Tag: Literature / Writers / Newspapers

Mary Francis “Fanny” Purdy Palmer

Fanny was an author, poet, and social activist. She was born in New York City on July 11, 1839 to Henry and Mary (Sharp) Purdy. Following the death of her father when she was only seven, she grew up in upstate New York. She attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Buffalo and graduated

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Sevellon Brown

Sevellon Brown was born in Washington, D.C. on November 23, 1886, and worked as a reporter for the Washington bureau of the United Press, the New York Star, and the New York Herald during the heyday of newspaper reporting. His newspaper career was interrupted, however, with America’s entry into the First World War in April

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John Carter Minkins

He was the first African American editor of a white newspaper. He was a renowned speaker and defender of human rights, attacking segregation and discrimination. John Carter Minkins came into this life on January 29, 1869 in Norfolk, Virginia. His mother died very young and he never met his white father. Raised by his grandmother, John was educated

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S. J. Perelman

S. J. Perelman, 1904-1979, was born in Brooklyn, NY, but moved to Smith Hill in Providence at an early age. Perelman attended Classical High School and matriculated at Brown University, but did not graduate. However, he did receive an honorary Doctorate in 1965 from this “Institution on the Hill.” Perelman wrote several screen stories for

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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

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Ambassador J. William Middendorf II

John William Middendorf II of Little Compton was born in Baltimore, Maryland on September 22, 1924. He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1945 with a bachelor’s degree in naval science after having served in World War II as an engineering officer and navigator aboard LCS 53. He then earned an A.B.

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Colonel Gonzalo Edward “Ned” Buxton Jr.

Gonzalo Edward “Ned” Buxton Jr. (1880-1949) was born in Kansas City, Mo., to Dr. G. Edward and Sarah A. Harrington Buxton. When he was a teenager, his family moved back to their Rhode Island ancestral home. Showing early signs of leadership and intelligence, Ned graduated from Worcester’s Highland Military Academy in 1898 as class valedictorian.

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John C. Quinn

John Quinn, 1944-1990, former Providence Journal-Bulletin editor, became Vice President for Supervision of News for the Gannett chain of fifty-three dailies in sixteen states and Guam. He was also past president of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association.

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David L. Angell

David L. Angell was best known for producing Emmy Award winning shows Cheers," "Wings" and "Frasier."Born on April 10, 1946 in Providence, David Angell was the youngest of three children of Mae Cooney Angell and Henry Angell.  David attended Providence College, where he studied English literature. Following his graduation from PC, David enlisted in the U.S.

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Catherine R. (Arnold) Williams

Catharine Read (Arnold) Williams (1790-1872) of Providence was one of Rhode Island’s major literary figures of the nineteenth century. She was the daughter of Alfred Arnold, a sea captain, and Amey Read. Her mother died when Catherine was a child, so the oft-absent father entrusted her education and upbringing to two of her aunts. Catharine

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Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis

Davis, Paulina W. (Paulina Wright), 1813-1876 Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis was born in Bloomfield, New York on August 7, 1813, the daughter of Captain Ebenezer Kellogg and Polly Saxon. After the death of both parents, Paulina was raised by a strict orthodox Presbyterian aunt. After a brief immersion with religion, Paulina married Francis Wright, a

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George William Curtis

George W. Curtis, 1824-1892, was an essayist and lecturer who became editor of Harper’s magazine. A co-founder of the Republican Party, he led the movement for civic service reform.

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Dr. John J. McLaughlin

The marvelous story of Rhode Island’s own John Joseph McLaughlin leads one through more twists and turns than a Rocky Point roller coaster. Born on March 29, 1927 to Augustus and Eva (Turcotte) McLaughlin, he grew up in the neighborhoods of Edgewood and Mount Pleasant. His earliest run at greatness included stints as a pharmacy

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H. Philip West Jr.

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

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John R. Rathom

John R. Rathom, 1868-1923, was the energetic editor of the Providence Journal who served during World War I. He also served as Boy Scout Commissioner and was credited with giving scouting its’ biggest boost during its’ formative stages. Rathom Lodge at Yawgoog Scout Reservation was named for him in 1929.

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Lucian Sharpe

Lucien Sharpe, 1830-1899 was a business leader who was co-founder of Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Company. Cited for his efforts in seeking improved working conditions, he served as President of the Providence Journal Company for 13 years.

