Inductees from 1967

Dr. Bruce Macmillan Bigelow (1903-1954)
Categories: Education & Universities

Bruce Bigelow, 1903-1954, was a Brown University Graduate and a historian, who served as Vice President of the University during the administration of President Henry M. Wriston (1937-1955). Described by noted Brown professor of English Robert Kenny as "a gem, a man of personality and charm." In a sense he was Wriston's trouble shooter. Read more >
Ernest A. Calverley
Categories: Education & Universities, Sports - Other

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 Award. Read more >
Joseph Davol (1837-1909)
Categories: Industry - General, Retail Pioneers

Joseph Davol, 1837-1909, was a pioneer in the rubber industry who, prior to incorporating the Davol Rubber Company in 1881, devoted much of his time to experimentation and invention in the processing of rubber. He was among the first to see the potential for rubber products in the fields of medicine and dentistry. He remained the President, Treasurer, and general manager of this major business enterprise until his death in 1909.

By Engraving from Memorial Encyclopedia of the State of Rhode Island, 1916. Read more >
John DeWolf, II (1779-1872)
Categories: Explorers & Adventurers

John DeWolf II, 1779-1872, of the noted Bristol family, also known as "Norwest John", was a mariner who left Bristol aboard the Juno on August 13, 1804, before rounding Cape Horn and sailing northward to acquire furs along the Pacific Coast. After accumulating a full cargo of pelts, DeWolf sailed to Sitka in Russian Alaska where he exchanged the Juno for a Russian ship, sent his crew and that vessel to China and crossed Siberia to St. Petersburg, reaching that city sixteen months after leaving Alaska. DeWolf was the first American to transverse Siberia overland. Read more >
Hugh Duffy (1866-1954)
Categories: Sports - Baseball

Hugh Duffy, 1866-1954, from Cranston, was one of major league baseball's greatest hitters and is still the holder of the single-season batting average record of .438, set in 1894, when Duffy was an outfielder for Boston in the National League. In seventeen major league seasons from 1888 through 1906, Duffy compiled a lifetime average of .328. Read more >
Eileen Farrell (1920-2002)
Categories: Music (Singers, Composers)

Eileen Farrell, 1920-2002, who became a star of the Metropolitan Opera, launched her professional singing career in 1941 for CBS and made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1960,earning world-wide acclaim. She spent her early years living in Willimantic and Norwich, Connecticut, but came to her mother's hometown of Woonsocket in her teens. Farrell received the music industry's Grammy Award and was been awarded several honorary degrees including Doctorates from Harvard, Notre Dame, and URI. Read more >
Congressman John E. Fogarty (1913-1967)
Categories: Craftsmen, Government & Politics

Congressman John E. Fogarty, 1913-1967, was one of Rhode Island's longest serving congressmen. He was elected to the U.S. Read more >
Captain Robert Gray (1755-1806)
Categories: Explorers & Adventurers

Captain Robert Gray, 1755-1806 was a sea captain and explorer. This Tiverton native commanded the Columbia from 1789-1793, a vessel on which he became the first American to circumnavigate the globe in 1789. Shortly after this feat he set sail again from his home port of Boston to the Oregon Country, and this voyage he explored the mouth of the great river of that region and named it for his ship. This 1792 visitation established American claim to the Pacific Northwest. Read more >
Dr. Francis H. Horn
Categories: Education & Universities

Dr. Francis Horn was a prominent educator and world traveler who served as the sixth president of the University of Rhode Island from 1958 to 1967. Horn, a mid-westerner, held a doctorate in education from Yale and served in several posts including president of the Pratt Institute in New York prior to his arrival at URI. Horn's election broke the continuous chain of agriculture-oriented administrators and paved the way for URI's dramatic expansion. Read more >
Ruth Hussey (Longenecker) (1911-2005)
Categories: Theater, TV & Radio, Women

Ruth Hussey of Providence became a Hollywood movie star and accomplished supporting actress after her graduation from Pembroke College. Miss Hussey began her theatrical career on the Broadway stage where she won acclaim for her performances in "State of the Union", "Goodbye Mr. Fancy", and "Desk Set". She also appeared in more than 30 films including "Flight Command", "The Great Gatsby" and "The Philadelphia Story, which won her an Oscar nomination. Read more >
Fredrick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (1894-1986)
Categories: African Americans, Education & Universities, Sports - Football

Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard, 1894-1986, came from Lane Tech in Chicago and was known as a great running-back for Brown University in 1915 and 1916. As a freshman he started on the Brown squad that played in the first Rose Bowl game, becoming the first African American to play in the Rose Bowl. In 1916, the fleet and elusive Pollard was hailed by Coach Walter Camp as "The finest back these eyes have ever seen." Several weeks later, Pollard became the first black man ever to make Walter Camp's All-American backfield. Read more >
Albert Henry "Hank" Soar (1914-2001)
Categories: Education & Universities, Sports - Baseball

Albert Henry "Hank" Soar, 1914-2001, was one of Rhode Island's most talented athletes. After starring at the old Pawtucket High School (now Tolman)and Providence College in football and baseball, Soar played in the National Football League as an all-purpose back for the New York Giants for nine seasons from 1937 through 1946. After his playing days were over, Soar served as an American League baseball umpire for twenty-four years. Read more >
Governor William Sprague (1830-1915)
Categories: Government & Politics, Industry - Textiles

Governor William Sprague, 1830-1915, was a member of the Sprague family of industrial and political prominence. William became the "Boy Governor" of Rhode Island at age 30 on a Unionist-Republican-Fusion ticket and shortly thereafter led the first Rhode Island Regiment into combat at the First Battle of Bull Run. He became a U.S. Read more >