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In the 20th century, South Providence produced two governors and a chief justice, but the most constitutionally powerful position in state government eluded it until 1980 when Matt Smith became Speaker of the House of Representatives. Raised by Irish immigrant parents on the second floor of a modest home at the corner of Potters Avenue
Lincoln C. (“Linc”) was elected governor of the State of Rhode Island in 1994, making him the first Rhode Island governor to serve a four-year term. As a former U.S. Attorney, he was elected based on his pledge to govern with honesty and integrity, to restore Rhode Islanders’ faith in their elected leaders, and to
The Rhode Island Law Enforcement community lost a true champion, when North Kingstown’s John J. “Jack” Leyden passed away on March 3, 2021, at the age of 89. Born in the Smith Hill section of Providence on July 3, 1931, Jack was the son of Thomas and Katherine (McGovern) Leyden, along with brothers Thomas and
James E. Dooley was a leading sports figure in Rhode Island. He became part owner of the Providence Steam Roller of the National Football League from 1916 until 1933, when the team folded. The 1928 team won the NFL Championship with an 8-1-2 record. Dooley was one of the founders of the Canadian-American (Can-Am) Hockey League in 1926, as well as the founder
Ojetta R. Thompson was born in Anderson, South Carolina on August 8, 1951. Her mother was a teacher, and her father was a school principal. Her hometown was Greenville, a municipality named for Rhode Island Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene who is regarded as a liberator of the South from British rule. From kindergarten through
Benjamin Bourne (1755- 1808), a leading advocate of Rhode Island’s ratification of the federal Constitution, was born in Bristol, the son of Shearjashub and Ruth (Bosworth) Church Bourne, the product of two old-line Bristol families. His father served as chief justice of Rhode Island’s highest court from 1778 to 1781. Bourne received a bachelor’s degree
The Reverend John Callender (1706-1748) became the first historian of Rhode Island in 1738 when he wrote a work to commemorate the colony’s centennial. Not surprisingly, he viewed his topic through a religious prism; surprisingly, he thought the arrival of William Coddington, Anne Hutchinson, Dr. John Clarke, and other Aquidneck settlers in 1638 truly launched
Austin T. Levy was born in New York City on December 16, 1880. His father died when he was four, and his mother died when he was eleven. He then lived with his aunt and sister. He attended City College of New York for one year. At age 16, his first job was as an
John Harwood is a man of great ability and versatility He has generated impressive careers in sports, politics, law, and humanitarian service. In every endeavor he has assumed the mantel of leadership. John was born in Providence on January 14, 1952, the son of Pawtucket residents Bernard and Helen Harwood. Harwood’s career in sports came
Sara M. Algeo was President of the Rhode Island College Equal Suffrage League; Founder and Chair of the Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Party; Member of Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association; Rhode Island Vice President and Member of the Executive Committee of the New England Woman Suffrage Association; Chair of the Rhode Island Woman’s Americanization Committee;
Milton Stanzler founded the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union and served as its first president in 1959. He built the organization into a formidable operation that supported the separation of church and state and freedom of speech locally. The United States Supreme Court decided several of his cases. Milton often took
Judge Arthur Votolato was appointed U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Rhode Island in 1968. His exceptional work on that tribunal led to his appointment as Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the First Circuit at its inception in June 1996. He served as its chief until April 2003. The
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
Henry Marchant (1741-1796), of Newport and South Kingstown, was a well-educated intellectual and a protégé of Ezra Stiles. Marchant was born on Martha’s Vineyard, the son of Hexford Marchant, a sea captain. His mother, whose maiden name was Butler, died when he was four, shortly after the family moved to Newport. His father’s second bride
Warwick-born and raised, Martha McSally is truly a renaissance woman. She is an Air Force Academy graduate who was the first American woman to fly in combat and was also the first woman to command a USAF fighter squadron. No slouch at school, Martha was a Rhodes Scholarship regional finalist and a White House Fellowship