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John C. Fredriksen

John Fredriksen of Smithfield was born in 1953 at the Quonset Naval Air Station where his parents were stationed as members of the U.S. Navy.  The military life was a path John wanted to follow, but a lifelong battle with asthma prevented such a career. John dropped out of high school but earned a GED

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Chon Day

Chauncey Addison Day, better known as Chon Day lived in Westerly and became a nationally known cartoonist who created Brother Sebastian. He was voted “Best Magazine Cartoonist of the Year” on three occasions by the National Cartoonist Society.

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Frances H. Whipple Green McDougall

Frances Whipple Green McDougall (1805-1878)was one of Rhode Island’s most significant mid-nineteenth century writers and reformers. She was born in Smithfield where she spent her childhood in modest circumstances despite her membership in two of Rhode Island’s pioneering families. Frances began her writing career by publishing her poems in local newspapers and by editing, in

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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

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Major General John J. Salesses

Major General Salesses, of Newport, was a retired U.S. Marine Corp Officer and accomplished Vice President for Academic Affairs at Rhode Island College. The first reservist to command a marine division, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Reserve Affairs, and later on the Secretary of Defense’s Reserve Forces Policy Board. He was a

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Donald H. Bousquet

Don Bousquet, who turned 67 this St. Patrick’s Day, was born in Pawtucket, but his parents moved the family to South County where they both worked at the University of Rhode Island. One of seven children, Don attended Chariho High School where he met his wife, Laura. He went on to the University of Rhode

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Irving R. Levine

Irving Levine, 1922-2009, became one of the country’s top newsmen in the radio and television fields. He gained fame as a reporter, photographer, and commentator while on overseas assignments and was best known as an NBC News correspondent. His career spanned nearly forty-five years. Born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on August 26,1922 to Ukrainian immigrants

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Sarah Helen Whitman

Sarah Helen Whitman, 1803-1878, was born Sarah Helen Power. Her father was a prosperous Providence merchant. As a child, Sarah lived with an aunt in Jamaica, Long Island while she attended a Quaker school there. On returning to Providence she was placed in a private school where she learned to read French, German, and Italian

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Dr. Milton W. Hamolsky

  Hamolsky, Milton W., 1921-2014 Dr. Hamolsky of Providence was the first full time Physician-In-Chief of Medicine at Rhode Island Hospital and a Professor of Medical Science at Brown University where he helped develop the Brown University Medical School. He was the first Chief Administrative Officer of the Board of Medical Licensure & Discipline for

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Frank B. Lanning

Frank Lanning was born in 1906 at Penns Grove, New Jersey but when his father took a job as a cartoonist with the Providence Journal the family moved to Rhode Island. During his family’s stay in Rhode Island, Frank attended Cranston High School and worked part-time at the Providence Journal – a harbinger of things

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Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe

Mark Antony Dewolfe Howe, 1864-1960, was born on August 23, 1864 into one of Bristol’s leading families. Mark was his father’s seventeenth of eighteen children by three wives. After his prolific father and namesake became Episcopal bishop of central Pennsylvania, Mark enrolled at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where his father was chairman of the

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Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe

Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe (1864-1960), a Bristolian and son of Bishop Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe, was a prolific author, poet and editor who won a Pulitzer Prize in biography. As a Boston resident, he became known as “the dean of Boston’s literary world.” He served as associate editor of the Youth’s Companion from 1888

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U.S. Rep. Ambrose Kennedy

U.S. Rep. Ambrose Kennedy, 1875-1967, Congressman 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, he was a lawyer, an educator, an accomplished orator, speaker of the Rhode Island House, and a biographer. Ambrose Kennedy, a

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Dr. Patrick T. Conley

Dr. Patrick Thomas “Pat” Conley of Bristol is universally considered as Rhode Island’s most prolific historian and leading disseminator of historical of knowledge concerning the state’s heritage., earning distinction through his pursuit of several different careers as an educator, author, attorney, civic leader, government official, and real estate developer as well as historian. He has

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John E. “Jack” Martin

The late John E. “Jack” Martin, formerly of Cranston, was a longtime schoolboy sports editor of the Journal-Bulletin. He was often referred to as “the father of Interscholastic Leagues in Rhode Island”, and is credited with the establishment of the Schoolboy Injury Fund and the Journal-Bulletin honor-roll for athletes. He served as Executive Secretary of

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Howard P. Lovecraft

The late Mr. Howard P. Lovecraft was a great writer of supernatural fiction and a serious disciple of Poe. A sincere artist, original thinker, and outstanding American writer, he was published throughout the world and translated into more than a dozen languages. A uniquely Rhode Island figure with some of his work set in Providence,

