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Peter Laudatti was a dominant figure in the history of sports in Rhode Island during the first half of the 20th century. He was involved in numerous sporting ventures, including bicycling, baseball, boxing, football, and soccer. Born in 1884 at Sante Croce del Sannio in Italy, he immigrated to the United States with his family
Wilfred W. Greene, Jr. was born in South Providence on June 12, 1937, the son of Rita Kearns of Irish descent and Wilfred William Greene, a man of Native American ancestry who ran an asphalt business. In South Providence during the middle of the past century a young man was known and respected mainly by
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;
Mr. Domina Jalbert was a world renowned researcher and inventor of parachutes, sails, and kites. He was born in Quebec but lived for many years in Woonsocket, RI. He was the designer of the Dolly Spinnaker for the yacht Stars & Stripes, which won the 1987 America’s Cup. He was a track star in his
Carole Wheeler (Garnett) was a member of the U.S. women’s swim team who competed in the 1924 Paris Games. Later she coached swimming and diving. After the death of her first husband, an army colonel, in an auto crash, Carole married Henry S. Wheeler, a mayor of Newport. As Mrs. Wheeler, she became very active
The late Hubert C. “Ted” Hersey of Middletown was an internationally recognized science teacher at St. George’s school, chairman of the school’s science and computer departments and renowned teacher of physics. Hersey was also a highly successful coach of cross-country and track & field. His prominence in teaching earned him a 1992 Presidential Award for
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
Henry Lippitt, a man of many accomplishments, served as the 33rd governor of Rhode Island from 1875 to 1877. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, on Oct. 9, 1818, Lippitt was the son of Warren and Eliza (Seamans) Lippitt. He became co-owner with his father and brother of the Tiffany Mill—a cotton mill in Connecticut that
John Higgins, 1916-2004, was fourth place finisher in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 1936 Berlin Games. During his remarkable career, Higgins set world records and American records in the 100-meter and 200-meter butterfly breaststroke, the individual medley, and the medley relay. In these events he won eleven U.S. national championships. Later, he became swim coach
Halsey C. Herreshoff of Bristol, is an internationally renowned yachtsman, acclaimed America’s Cup competitor, and successful Naval Architect. He is the founder and former president of Herreshoff Marine Museum, which includes the America’s Cup Hall of Fame. He is also a prominent designer, widely recognized civic leader, author, lecturer, businessman, and longtime promoter of maritime
Annie Smith Peck was an American mountaineer and adventurer. She was an ardent suffragist and noted speaker, lecturing extensively for many years throughout the world, and writing four books encouraging travel and exploration. Peck was born on October 19, 1850, in Providence, Rhode Island. She was the youngest of five children born to Ann Power Smith Peck and George Bacheler Peck.
Charles Swanson was considered Rhode Island’s ambassador of tennis. He is rated among the best senior doubles players in the world. He won sixteen national tennis titles, and is recognized as the father of the Rhode Island tennis scene, teaching tennis professionals despite never having taken a lesson himself. He is credited with developing hundreds
Clara Lamore (Walker) was a member of the U.S. Women’s swim team at the 1948 London Games where she was a finalist in the breaststroke. During the 1940’s Lamore set two U.S. swim records and won five national championships. After her Olympic disappointment, she gave up swimming until 1981. From that time onward she became
Haig Varadain of Cranston was an educational, athletic and civic leader who served his city’s school system as teacher, coach and administrator for 50 years. His expertise in the sport of wrestling is legendary and Varadain was the Director Emeritus of the R.I. Interscholastic Wrestling League and recognized internationally in the sport. He is a
When the running boom of the late 1970s was at its peak, Bobby Doyle emerged as a world-class marathoner, and a source of great pride for the Ocean State. Bobby truly defined long distance running in Rhode Island, according to Don Allison, race director of the Amica Insurance Breakers Marathon in Newport. In 1976 he
Ralph Zanelli (1915-2006) was a professional boxer who held both the New England welterwight and middleweight titles when he retired in 1952. He had competed for sixteen years and held a record of 115 wins, with 30 losses. His career spanned 20 years, beginning at the age of 17, and within three years he held
Alvin Loftes (born Alvin Hjalmar Lofstedt), 1890-1971, won a bronze medal in cycling in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics in the four-man team time trial. The 320-kilometer race, the first and the longest team time trial in Olympic history, was won by Sweden due, in part, to its home course advantage. Loftes also finished eleventh in
Normally sportscasters ” with such notable excep- tions of Chris Schenkel and Chris Clark ” do not gain accep- tance to the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, but if one is a sportscaster for seven decades, the voice of the Rhode Island Reds for a quarter-century, the longtime coach of youth sports in his
World-class master’s athlete, coach, sports administrator, and indefatigable worker for the performing arts in Rhode Island, Billie Ann Burrill’s talents have known no bounds. While she was director of the Health and Physical Education Department at Rhode Island College, her drive and enthusiasm enabled the school’s Performing Arts Series to become the finest in the
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
Until 1998, Geoffrey Mason, a Philadelphia native but a long-time Rhode Island resident, was the state’s only Winter Olympic gold medalist. He won a gold medal as a member of the 5-member bobsledding team at the 1928 Winter Olympics held at St. Moritz, Switzerland. Most Olympic champions are the products of years of training and
1926 – 2010 Car Dealer and Philanthropist Extraordinaire In the 1960s the quality of cars coming off American manufacturers’ assembly lines began to slip badly. Problems ranged from poor door fits, window leaks, wind noise and squeaks and rattles up to vibrations and drivability issues in the power train. The causes were shortcuts being taken
Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, 1884-1970, great-grandson of shipping and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt. He was a railroad executive, America’s Cup yachtsman with three Cup defenses, commodore of the New York Yacht Club, and originator of contract bridge. The third child and second son of William Kissam Vanderbilt and Alva Erskine Smith and great-grandson of the shipping
Chris Clark was a radio and television sportscaster who began his career in Newport. For twenty years he was the “Voice of the Friars”, and then the television “Voice of the Rams”. He was selected RI Sportscaster of the Year 12 times.
