Year Inducted: 2004
Aileen Riggin (Soule) - Aileen Riggin (Soule), 1906-2002, won the gold medal in the three-meter springboard diving competition in the 1924 Antwerp Games and finished fifth in the platform dive. The 14-year-old Riggin of Newport was 4'7" tall and weighed only 65 pounds in 1920. At the Paris Olympics in 1924, Riggin won a silver medal in springboard diving… …
Amos Chafee Barstow - Mayor Amos Chafee Barstow (1813-1892) was one of the most accomplished and versatile men in the history of Rhode Island. A Providence native, Barstow made his fortune by the manufacture of stoves. His firm, the Barstow Stove Company, located at Point and Richmond Streets covered two and one-half acres and employed 200 workers. Barstow won… …
Archibald “Archie” Hahn - Archibald ("Archie ") Hahn won gold medals in the 60-meter, 100-meter, and 200-meter dashes in the 1904 St. Louis Games and gold in the 100-meter dash in the 1906 interim Olympics at Athens. Hahn tied the world record of 9.8 in the 100-yard dash (1901) and set a world record of 21.8 seconds in the… …
Clement Clarke Moore - Moore, Clement Clarke, 1779-1863 Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863) was a long-time summer resident of Newport who wrote America's best known poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Moore was born in New York City, the son of Benjamin Moore, a clergyman. Although Clement prepared to follow in his father's footsteps, he was never ordained, preferring instead… …
Congressman Thomas Allen Jenckes - Jenckes, Thomas A. (Thomas Allen), 1818-1875 Congressman Thomas Allen Jenckes (1818-1875) is regarded nationally as "the father of civil service reform." He was born in Cumberland, was educated in the public schools of that town, and graduated from Brown University in 1838 where he distinguished himself in mathematics and the physical sciences. Jenckes studied law… …
Dr. David Connolly Hall - Dr. David Connolly Hall was the bronze medalist in the 800-meter run at the 1900 Paris Olympics. Dr. Hall, a native of Quebec and a student at Brown University (Class of 1901), became Rhode Island's first Olympic medalist. In a trail heat at Paris, he established the long-time Olympic record in the 800-meters of 1:56.2… …
Dr. Edwin M. Snow - Dr. Edwin M. Snow (1820-1888) was Providence's first superintendent of health and chief statistician from 1856 to 1884. Dr. Snow was born in Pomfret, Vermont where he received his early education. He came to Rhode Island to study at Brown University and remained here after his graduation in 1845, except for his medical studies in… …
Frances Harriet (Whipple) Green McDougall - “A Rhode Island Original” is a description used by Sarah O’Dowd to title her biography of Frances Whipple. It aptly describes one of Rhode Island’s most significant mid-nineteenth-century writers and reformers. Frances was born in Smithfield in September 1805, but the exact date is unknown. She was the eldest of the four children of George… …
Frank J. Williams - Frank J. Williams is a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, a notable Abraham Lincoln scholar and author, and a Justice on the Military Commission Review Panel. He has written and edited fourteen books; contributed chapters to several others; and lectured on Abraham Lincoln throughout the country. He has amassed an… …
Frederick D. “Fritz” Pollard Jr. - Frederick D. "Fritz" Pollard Jr. won a bronze medal in the 110-meter high hurdles in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Pollard equaled the world record for the 45-yard high hurdles while running for Brown University in the spring of 1934. At Senn High School in Springfield, Massachusetts he had been national interscholastic champion in both the… …
Geffrey T. Mason - Geoffrey T. Mason, 1902-1987, earned gold as a member of the five-man bobsled team at the 1928 St. Moritz Winter Games the first year the five-man bobsled (the skeleton sled) was allowed. Born in Philadelphia and a graduate of Bowdoin Collge (class of 1923), Mason lived in Rhode Island for most of his life and… …
George Washington Greene - Greene, George Washington, 1811-1883 George Washington Greene, prominent educator and author, was born in East Greenwich and was the grandson of Nathanael Greene, the great Revolutionary War general. As a young man, Greene traveled extensively in Europe gaining proficiency in the Italian and French languages. His first wife was Italian and he served as U.S.… …
Harriet “Holly” Metcalf - Harriet M. "Holly" Metcalf won a gold medal in rowing in the eight-oars with coxswain at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. Holly, a Rhode Island native, attended Mt. Holyoke College and holds an advanced degree from Harvard University. She has been involved with rowing for three decades. Holly was a six-time national Olympic team… …
Helen Johns (Carroll) - Helen Johns (Carroll) was a gold medalist in the women's 400-meter freestyle swim relay in 1932 at the Los Angeles Games in a world record time of 4:38. Helen is shown here (at left) with Albina Osipowich, who became a member of the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame at its 1968 Olympic induction for… …
James F. Quinn - During the 2000 Summer Games, James F. Quinn, then ninety-four and living in Cranston, Rhode Island, was listed by the U.S. Olympic Committee as the nation's oldest gold medal recipient. His neighbors were amazed, not knowing this quiet, unassuming man had once won Olympic gold. When the story broke, Quinn told Providence Journal editor Bill… …