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Alfred Mason Williams

Alfred Mason Williams (1840-1896), was born in Taunton, Massachusetts in 1840 and entered Brown University in 1856. Trouble with eyesight made him drop out after a couple of semesters. His eyesight did not keep him from volunteering in the 4th Massachusetts Regiment. He sent Civil War reports to his hometown paper and to Horace Greeley’s

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Daniel E. Doyle

  Doyle, Daniel E., 1949- Daniel Doyle is a graduate of Bates College, where he was co-captain of the varsity basketball team, and of the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University. Dan holds two honorary doctoral degrees – one from Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts and the second from the University of

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Gladys Williams Brayton

The late Gladys Brayton was a direct descendant of Roger Williams and a lifelong resident of Rhode Island. She became one of the State’s most prominent historians, teachers, and authors. She was a former curator of Cranston Historical Society, and an honorary member of the Warwick Historical Society. She was also a member of the

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Charles Henry Dow

Charles H. Dow and Edward D. Jones, were reporters, one for the Providence Journal and one for the Providence Morning Star and Evening Press.  The names of these former Rhode Island journalists are now synonymous with money and finance. Charles Henry Dow (1851-1902) was born in Sterling, Connecticut on November 5, 1851 and began his

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Edward Davis Jones

Charles H. Dow and Edward D. Jones, were reporters, one for the Providence Journal and one for the Providence Morning Star and Evening Press. The names of these former Rhode Island journalists are now synonymous with money and finance.   Dow, Charles H. (Charles Henry), 1851-1902 Charles Henry Dow (1851-1902) was born in Sterling, Connecticut

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Edwin F. “Frosty” Drew

Frosty Drew attended Moses Brown School, and as a Brown University graduate, began his career as a writer. He soon became actively involved in major efforts to preserve and protect the natural environmental heritage of RI. He particularly worked to sustain Ninigret Park in Charlestown, where the Frosty Drew Nature Center is located, and was

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John J. Fawcett

John J. Fawcett of North Kingstown earned international acclaim during an outstanding thirty-seven year career with the Providence Journal Company. He was an accomplished sports and editorial cartoonist, and a champion for the rights of others. He gained four National Brotherhood Awards from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and his prolific works have

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Fred Friendly

Friend Friendly, 1915-1998, was a radio pioneer and executive, and a prime mover in the early development of Providence radio station WEAN. He became a professor of Journalism at Columbia University and broadcast advisor to the Ford Foundation. The broadcast newsroom at Columbia University’s School of Journalism is named for Friendly, as is a professorship

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David Patten

David Patten, 1888-1975, former managing-editor of The Providence Journal-Bulletin, was a Massachusetts native who spent school vacations and several winters at his grandfather’s 260-acre farm in Little Compton, Rhode Island. His career in Providence newspapers as a reporter and editor lasted 35 years. He entertained thousands with his stories of old-time Rhode Island, especially those

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George Champlin Mason Sr.

Mason, George C. (George Champlin), 1820-1894 George Champlin Mason, Sr. was a noted Newport architect, real estate developer, editor of the Newport Mercury, prolific historian of Newport, and a founder of the Newport Historical Society. Among his significant architectural designs are Chepstow, the 1860-61 Italianate villa just off Bellevue Avenue, Newpor; Eisenhower House, at 1

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Kenneth R Dooley

Kenneth R. Dooley was born in Providence in 1931. He graduated from LaSalle Academy and Providence College (Class of 1959). He spent a career in publishing and film production with the media giant Prentice Hall in New Jersey as an executive vice president of the Bureau of Business Practice (1960-1977). He oversaw 600 employees and

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James Newall Arnold

Arnold, James N. (James Newell), 1844-1927 James N. Arnold (1844-1927) whose contributions to the study of Rhode Island history are as fresh and useful today as they were when first transcribed, dealt in data  of family life: official town documents and records; newspaper accounts; birth, marriage, and death records in church archives; and history on

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Rev. Edward Everett Hale

  Hale, Edward Everett, 1822-1909 Rev. Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909), noted author, social and economic reformer, and Unitarian minister was born in Boston. His father was a nephew of Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale, and his maternal uncle and namesake Edward Everett was a noted orator, U.S. secretary of state, U. S. senator and congressman, governor

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Milton R. Halladay

Milton R. Halladay, 1874-1961, a native of Vermont, was a noted political cartoonist for the Providence Journal for nearly fifty years, and his cartoons were published in countless other newspapers and magazines. He has been called “one of the deans of American political cartooning”. His cartoon commemorating the death of Thomas A. Edison was a