Thomas G. Corcoran was an advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s brain trust during the New Deal and, later, a close friend and advisor to President Lyndon B. Johnson. Corcoran was widely recognized as a critical member of Roosevelt’s “brain trust” who had the savvy, influence, and toughness to get New Deal legislation written and
William Ellery (1727-1820), merchant, congressman, chief justice, and signer of the Declaration of Independence, was the son of prominent Newport merchant William Ellery and Elizabeth Almy. His well-to-do father sent him to Harvard, from which young William graduated in 1747. He then embarked upon a mercantile career, but when his father’s death in 1764 left
“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
Arthur A. Coia was born on March 21,1943 in the Italian section of Charles Street, Providence, Rhode Island graduating from LaSalle Academy, Providence College, and Boston University Law School. He is a founding partner with over 40 years of experience in the New England-based law firm of Coia and Lepore, LTD. specializing in labor law,
Patrick Henry Quinn was born on December 16, 1869, in the Warwick mill village of Phenix, son of Peter and Margaret (Callahan) Quinn. His parents displayed their patriotism for America and its traditions by naming their son after the fiery Virginia Revolutionary War patriot famous for his defiant statement, “Give me liberty or give me
Mr. Licht, formerly of Providence, was Governor of the State of Rhode Island from 1969 to 1973, and served as an Associate Justice of the Superior Court from 1956 to 1968. He was also a member of the State Senate for seven years, and was the only Rhode Island Governor to serve in all three
Jonathan Hazard (1744-1825) was born to a Newport Quaker family in 1744. As a young man, he moved to rural Charlestown, became a small farmer, and worked as an itinerant tailor. He was passionately involved in the independence movement. During the Revolution, he served for a time as the paymaster of the Rhode Island regiment
Angell, Joseph K. (Joseph Kinnicut), 1794-1857 Joseph K. Angell (1794-1857) of Providence was one of America’s foremost legal scholars of his era. Most of his many legal treatises dealt with changes in the law occasioned by the transformation of the American economy from a commercial to an industrial base, and he was the nation’s leading
Carroll, Charles, 1876-1936 Dr. Charles Carroll, Rhode Island’s foremost historian of his era, was born in Providence to newspaper printer William Carroll and Mary (Sheehan) Carroll. He was educated in the Providence public schools and at Brown University where he excelled in mathematics, edited the Brown Daily Herald, captained the debate team, and served as
Providence Police Department Major Thomas A. Verdi has achieved a level of performance in the field of law enforcement comparable to other notable Hall of Fame members such as Colonel Walter Stone, Major Lionel Benjamin, and Chief John Partington, founder of the federal Witness Protection Program–but Tom did it, in part, as an undercover cop
Edward Peter Gallogly enjoyed a career that saw him occupy many seats onthe public stage. He is one of the few Rhode Island citizens who served inall three branches of state government as well as an arm of the Federalgovernment. Gallogly was born in Providence on August 28, 1919 one of nine children ofLawrence and
James Mitchell Varnum (1748-1789), lawyer, Revolutionary War general, and judge, was born in Dracut, Massachusetts, the eldest son of affluent farmer Major Samuel Varnum and his second wife, Hannah Mitchell. He attended Harvard for a year, but his involvement in a student protest prompted him to enroll at Rhode Island College (Brown), where he earned
Henry Barnard was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on January 24, 1811, the son of Betsy Andrews and Chauncey Barnard, a sea captain and farmer. He graduated from Yale in 1830, taught school for a year in Pennsylvania and then returned to Connecticut to study law. Although he gained admission to the bar in 1834, he
Durfee, Thomas, 1826-1901 Thomas Durfee was the eldest son of Job Durfee, who was chief justice of Rhode Island from 1828 to 1849, was marked from the outset for a career in law. His mother was Judith Borden, member of a prominent Fall River Family. Thomas completed his preparatory education at the East Greenwich Academy
Justice Antonio Capotosto, 1879-1962, Harvard-educated lawyer and first Italian-American member of the Rhode Island Bar Association, assistant attorney general, Superior and Supreme Court justice, founder and first president of the Aurora Club.
