Catharine R. (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 Catharine was a child, so the oft-absent father entrusted her education and upbringing to two of her aunts. Read more >
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. Read more >
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 was the eldest of eight
children of Amy and Andrew Angell, and a member of an old-line Rhode Island family that traced its lineage to Thomas Angell who came to Providence with Roger Williams.
Although reared on an outlying farm, Angell had an excellent early education including a
year at the University Grammar School under the instruction of Henry Frieze, a teacher who would spend many years as professor and interim president of the University of Michigan. Read more >
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 stone in local graveyards. While historical interpretations pass in and out of favor; the cold facts remain. Read more >
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 Island to study anthropology. Read more >
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 City of Cranston Hall of Fame, was nominated as Cranston's "Woman of the Year," and was a well-known author of historical documents. Read more >
Sevellon Brown, 1913-1983, was editor of the national magazinePathfinder, and of the Providence Journal-Bulletin. He was also the originator and founder of the American Press Institute. Read more >
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. Read more >
Gonzalo Edward “Ned” Buxton Jr. (1880-1949) was born in Kansas City, Mo., to Dr. G. Read more >
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. Read more >
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 written and published more scholarly works pertaining to the history of Rhode Island than any other person, who founded the Rhode Island Heritage Commission as a successor to ri76 for which he served as chairman, both of which preceded the Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission of the state. Read more >
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. Read more >
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 he entered Washington Square College of New York University graduating with a biology degree in 1952. Read more >
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 wealthy Utica merchant, in 1833. Read more >
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. Read more >
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 to 1893 and from 1899 to 1913. Between 1893 and 1895, Howe was the assistant editor of the Atlantic Monthly and was also the Vice President of the Atlantic Monthly company from 1911 to 1929. Read more >
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. Read more >
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 of us. Read more >
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). Read more >
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. Read more >
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 the authority of Parliament to make laws of any kind to regulate the colonies. Read more >
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 Rhode Island. He is also a member of the Bates College Board of Trustees. Read more >
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 instrumental in preventing the construction of a nuclear power plant in the town. He is a former Chairman of the Rhode Island Commission on Energy. Read more >
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 and graduated with honors from Brown University in 1846.
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 her mother, Julia Ward Howe, who wrote The Battle Hymn of the Republic and later battled for the cause of women's rights.
Maud was the driving force behind the founding of the Newport Art Association and served as its secretary until she was eighty-seven years old. Read more >
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 been sought by heads of State. Read more >
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 out to fight it.
He had the money. Through a remarkable combination of determination and good luck, he had gone from a middle-class life teaching in junior high school and writing a financial column in a small-circulation newspaper to starting a financial newsletter and building it into an immensely profitable business. His warning that gold and silver were overvalued three days before their prices crashed helped build the circulation to over 500,000. Read more >
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. Read more >
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 auspices of Ann Franklin, whose imprint appeared as “The Widow Franklin. Read more >
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. Read more >
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 at the school. In 2005, actor George Clooney portrayed Friendly in the film Good Night, and Good Luck. Read more >
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 print the paper on a weekly basis until 1768 when she sold her interest to John Carter. Read more >
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. Read more >
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. Read more >
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 the State of Rhode Island. Read more >
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 various business ventures. Read more >
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. Read more >
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 faults and inefficiencies of general hospitals with their many wards, doctors and nurses would be replaced by a professional efficiency combined with a personal touch. Read more >
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. Read more >
MFrank Lanning, 1905-1987, was a Providence Journal sports cartoonist and President of the Hall of Fame. He was well known throughout the state for his sports cartoons and his contributions to Rhode Island life in general and its' youth, in particular. Read more >
Irving Levine, 1922-2009, was a Pawtucket native who 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. Read more >
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. Read more >
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 the Principles Committee for Secondary Schools in Rhode Island, and chaired the committee which conducted the very popular "Sunday in the Park" Programs conducted during WWII. Read more >
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 Lincoln Drive at Ford Adams State Park, used during the former president's administration as his summer residence. Read more >
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 Collier's, Yankee, American, and Cosmopolitan magazines. Read more >
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 years, featuring top-name interviews. Read more >
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 soda jerk, Triggs greenskeeper and caddy, Narragansett Park racetrack money-runner and a stock boy at Shepard's department store.
After successfully negotiating Blessed Sacrament Elementary School and LaSalle Academy, John entered the seminary, was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1960, obtained Master's degree in Philosophy and English from Boston College, and ultimately received a doctorate in Communications from Columbia University. Read more >
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 Design. Louisa's father was Hall of Fame inductee Lucian Sharpe, co-founder of Brown & Sharpe, a machine tool company hailed as one of Providence's “five industrial wonders of the world.”
To whom much is given, much is expected. Read more >
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 Design. Louisa's father was Hall of Fame inductee Lucian Sharpe, co-founder of Brown & Sharpe, a machine tool company hailed as one of Providence's “five industrial wonders of the world.”
To whom much is given, much is expected. Read more >
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. Read more >
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.
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 the life of a scholar. Read more >
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 the theater, worked as a radio announcer in several cities including Providence; and as a writer-producer for the Yankee Radio Network. Read more >
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 relating to Little Compton. Mr. Read more >
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. Read more >
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. Read more >
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. Read more >
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 Program in Rhode Island, and a prime diplomat for the organization across the nation. Read more >
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. Read more >
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.
. Read more >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 Point Park.
A native of Syracuse, New York, she helped support family by making and selling candy. She parlayed that into a career, staring her own business, "Mary Elizabeth Ltd of New York. Read more >
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 West Warwick, RI, he served his community and state for many years as a leading exponent of youth programs. Read more >
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 service in his adopted state has been exemplary and diverse.
In 2011, he was honored by Crossroads Rhode Island for his longtime commitment to serving the state’s homeless. Read more >
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 for a time at the Providence Athenaeum. It was here, perhaps, that he developed an appreciation for the art of fine printing. Read more >
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, was Speaker of the House of Representatives, Secretary of State, Lieutenant Governor and Governor. He died in office while serving as Representative from the Second District of Rhode Island in the U. Read more >
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. Read more >
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 mater of Roger Williams. That research resulted in his first scholarly article, published in the Journal of New Testament Studies. For the next two decades he served as a pastor or director at United Methodist churches in New York and Connecticut. Read more >
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 published several poems and novels.
Edward was the eldest of four children. Read more >
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 1829, two issues of a local interest periodical which she entitled The Original. By the late 1830s, the reformist spirit of America's “Age of Equalitarianism” turned her interest increasingly towards some of the causes of that period, especially temperance, abolition, and workers' rights. Read more >
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 am not a crook,” and caused the president to pay $432,787.13 plus interest in back taxes. Read more >
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 and began to write poetry. Read more >
Mr. William (b. 1898) & Mrs. Olive F. Read more >
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 left their sheltered household at age twenty-three, after the death of one aunt and the marriage of the other. Read more >
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 New York Tribune. Read more >
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, and novelist, Owen Wister, shared at least one personal experience with one of his main authentic heroes, Theodore Roosevelt. They both spent several summers in the West seeking to restore their health. Read more >
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 produced many award-winning publications. Read more >
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