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Rev. Anna Garlin Spencer

Anna Garlin Spencer (1851-1931) was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts but spent her formative years in Providence. Her embrace of progressive causes and her quest for social justice can be traced to her abolitionist mother and an aunt who worked with the homeless.   Anna began to write for the Providence Journal at age 19 and worked

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Eugene J. Buonaccorsi

Eugene Buonaccorsi was sports editor of the Providence Journal-Bulletin, spending forty-six years in sports journalism. He began his career as a Journal schoolboy reporter and copy editor, and was named assistant sports editor in 1946, after serving as a U.S. Army Airborne test glider Captain in WWII. He retired in 1984 after assembling one of

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John A. “Jack” White III

Jack White (1942-2005), a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter known for his investigative skills, began his long and distinguished career at the Newport Daily News in 1969. He then became a member of the Providence Journal’s reporting staff where he exposed President Nixon’s underpayment of income taxes. His articles prompted Nixon to utter his infamous line, “I

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U.S. Senator Jesse H. Metcalf

Jesse Metcalf and his wife Louisa Sharpe Metcalf were the dynamic duo of Rhode Island philanthropy in the early 20th century. Jesse was the son and namesake of the founder of Providence’s Wanskuck Mills, one of America’s largest woolen manufacturers, and his mother, Helen, a Hall of Fame inductee, co-founded the Rhode Island School of

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Louisa Sharpe Metcalf

Jesse Metcalf and his wife Louisa Sharpe Metcalf were the dynamic duo of Rhode Island philanthropy in the early 20th century. Jesse was the son and namesake of the founder of Providence’s Wanskuck Mills, one of America’s largest woolen manufacturers, and his mother, Helen, a Hall of Fame inductee, co-founded the Rhode Island School of

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Dr. John William Keefe

Dr. John William Keefe (1863-1935) was a surgeon of great skill and compassion who founded the John W. Keefe Surgery at 262 Blackstone Boulevard in Providence. Although a successful physician in both private practice and as a consulting surgeon at several hospitals, it was his dream to build and operate a small institution where the

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Gregory Dexter

Gregory Dexter, 1610-1700, was one of London’s finest printers who became the printer for Roger Williams. He served Rhode Island during several crises and was elected President of the colony. He established a lime quarry in Lincoln that is one of the oldest continuous businesses in America.

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Bishop William Stang

William Stang (1854-1907) was born in Langenbucken, Germany, studied for the Catholic priesthood at Louvain in Belgium, and was ordained in June 1878. Little else is known of his early life. Irish-born bishop Thomas F. Hendricken (whose surname indicates his German ancestor) sought a German-speaking priest for the small but growing German community in the

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Richard J. Reynolds

Richard J. Reynolds was, for thirty-two years, the schoolboy sports editor for the Providence Journal-Bulletin and one of Rhode Island’s greatest ambassadors of goodwill. He was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University, where he was a Wayland Scholar and later a sports information director. He was single-handedly responsible for the highly successful People-to-People

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John C.A. Watkins

John C.A. Watkins, 1912-2000, was Publisher and Chairman of the Board of the Providence Journal-Bulletin beginning in 1974. His journalistic career began in Dayton, Ohio, in 1934, and he came to these newspapers in 1945 as assistant to the publisher. Throughout his leadership and direction, Rhode island’s major news sources became considered among the finest

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William D. & Olive F. Wiley

Mr. William (b. 1898) & Mrs. Olive F. Wiley (b.1903) were husband and wife for more than sixty years, many of which were devoted to their fellow man. William edited R.I.’s first African-American newspaper, the Providence Chronicle, for twenty years, while working full-time for the U.S. Postal Service. He was a co-founder and President of

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Chief Justice Thomas Durfee

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

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Harry McKenna

Harry McKenna, 1916-1995, was News and Public Affairs Director of WEAN radio, and as “Dean” of R.I. news correspondents he had a distinguished thirty-nine year carer as a broadcast journalist. Over nearly four decades he became a news reporting legend in Rhode island, initiating the popular, award-winning, “Radio Press Conference,” which ran continuously for thirty-six

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Edwin G. O’Connor

The late Edwin G. O’Connor, a Providence native and former Woonsocket resident, was a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist whose works included The Last Hurrah, The Edge of Sadness, for which he received the Pulizer; and “All in the Family.” A multi-talented individual, he was also a playwright, creating I Was Daning and Traveler for Brazil for