Judge Frank Darigan was born on September 21, 1942 to a South Providence Irish-Catholic family. He never severed his roots. Of the many Hall of Fame inductees from Providence’s South Side, Frank’s nearly six decades of volunteer social service to his neighborhood is unmatched by any of these honorees. Darigan served as a judge of
Tristam Burges, 1770-1853, was chief justice, leading member of the bar, U.S. Congressman (1825-1835), leader of the Whig Party and professor of oratory at Brown University. After a distinguished career in law, politics, and education, Burges retired to his estate “Watchemoket Farm,” then in Seekonk, Massachusetts, but since 1862 within the bounds of East Providence.
Prudence Crandall, educator, emancipator, and human rights advocate, established a school in 1833 that became the first Black female academy in New England at Canterbury, Connecticut. This later action resulted in her arrest and imprisonment for violating the “Black Law.” She was born on September 3, 1803, to Pardon and Esther Carpenter Crandall, a Quaker
Eaton, Amasa M. (Amasa Mason), 1841-1914 Amasa Eaton was a prominent Providence attorney who might be described as the quintessential Progressive reformer. His distinguished lineage included Providence’s Brown family and the Herreshoffs of Bristol. He was an outspoken advocate of home rule for Providence and a member of the Metropolitan Park Commission, the Blackstone Neighborhood
Everitte St. John Chaffee is credited with developing standards of excellence for the Rhode Island State Police when he was appointed as its founding Superintendent on April 2, 1925. The appointment of Colonel Chafee as first Superintendent was not popular, but Gov. Aram J. Pothier, who selected Chaffee, and the General Assembly resisted any efforts
Jeremiah O’Connell was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts on July 8, 1883 to Irish immigrant parents and financed his own education at Boston University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1906, a law degree cum laude in 1908, and an LL.M in 1908. Thereafter he moved to Providence where he served on the common council from 1913
Without hyperbole, John Howland can well be called “the father of free public education in Rhode Island.” He was born in Newport on October 31, 1757, the fourth of eight children in the family of Joseph and Sarah (Barber) Howland. He was the namesake and fifth-generation descendant of a Mayflower passenger who had come to
Of all the Rhode Island leaders profiled herein, no person’s personal life was more erratic, peripatetic or tragic than that of Seth Luther. No one traveled through America as extensively or delivered more public addresses. No one lived in a more impoverished condition or fought as hard for the working class. Luther was born in
Joseph R. Rodgers, Jr., presiding Justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court since 1991, is the youngest judge in modern Rhode Island history to be appointed to both the District and Superior courts. In 1974, at age 33, he became associate justice of the District Court and was elevated to the Superior Court in 1976.
Edmund W. Flynn was the chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court from January 1, 1935, to April 28, 1957. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, on February 22, 1890, he was the son of a police officer. His two older brothers were John Flynn, the legendary coach of the Providence College baseball team, and
Dr. Patricia Recupero, a resident of Providence, has dedicated her life advocating for the mentally ill. Following her graduation from the State University of New York with a degree in mathematics, she attended Boston College Law School, receiving her degree in 1973. After a few years practicing law and driven by her desire to help
Henry Wheaton, 1785-1848 , persevered, despite Rhode Island’s disapproval of the War of 1812, to be one of Rhode Island’s most persuasive legal defenders during that time. He stands alongside the foremost naval hero of the War of 1812, Oliver Hazard Perry, and Rhode Island’s most successful privateer, James D’Wolf. This jurist, diplomat, and expounder
John Whipple (1784-1866) of Providence was a leader of the early 19th century Rhode Island Bar, the state’s foremost trial attorney, and Rhode Island’s most prominent constitutional lawyer. Daniel Webster,Whipple’s co-counsel in the landmark Rhode Island case of Luther v. Borden (1849) regarded Whipple and Jeremiah Mason of New Hampshire as the two most formidable
LeBaron Bradford Colt was born in Dedham, Massachusetts to Christopher and Theodora (DeWolf) Colt. He and his equally famous brother, Samuel, had very influential forebears. On their maternal side, they were the grandsons of General George DeWolf of Bristol and the grandnephews of U.S. Senator James DeWolf, a wealthy merchant and notorious slave trader. Other
Joseph H. Gainer was born in Providence on January 18, 1878, the son of John and Margaret (Keogh) Gainer. His parents, Irish immigrants, settled in the city’s North End and operated a grocery store on the corner of Branch and Charles Streets. Personal tragedy dogged the family in the early years. Gainer lost his father
Florence Kerins Murray, 1916-2004,was a high-ranking officer in the Women’s Army Corps, Rhode Island’s first female state senator (and was reelected four times), female judge and member of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
Samuel Ames of Providence served in many public capacities, including state legislator, Speaker of the House, and quartermaster general of the state militia. However, his most memorable service was as the Rhode Island Supreme Court chief justice from 1856 to 1865. Ames studied at Phillips-Andover Academy and graduated from Brown University in 1823. He read
Gorman, Charles Edmund, 1844-1917 Charles E. Gorman was Rhode Island’s foremost constitutional reformer of the late 19th century. He was born in Boston in 1844 to an Irish immigrant father for whom he was named and a Yankee mother, Sarah Woodbury, who traced her Massachusetts ancestry to the Cape Ann colony of the early 1620s.