James Pedro - James Pedro is a former collegiate wrestler and retired world champion and Olympic medalist in the sport of judo. He continues his involvement in the sport as a noted coach. Pedro was born on October 30, 1970 in Danvers, Massachusetts where he attended St. John’s Preparatory High School prior to enrolling at Brown University. At… …
James Sullivan Lincoln - Lincoln, James Sullivan, 1811-1888 James Sullivan Lincoln was Rhode Island's premier artist of the mid-nineteenth century and has been acclaimed by his peers as "Father of Rhode Island Art." The Massachusetts-born Lincoln was orphaned in his teens and left his Bay State farm to become an apprentice to a firm of Providence engravers and then… …
Jeffery Osborne - Jeffrey Osborne is a well-known funk R&B musician, singer-songwriter, lyricist and lead singer of the band, L.T.D.. Born in Providence to a musical family, (father Clarence "Legs" Osborne, was a popular trumpeter who played with Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington), he began his professional career in 1970 with a band called Love Men… …
John Russell Bartlett - The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame has developed a tradition of listing its inductees by the title of their highest public office or by the title "Dr." if they have earned that distinction in their chosen field of endeavor. John Russell Bartlett's title, though prestigious, only begins to embrace his many notable achievements. Clearly,… …
John Treacy - John Treacy: silver medal in the marathon in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. A native of Ireland, Treacy came to Providence College as one of the first of a long line of Irish distance runners enticed to PC by track coach Bob Amato and soccer coach Bill Doyle, who was himself Irish born. Treacy… …
Kathryn “Katie” King - Katie King-Crowley was a member of the gold medal winning women's ice hockey team at the 1998 Nagano, Japan Games, and silver medalist as a member of the United States women's hockey team in 2002 at Salt Lake City. Although a New Hampshire resident, Katie competed for Brown University (Class of 1997) and is the… …
Lila M. Sapinsley - Lila Sapinsley, a trailblazer for women in Rhode Island politics and beloved wife of John Sapinsley. She was a state Senator for Rhode Island and rose to Senate minority leader. In 1972, Lila Sapinsley was elected to the state Senate and became Senate Majority Leader, the first woman to hold a leadership post in the… …
Louis “Lou” Lamoriello - Louis A. Lamoriello is the president and general manager of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). After attending LaSalle Academy, Lamoriello graduated from Providence College in 1963. He earned varsity letters in baseball and hockey and served each team as captain during his senior year. Following graduation, he taught math at… …
Lynne Jewell (Shore) - Lynne Jewell (Shore) won a gold medal in yachting at the Seoul Games in the 470 class. Lynne's yachting career spans two coasts. She grew up in California, summered with her grandparents in Plymouth, Massachusetts, starred in sailing as a student at Boston University (Class of 1981), and came to live in Rhode Island in… …
Mayor Thomas A. Doyle - Doyle, Thomas Arthur, 1827-1886 Mayor Thomas A. Doyle, an independent-minded Republican of Irish Protestant stock, is regarded by historians as Providence's greatest mayor. He was born in Providence as one of seven children, including a sister, Sarah, who became a noted educator and advocate for women's rights. After attending public school, Doyle gained employment as… …
Michael “Mike” Barrowman - Michael Barrowman: gold medalist in the 200-meter breaststroke in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games avenging a fourth-place finish in that event as the favorite in the Seoul Olympics of 1988. Mike held the world record in that breastroke event and was named American and World Swimmer of the Year in 1989 and 1990 by Swimming… …
Norman Stephen Taber - Norman Stephen Taber, 1891-1952, a native of Providence and a student at Brown, won a gold medal in the now discontinued 3,000 meter team relay race in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. He was also the bronze medalist in the 1,500-meter run (the metric mile). Taber's time of 3:56:9 was only one-tenth of a second behind… …
R. Scott Steele - R. Scott Steele: silver medal in yachting--board sailing--in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Scott was born in Newport in 1958 to a Navy family and now resides in Maryland. Steele, who left Rhode Island at the age of three, began his sailboarding career at St. Mary's College in Maryland and made the All-American Sailing… …
Reverend Cornelius Philip Forster O.P. - Reverend Cornelius P. Forster was born October 27, 1919 in New York City, the third of four children of Cornelius A. Forster, Sr., a New York fireman, and Mary Catherine Collins, an accomplished singer and pianist. Father Forster was educated at Cathedral Boy’s High School where he won numerous academic awards and city-wide recognition in… …
Robert B. Lynch - Bob "Chief" Lynch was known for his volunteer contributions to the preservation and promotion of Rhode Island's heritage over the last four decades. Lynch graduated from Cranston High School and Brown University (Class of 1944). He was a Navy veteran of World War II. He served on the Harry F. Bauer in the Pacific, and… …