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James Burrill Angell

James Burrill Angell had a remarkably diverse career– Brown University graduate, professor of languages, newspaper editor, university president, and diplomat. He is best known as the longest-serving president of the University of Michigan where he aspired to provide an ‘uncommon education for the common man.’ Born on January 7, 1829, in Scituate, Rhode Island, Angell

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Maud Howe Elliott

Elliott, Maud Howe, 1854-1948 Maud Howe Elliott lived a very long life and certainly made the most of it. She was born at the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston on November 9, 1854. Her father, Samuel Gridley Howe, a noted physician and social reformer, directed the institution, but most people became familiar with

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Dr Pauline Maier

Professor Pauline Maier,like the great 19th century American historian George Bancroft and writers Julia Ward Howe, Edward Everett Hale, Owen Wister, and Clement Clarke Moore, was a long-time summer resident of Rhode Island. Little Compton was her retreat. She now joins these luminaries and fellow authors in the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. Pauline

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Ambrose “Amby” Smith

Ambrose Smith, 1917-2005, was a sports editor and Vice President of the Pawtucket Valley Daily Times, for which he served for forty-two years. He was a founder and officer of both Words Unlimited and the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. He was also a past President of the Providence Gridiron Club. A native of

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Silas Downer

Silas Downer, 1729-1785, was a prominent Providence attorney and civic leader, author, scrivener, and leader of the patriot cause. He has been called Rhode Island’s “Penman of the Revolution.” Downer’s most patriotic treatise was a 1768 Discourse delivered in Providence repudiating Parliament’s Declaratory Act. This essay has been cited as the first significant challenge to

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James & Ann Smith Franklin

James Franklin ,1696-1735, and Ann Smith Franklin, 1696-1763, of Newport, were journalists and Rhode Island’s first printers and newspaper publishers. In 1727 they set up Rhode Island’s first printing press. In 1732 he issued the Rhode Island Gazette, Rhode Island’s first newspaper. When James died in February, 1735, the printing shop was continued under the

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George H. Utter

George Herbert Utter, 1854-1912, established the Westerly Sun, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in August 1969. It publishes the only Sunday afternoon paper in the United States – a custom which stems from the fact that he was a deacon in the Pawcatuck Seventh Day Baptist Church. He served Rhode Island in the General Assembly,

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Sarah Updike Goddard

Sarah Updike Goddard, 1701-1770, of North Kingstown and Providence was a journalist, publisher, civic leader, and editor of the Providence Gazette. She was descended from the Smiths and Updikes of Cocumscussoc and married DiGiles Goddard in 1735. Her son William founded the Providence Gazette in 1762 but left the business in 1765. Sarah continued to

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Carlton C Brownell

Most inductees to the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame are chosen because of their impact upon their state, or even the nation. Some, however, have such a pervasive and beneficial impact on their community or region that their life and work demand induction. Carlton Brownell is such a person. His impact upon Little Compton

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Galway Kinnell

Born in Providence, Rhode Island on February 1, 1927 to Irish immigrant parents, Galway Kinnell said that his readings as a youth of Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson inspired him to embrace poetry. Galway, a self-described introvert, was drawn to both by the musical appeal of their poetry and the idea that they led

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Brian W. Dickinson

Brian W. Dickinson of Warwick was a prominent editorial columnist for The Providence Journal and continued to write meaningful columns while battling the debilitating disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly associated with Lou Gherig. Dickinson’s courage and perseverance to maintain his outstanding writing in the face of nearly insurmountable obstacles, have been an inspiration to all

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Charlie Hall

Charlie, as he prefers to be called, is a versatile comedian, writer, showman, artist, and political activist. In 2012, Charlie was the first person inducted into the newly-established Rhode Island Comedy Hall of Fame. His induction was the culmination of over thirty years of laugh-making through a variety of avenues including stand-up, writing, theater, and

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Dr. Maury Klein

  Professor Maury Klein, a resident of Saunderstown, has published sixteen major books in a legendary forty-four year career at the University of Rhode Island. His works, almost all national in scope, examined the industrialization of America and the Captains of Industry who spearheaded that technological revolution. Among his output are several publications that dissect the

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Ben-Hur “Ben” Baddikian

Ben Bagdikian, a major American journalist, had long and significant ties to Rhode Island. As a young man he worked for the Pro^^’ide’nce Journal for 15 years from 1947 to 1962. As an “on-the-spot” reporter he rode on an Israeli tank during the Suez Crisis, covered the civil rights struggle including the Little Rock, Arkansas