Samuel Pomeroy Colt, a brother of U.S. Senator LeBaron Colt, shared his sibling’s impressive lineage. Born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1852 as the youngest of six children, he received his early education in Hartford, graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1873, and from Columbia Law School in 1876. Samuel (or “Pom” as
Isabelle A. O’Neill was a stage and screen actor of the silent film era, a suffragist, and the first woman elected to the Rhode Island Legislature. She also served in the state Senate and, under President Franklin Roosevelt, in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. She was born on June 8, 1880, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island,
Chief Justice Joseph Weisberger, 1920-2012, spent 56 years in the Rhode Island Judiciary and at the time of his retirement, was Supreme Court Justice of Rhode Island. He previously served the state as a Presiding Justice of the Superior Court and as a Senator and Minority Leader. Chief Justice Weisberger was instrumental in establishing am
Thomas Robinson Hazard was a South Kingstown manufacturer, agriculturalist, author and social reformer who embodied the egalitarian spirit of the pre–Civil War age of reform. Affectionately called “Shepherd Tom” because of his prize sheep herd, Hazard, born on January 3, 1797, was a seventh-generation descendant of Thomas Hazard, the progenitor of the famous Hazard clan
The story of Rhode Island’s own Bruce Selya is the story of success itself. The son of Herman and Betty Selya, Bruce was born in Providence on May 27, 1934. He distinguished himself as a star student at Classical High School (magna cum laude, 1951) and at Harvard College (magna cum laude, 1955). After graduating
Maud Howe Elliott was an American writer, artist, political activist, patron of the arts, and philanthropist. She and her sister, Laura E. Richards, shared a Pulitzer Prize for the biography of their mother, The Life of Julia Ward Howe. Other prominent works by Maud Howe Elliott included A Newport Aquarelle (1882); Phillida (1891); Mammon (1893);
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Phil West graduated from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York in 1963 as an honors major in English Literature. He entered the prestigious Union Theological Seminary from which he received a masters of divinity degree in 1967 with a year of research at Cambridge University in England, the alma
William H. Edwards, 1898-1976, was head of Edwards and Angell, the prestigious Providence law firm. He was active in numerous civic groups, and focused his energy especially on the needs of minority groups and the elderly.