Janet Moreau (Stone) was the first native of Rhode Island to win a Gold Medal at the Olympic Games. She won it at the 1952 Olympic Games as a member of the relay team that set an Olympic record in the event of 45.9 seconds. At age 24, she was the oldest relay team member,
Two-term governor of Rhode Island, Bruce Sundlun was a complex, forthright servant of the people. Federal prosecutor, B-17 bomber pilot, CEO of the Outlet Company, to name just a few of his many accomplishments, Governor Sundlun was the quintessential Renaissance man. Bruce Sundlun was born on January 19, 1920, the first child of Jan Zelda
In 2003, a dramatic movie about a Depression-era racehorse and his oversized jockey became a top box office film hit. This story of hope and perseverance was woven into a screenplay about a down-and-out jockey, a horse that lost his first 17 races, a drifter horse trainer, and the eventual rise of a championship horse.
Russell Boss became President of the A.T. Cross Company, and served as Director and Vice President of the Manufacturing Jewelers and Silversmiths of America. He is also a well-known yachtsman and sailing champion.
Albina Osipowich blazed across the horizon in 1928 as a double gold medal winner at the Amsterdam Olympics in the 100-meter free and the freestyle relay, setting a World and Olympic record. She also won two National A.A.U. titles in the 100 and 220 free and held American long course records in the 200, 220,
The late George S. Araujo, formerly of Providence, a Cape Verdean from the Fox Point neighborhood of the City who is regarded as one of the greatest Rhode Island boxers of all time and was the world’s number-one ranked lightweight fighter when there was only one world ranking. George served as a longtime coach and
Rocky Marciano, 1923-1969, was the world’s undefeated heavy-weight boxing champion from 1952 to 1956 when he shocked the sports world by retiring at the age of thirty-two. Although he came from Brockton, MA, many Rhode Island sports fans adopted him since he fought the majority of his contests in Providence’s now demolished Providence Auditorium on
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
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
When Alice Sullivan was growing up, she dreamed about playing high school sports. She never realized her dream but, thanks to her dedication, thousands of young women have experienced the thrill of being a high school athlete. For more than five decades, Alice Sullivan tirelessly dedicated herself to helping girls enjoy the benefits of athletic
In 1975, James Henry Van Alen II was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame because of his contributions to the world of tennis. Van Alen earned renown as the founder of Newport’s International Tennis Hall of Fame, the largest tennis museum in the world. A poet, musician, publisher, civic leader and storyteller,
Dudley Shaw Richards, 1932-1961, a nationally prominent figure-skater who competed in pairs with Maribel Y. Owen at the 1960 Winter Games at Squaw Valley, California, and finished tenth. They won the U.S. championships the following year and finished second at the North American Championships, earning the pair a berth on the World team. Richards, a
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
Ms. Bert, of North Providence, was a Director of Women’s Athletics at Providence College, and widely recognized for her decades of service promoting athletic opportunities for Women. Coming to the Rhode Island when the College became co-educational in 1970, she was the first woman to be elected into the Providence College Athletic Hall of Fame
Manuel Gorriaran, 1938-2012, was a sportsman, philanthropist, industrialist, and a Pan-American-World Olympic Wrestling Team manager. He was a member of the Helms Hall of Fame, won the International Amateur Wrestling Federation’s highest award and was Chairman of People to People Rhode Island. ce President, President and then Chairman of Hook-Fast Specialties, Inc., a family-owned jewelry
Aileen Riggin won the first Olympic springboard title in 1920 when she had just passed her 14th birthday, the youngest-ever U.S. woman Olympic champion. She lost her record to another U.S. diver, Marjorie Gestring, at the 1936 Olympics. Riggin won three AAU outdoor and one indoor springboard title and was twice a member of the Women’s Swimming
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
Robert J. Black of Providence was widely recognized as the State of Rhode Island’s greatest distance runner of all-time. He was a two-time National (NCAA) cross-country champion, and was named All-American in several categories as a runner for the then Rhode Island State College, now URI. He is the only person ever to win four
Chris Schenkel, 1923-2005, was Sports Director for the American Broadcast Corporation. He got his real start in sportscasting in Rhode Island after World War II, working at WFCI and WEAN. He did local radio and called the Thoroughbred horse races at Narragansett Park for six years. His work here was recognized by the Columbia Broadcasting
William J. Rowe, an Olympic hammer-throwing star, was one of the outstanding all-around weight throwers in the nation in the 1930s. He was the national A.A.U. Champion in the hammer and competed in the Berlin Olympics in 1936, where he finished fifth in the hammer with a throw of 169 feet, 6” inches, the best
