.
Dr. Desrosiers' scholarly publications are diverse, including colonial Newport history, women in world war and the Rhode Island courts, and the famine Irish in America. Her first book was The Convergence of Hope: Our Lady of Hope Chapel, a Story of the Hundred-Year History and her new book is John Banister of Newport: The Life and Accounts of the Colonial Merchant.
Featured Spring 2022
The Banisters of Rhode Island in the American Revolution
Liberty and the Cost of Loyalties
Marian Mathison Desrosiers
Summary: This is a story of three young people typical of other Americans during the Revolution. There is the young man who fought for the British and lost his inheritance, valued in the thousands of pounds worth of real estate. The British gave him land in far off Nova Scotia to homestead, when his hopes were to receive compensation for his losses and return to his country and live in peace. His older brother, married with a child, took an oath of allegiance to the United Colonies, then lived under the destruction of his Newport lands by the British army of occupation. Convinced that British laws supported remuneration, he left for England, where he sought justice over four long years. The young wife in Rhode Island took care of the family property and their child, while the state threatened confiscation. The study of the three Banisters contributes to our knowledge of a war that affected gender, class, race, and family within the turbulence of fighting, confiscation, exile, and reintegration into the United States.
MLA Citation
Desrosiers, Marian Mathison. The Banisters of Rhode Island in the American Revolution: Liberty and the Costs of Loyalties. McFarland & Company, Inc, 2021.
Access
McKillop Library Main Collection: F83 .D387 2021
Featured Spring/Fall 2017
John Banister of Newport
The Life and Accounts of a Colonial Merchant
Marian Mathison Desrosiers
Summary: Merchant John Banister (1707–1767) of Newport, Rhode Island, wore many hats: exporter, importer, wholesaler, retailer, money-lender, extender of credit and insurer, owner and outfitter of sailing vessels, and ship builder for the slave trade. His recently discovered accounting records reveal his role in transforming colonial trade in mid–18th century America.
He combined business acumen and a strong work ethic with knowledge of the law and new technologies. Through his maritime activities and real estate development, he was a rain-maker for artisans, workers and producers, contributing to income opportunities for businesswomen, freemen and slaves.
Drawing on Banister’s meticulous daybooks, ledgers, letters and receipts, the author analyzes his contribution to the economic history of colonial America, highlighting the complexity of the commerce of the era.
MLA Citation
Desrosiers, Marian Mathison. John Banister of Newport: The Life and Accounts of a Colonial Merchant. Jefferson, McFarland & Company, Inc, 2017.
Access
McKillop Library Main Collection: F82 .D47 2017