Congressman Elisha Reynolds Potter, Jr. (1811-1882) of South Kingstown was the son and namesake of a U.S. congressman, Elisha Reynolds Potter, Sr. (1764-1835) and Mary (Mawney) Potter. The remarkably varied career of this Harvard graduate included such occupations and positions as attorney, historian, adjutant general, state legislator, congressman, state commissioner of public schools (succeeding Henry
Bradley, C. S. (Charles Smith), 1819-1888 Charles Smith Bradley (1819-1888), was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He graduated first in his class at Brown University in 1838, then obtained a master’s degree from Brown and, eventually, a law degree from Harvard. He commenced the practice of law in Providence in 1841 and became known as an
Early in 1922, Rep. Lucius Garvin took the floor in the Rhode Island Senate to move for action on a bill to reduce the work week for children under sixteen from fifty-four to forty-four hours a week. His motion was defeated by a vote of four ayes to thirty nays. As had been the case
Alva V. Belmont was an American multi-millionaire socialite and women’s suffrage activist. She was noted for her energy, intelligence, strong opinions, and willingness to challenge convention. She was born on January 17, 1853, at 201 Government Street in Mobile, Alabama to Murray Forbes Smith, a merchant, and Phoebe Smith. Her father was the son of
“My parents taught me the importance of being honest and fair in all my dealings, to look for the good in people, to try to ignore their shortcomings, and to be kind to everyone.” Spencer Viner took this advice to heart and hopefully imparted these maxims to his two daughters, Tonja and Lindsey. With his
Chief Justice William Read Staples of Providence was a prominent lawyer, jurist, and civil servant. With the possible exception of Samuel Greene Arnold, who eulogized him, Staples was also the premier Rhode Island historian of the nineteenth century. In the 1820s, Staples became a leader of the Rhode Island bar and then a prosecutor for
Burges, Walter S. (Walter Snow), 1808-1892 Justice Walter Snow Burges (1808-1892) was a native of Rochester, Massachusetts. His uncle, Congressman Tristam Burges, a former chief justice, oriented Walter toward Rhode Island and Brown University, where Tristam was a professor of oratory. Walter Burges graduated from Brown with honors in 1831, and then taught school for
John H. Stiness was born in Providence, Rhode Island on August 8, 1840, the son of Philip Bessom Stiness and Mary (Marsh) Stiness. He was descended from English ancestors who came to this country and settled in Marblehead, Massachusetts during the Revolutionary War. His father was one of the founders of the New England Screw
Judge Luigi DePasquale 1892-1958, exemplifies the rapid political, social, and economic rise of Rhode Island’s first generation Italian-Americans. Born on December 13, 1892 in Providence to Italian immigrant parents, Antonio and Maria (Vitale) DePasquale, Luigi was raised in Milford, Massachusetts, where his father became an undertaker. He graduated from Boston University Law School in 1913
William E. Powers was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island on December 18, 1907. He attended St. Patrick Parochial School, Perkins Institute for the Blind, and Boston University Law School. His blindness, the result of an accident at his home in 1927, did not deter him from active service to his state as Cumberland probate judge,
Wilkins Updike, a member of the noted Updike family of North Kingstown, was the youngest of eleven children of Lodowick and Abigail Updike, and he was the father of twelve. He was born on January 8, 1784, to a paternal line originating in Prussia and including Richard Smith, the first white settler in the Narragansett
William Bradford (1729-1808), born in Plympton, Massachusetts, was the great-great-grandson and namesake of the famous governor of the Plymouth Colony. Bradford studied medicine in Hingham, Massachusetts, and then opened a practice in Warren a few years after that town’s transfer from Massachusetts to Rhode Island in 1747. In 1751, he married Mary LeBaron, the daughter
Christopher Del Sesto was a loyal and dedicated public servant throughout his adult life. Born in Providence on March 10, 1907 to Eraclio and Rosa (Geremia) Del Sesto, he graduated with honors from Providence’s Commercial High School and with cum laude honors from both Boston University and Georgetown University Law School. For many years he
Ambrose Kennedy was a rarity in early twentieth century Rhode Island politics—a devout Irish Catholic Republican politician of high standing. Kennedy was not only a five-term Republican congressman, but he was also a lawyer, an educator, an accomplished orator, speaker of the Rhode Island House, and a biographer. He became one of the most prominent
Thomas Wilson Dorr was born in Providence on November 5, 1805, the eldest of the seven children of Sullivan Dorr, a wealthy merchant and business leader, and Lydia Allen, a prominent socialite and sister of noted inventor Zachariah Allen and governor and U.S. senator Philip Allen. Dorr, studious and dutiful as a youth, graduated with
In early nineteenth-century Rhode Island, a woman’s role was sharply circumscribed by tradition. A woman—even one of high social station—was thought of mainly as a wife and a mother. Those who ventured beyond the home (religious nuns excepted) might find work from the 1830s onward as a teacher in a primary school, as a school