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Richard J Walton

Richard J. Walton was a versatile man with a variety of activities and achievements. Among his many roles were journalist, radio talk show host, historian of American foreign policy, professor of political science, union leader, social activist, and one-time third party candidate for vice president. Richard was born on May 28, 1928 in Saratoga Springs,

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Caroline Hazard

  Hazard, Caroline, 1856-1945 Caroline Hazard, educator, philanthropist, and author, was born in the South Kingstown village of Peace Dale on June 10,1856. She was educated by private tutors in Providence, by attending some courses at Brown University, and by private study in Europe. She worked side-by-side with her father, industrialist and social reformer Rowland G. Hazard, in

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Daniel Berkeley Updike

Considered by many, one of the three greatest American printers, Daniel Berkeley Updike was born in Providence on February 14, 1860. He was a descendant of Richard Smith, one of the earliest settlers of North Kingstown, and his family owned extensive tracts of land in the Wickford area, most notably Cocumscussoc. Updike attended private school and worked

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Edward Payson Weston

Edward Payson, 1839″1929, one of Rhode Island’s most colorful native sons, was born in Providence on March 15, 1839. His father, Silas Weston, was at one time a school teacher and at another a publisher and the editor of a semi-monthly paper entitled The Pupil’s Mentor. Edward’s mother, Maria Gaines, was a talented writer who

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Owen Wister

Owen Wister (1860-1938) the quintessential cowboy hero in the fictional literature of the American West. The image of the strong, silent, chivalrous demeanor of countless buckskin and Levi-clad templars of justice of the plains received their inspiration from a Philadelphian elitist who spent much of his writing career in Bayside, Saunderstown, Rhode Island. Musician, lawyer,

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James T. Patterson

James T. Patterson is one of the most distinguished historians of modern America. He was born in 1935 and attended the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, graduating in 1952. Following a year at Christ’s Hospital School in England, he attended Williams College where he majored in history, graduating in 1957. He spent six months of active

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Dr. Manuel da Silva

Dr. Manuel da Silva was born on September 5, 1926 in the village of Caviâo, Vale de Cambra in continental Portugal. After completing high school in Portugal, he emigrated to Brooklyn, New York with his mother and brother in January, 1946 to join his father, who was an American citizen. Young Manuel studied the English language intensively, and in 1948

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Alan Shawn Feinstein

Raising an Army to Fight Hunger Have you ever been really hungry? Not just “when’s dinner”? hungry but weak and in pain and desperate–not knowing when or how you could find food? On any given day, that’s the condition of millions of people in this count alone, and 20 years ago Alan Shawn Feinstein set

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Dr. Betty R. Vohr

Dr. Betty Vohr obtained her bachelor’s degree from Adelphi University in 1962 and her medical degree from Albany Medical College in 1966. She then came to Rhode Island in order to pursue her post-graduate training in pediatrics at Rhode Island Hospital. She completed her internship in 1967, her residency in 1968, and her fellowship in

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Dr. Gordon S. Wood

Gordon S. Wood of Providence is the Pulitzer Prize-winning Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University. As historian and scholar of international renown, he taught for 31 years and is widely acknowledged as one of the foremost historians of the American founding and has held numerous fellowships and has

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John Carter

John Carter, 1745-1814, was the editor of the Providence Gazette. He began his journalistic career as an apprentice to Benjamin Franklin. From 1767 until 1814 John Carter molded public opinion in Providence. His Gazette was a strong supporter of the Revolutionary cause and the ratification of the federal Constitution. Carter, among his many civic involvements,

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Howard G. Sutton II

Howard G. Sutton II of Portsmouth, publisher, president and chief executive officer of The Providence Journal Company, began his career at the Journal as a circulation statistician thirty-nine years ago, rising through the ranks before being named publisher, president and CEO in 1999. A Rhode Islander since the age of eight, Sutton’s record of public

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Maxwell Mays

Maxwell Mays,1918-2009,was a lay preacher in his hometown of Greenville, Rhode Island, and one of the top painters of folk art in the United States. He exhibited in many of the major cities across the nation, and was past President of the Providence Art Club. His work, featuring traditional New England scenes, was published in

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Mary Elizabeth Sharpe

The late Mary Elizabeth Sharpe formerly of Providence, was an entrepreneur, author, environmentalist, philanthropist, and self-taught landscape architect, whose achievements in the field of landscape design were legendary. She was instrumental in the beautification of Brown University, assisted in the creation of the Japanese Gardens at Roger Williams Park, and spearheaded the renovation of India

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