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
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
William Beck, a member of the 1952 Winter Olympic Team, placed fifth in the Alpine skiing event. He also competed in the 1956 Winter Games at Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy. Beck was prominent in the international ski circuit in the 1950’s and is regarded as Rhode Island’s greatest all-time skier. In 1958, he was named coach
John Spellman, 1899-1966, won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling in the light heavyweight division (192 pounds) at the 1924 Paris Games. Spellman was a Brown University student-athlete and captain of the 1924 Brown Wrestling Team. John’s older brother Bob, and his younger brother, Frank, were also Brown captains and competed on New England championship
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
The late Reverend Robert C. Newbold, 1920-2008, of Providence was a former Professor, Dean, Vice-Rector and Rector of Our Lady of Providence Preparatory Seminary and was former Executive Secretary of the Committee on Athletics for the Rhode Island Secondary School’s Principals association, retiring after 26 years in the profession. He guided the State’s Interscholastic League
Robert “Bob” Bennett was born in Providence on August 8, 1919 to George E. and Margaret T. (Martin) Bennett; however, he grew up in Cranston and graduated from Cranston High School in 1937. Always involved in sports, Bob was an all-state football and track star at Cranston High School. He studied at the University of
Lois Testa (Lynch), a member of the U.S. Women’s Track and Field Team, played as a shot putter in the 1956 Melbourne Games. She is one of the pioneers of women’s athletics in Rhode Island. At Pawtucket East High School, the versatile Testa starred in swimming, basketball, and badminton. In Track and Field, she competed
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
Harold “Chubby” Gomes, a native of Providence, was a professional boxer who became Junior Lightweight Champion of the World as the first Rhode Islander to win a world boxing title. He is credited with being the first athlete to bring national television into Rhode Island for a boxing event. He won 55 of 65 fights,
It would be difficult to list the highlights of Doris Brennan Weir’s athletic career without omitting some accomplishment, title, or record. She was simply among the finest female swimmers in the world. She just missed a spot with the 1936 team but earned a position on her second chance She was named to the 1940
Ernest Calverley of Pawtucket was a three-time All-American basketball star at the University of Rhode Island who played under the legendary Coach Frank W. Keaney. The sure-shot Calverley led the Ram’s to glory at Madison Square Garden in 1946 when URI lost the championship game by a single point. Calverley, however, won the tournament’s MVP
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
The late Frederick M. McKinnon, a native of Pawtucket, was considered the father of youth soccer in Rhode Island. He was an elementary school teacher in the Pawtucket School System for thirty years, and Acting Director and Supervisor of the Pawtucket Recreation Department for 34 years. He is widely recognized for his contributions to youth
Paula Deubel-Phillips, 1935-1993, was a member of the U.S. Women’s Track and Field Team as a shot putter in the 1956 Melbourne Games. Although a resident of Swansea, Massachusetts, she trained with and competed for the Little Rhody AC, a local track club that pioneered women’s competition in track and field. In 1954, Paula Duebel,
Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, 1848-1938, was a world-renowned Bristol boatbuilder who teamed with his blind brother John Brown Herreshoff to build a series of world famous racing yachts that dominated the America’s Cup competition from 1893 through 1934. “Captain Nat” and his Herreshoff Manufacturing Company also built luxury yachts, cruising sailboats, and America’s first torpedo boat
Frederick D. ‘Fritz’ Pollard Jr. equaled the world record for the 45-yard-high hurdles while running for Brown University in the spring of 1934. He came to Brown as the son of Fritz Pollard, the Bruin’s All-American who led Brown to is first Rose Bowl in 1916. Fritz Sr. was the first African American football player
The late Joseph Watmough, Sr. spent forty-three years as the swimming coach at Olneyville Boys and Girls Club, Central High School, and Brown University. Three of his proteges were named to the U.S. Olympic Teams, and national and world records were broken under his tutelage.
Henry (Hank) F. Dreyer, one of the most outstanding athletes in University of Rhode Island history, holds numerous world records in the weights and was a member of the 1936 and 1948 Olympic teams. He was selected for the Helms Foundation honorary Olympic teams in 1940 and 1944 and won 21 national AAU championships. A
William F. Farley, of Pawtucket, now of Chicago, is businessman who was was chairman and CEO of Fruit of the Loom the highly successful international manufacturer and distributor of basic family apparel for fifteen years (1985-1999). Farley acquired Fruit of the Loom in 1986. Under Farley’s leadership, sales exceeded $2 billion. He has received the
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