Lester F. Ward was a botanist, paleontologist, sociologist, and legendary Brown University professor who promoted the introduction of sociology courses into American higher education. He had such a powerful intellect and such wide-ranging knowledge that some contemporaries referred to him as “the American Aristotle.” Ward emphasized universal and comprehensive public schooling to provide the public
There is some irony in the character creation of the quintessential cowboy hero in the fictional literature of the American West. The John Wayne image of the strong, silent, chivalrous Western hero was created by a Harvard graduate who once wrote operas and poetry. Novelist, playwright, screenwriter, composer, and poet Owen Wister was born in
Frank Caprio was a lawyer, politician, judge, and philanthropist born in Providence, Rhode Island, on Nov. 24, 1936. He served as chief judge of the municipal court of Providence, Rhode Island, and chairman of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education. His judicial work was televised on the program Caught in Providence and
Louis Pieri was an astute, daring, and successful businessman who, with energy, ambition, and hard work, achieved financial and sports eminence. One of the best-known sports promoters of the twentieth century, Pieri was the owner of the Rhode Island Auditorium, the Providence Reds hockey team, and part-owner of the Boston Celtics basketball team. During his
The work of Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis as a women’s rights advocate, social reformer, educator, and author extended over forty years from the late 1830s to her death in 1876. She was born in Bloomfield, New York, on August 7, 1813, the daughter of Captain Ebenezer Kellogg and Polly Saxon. After the death of both
Mary Emma Woolley, noted educator, women’s suffrage supporter, college president, feminist, and peace activist, was the first graduate of the Women’s College at Brown University (later called Pembroke) in 1894. E. Benjamin Andrews, innovative president of Brown University, had persuaded Woolley to become the first woman student at Brown. She earned her degree under the
David Howell had a distinguished legal and academic career that extended from the Confederation era through the Early National period. He was born in Morristown, New Jersey, on January 1, 1747, the son of Aaron and Sarah Howell. He received his early education at Hopewell Academy in Hopewell, New Jersey, a Baptist school established by
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
Austin T. Levy was born in New York City on December 16, 1880. His father died when he was four, and his mother died when he was eleven. He then lived with his aunt and sister. He attended City College of New York for one year. At age 16, his first job was as an
Thomas Davis was born in Dublin, Ireland, on December 18, 1806. He attended private schools in Ireland and migrated to America in 1817, settling in Providence. Becoming a pioneer in Rhode Island’s jewelry industry, he amassed sufficient wealth to enable him to finance a variety of political, civic, and reform endeavors. Little is known about
Cities and states do not progress and prosper randomly. To thrive, they need leaders whose creative vision is matched by the drive, energy, and diplomatic skills that can draw together diverse people and disparate factions into a common – and ultimately successful – undertaking. Such a leader is Joseph R. DiStefano. Born in Providence on
Joe Walsh is a leader, a public servant, and a humanitarian with a thoughtful manner and a big heart. His passion for people, desire to serve his community, and popularity in his days in government led The Providence Sunday Journal Magazine to ask: “Doesn’t Anyone Out There Hate this Man”? (Sept. 9, 1979). The newspaper
Judge Raymond J. Pettine (1912-2003) is remembered as one of Rhode Island’s most distinguished jurists, especially revered for his commitment to freedom of expression and equal treatment for all, including even those who are despised by the majority. Judge Pettine was appointed to the United States District Court by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966
Robert E. Quinn was born on April. 2, 1894, in Phoenix, Rhode Island, son of Charles Quinn and Mary Ann (McCabe) Quinn. Named for the noble Irish patriot, Robert Quinn led the political transformation of Rhode Island from Republican to Democratic during the turbulent 1920s and 1930s. As a young boy, Quinn went to St.
In Rhode Island, slavery was placed on the road to extinction on March 1, 1784, when the General Assembly passed a gradual manumission act making any Black born to a slave mother after that date free. Those who were slaves at that time had to be manumitted by their masters. Five such slaves were listed
Partington, John, 1929-2006 John Partington was born in the Valley Falls section of Cumberland, the son of the late Williard F. And Mary C. (Hogan) Partington, and he remained a lifelong Cumberland resident. From 1955 to 1967 John served as a police officer in his native town. Later, he would become its chief of police
Jim Healey was a two-sport all-state athlete in high school and the sparkplug of a South Providence sandlot baseball team that won five age-graded championships from 1953 to 1957. He was a member of the IBAA baseball team and the 1957 state CYO champion St. Michael’s team, both of which were captained by Patrick T.