Inductees from 1968

William LeBaron "Billy" Beck (1929-)
Categories: Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other

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 of the U. Read more >
Robert H. "Bob" Bennett (1913-1974)
Categories: Education & Universities, Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other

Bob Bennett won a bronze medal in the hammer-throw at the 1948 London Olympics. A native Rhode Islander, and a 1948 graduate of Brown University, Bennett set the Brown track record of 179'8" in the hammer and earned All-American honors. Read more >
E. Doris Brennan (Weir)
Categories: Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other, Women
E. Doris Brennen (Weir), a Providence native, held twenty national and world records in swimming during the late 1930's and 1940's. She was named to the U.S. Read more >
Ellison M. "Tarzan" Brown
Categories: Native Americans, Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other
Tarzan Brown, a Native American from the Narragansett tribe, came from the south county village of Alton. He became a world-class marathoner in the 1930's. After a disappointing performance in the 1936 Olympics, Brown entered seven marathon races in close succession and won them all. Two of these races were won within twenty-four hours of each other. Read more >
Frankie Carle (1903-2001)
Categories: Music (Singers, Composers)

Frankie Carle, 1903-2001, a native of Providence who became world famous as a pianist and composer, began studying the piano at the age of 5, and wrote his first song at age 13. He was the author of "Sunrise Serenade", "Falling Leaves", and "Lover's Lullaby".

Born Francis Nunzio Carlone on March 25, 1903 to a factory owner father who couldn't afford a piano, Frankie was taught to play by his pianist uncle on a dummy keyboard and later practiced on a broken-down instrument he found at a dance hall. As a teenager, Frankie played with his uncle, Nicholas Colangelo's, Providence band as well as other local bands. Read more >
John Collier (1907-1984)
Categories: Education & Universities, Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other
John Collier, 1907-1984, was a bronze medalist in the 110-meter high-hurdles in the 1928 Amsterdam Games. He was a Providence resident and the son of noted Brown University historian Theodore Collier. This Phi Beta Kappa student was the long-time Brown University record holder in the hurdles events, and the national collegiate champion in the high hurdles. In 1934, Collier ran the sixty-yard high-hurdles in 7. Read more >
Paula Deubel -Phillips (1935-1993)
Categories: Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other, Women

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. Read more >
Henry F. Dreyer (1911-1986)
Categories: Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other

Henry Dreyer, 1911-1986, a Providence native who competed for URI, participated in the 1936 and 1948 Olympics, and was the only American to make both teams. Each time he placed ninth. Between 1934 and 1952, Dreyer held twenty-one national championships in the weight throws. Dreyer was an AAU hammer-throw champion four times, 56-pound weight titleholder six times, and 35-pound weight champion ten times. Read more >
Dr. William H.P. Faunce (1859-1930)
Categories: Education & Universities

Dr. William H. P. Faunce, 1859-1930, was most notable for being president of Brown University from 1899 to 1929. Read more >
Fred Friendly (1915-1998)
Categories: Education & Universities, Literature / Writers / Newspapers, Music (Singers, Composers)

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 >
Ivan Fuqua (1909-1994)
Categories: Education & Universities, Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other

Ivan Fuqua, 1909-1994, a football and track star at Indiana University, won a gold medal at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, as part of the world record-setting 4x400-meter relay. In 1946 he came to Rhode Island to coach track at Brown University from 1947-1973 where guided the outdoor track team to five New England cross-country titles and three regional crowns. Read more >
Carole Garnett (Wheeler)
Categories: Civic Leaders, Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other, Women

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. Read more >
Robert Gaudreau (1944-)
Categories: Education & Universities, Olympic Athletes, Sports - Hockey

Robert Gaudreau, a member of the U.S. Hockey Team at the 1968 Olympics at Grenoble, France and a local schoolboy stand-out at Hope High School in Providence, where he made All-State. Later at Brown, he was selected twice to the All-American Hockey Team as a defenseman. Read more >
John Higgins (1916-2004)
Categories: Military, Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other

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. Read more >
Gerald W. Kilmartin (1927-1970)
Categories: Olympic Athletes, Sports - Hockey

Gerry Kilmartin, 1927-1970, won the silver medal at the 1952 Olympic Games as a member of the U.S. Hockey Team, which also included Brown University student athlete Donald F. Whiston. Read more >
Clara Lamore (Walker) (1926-)
Categories: Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other, Women

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. Read more >
Alvin Loftes (1890-1971)
Categories: Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other

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 the individual road race. Upon his return from the Games, he moved from Providence to Point Judith, where he became a self-employed commercial fisherman until his retirement in 1955. Read more >
Janet Moreau (Stone) (1927-)
Categories: Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other

Janet Moreau (Stone) is a gold medalist with her team in the 4x100-meter relay in the 1952 Helinski Games. Her team established a world record in the event of 45.9 Moreau was a national champion in the fifty-yard dash, the 220-yard dash, the standing long jump (five times), and the 4x100-yard relay. In 1948, the Pawtucket native had been junior national swimming champion in the 100-yard freestyle. Read more >
Albina Osipowich (Van Aken) (1911-1964)
Categories: Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other, Women

Albina Osipowich (Van Aken), 1911-1964, was the women's swimming star of the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. Albina, a member of the Pembroke swim team, won gold medals in the 100-meter freestyle in an Olympic record time of 1.11.0, and swam the third leg of the 4x100-meter freestyle relay that set a world record of 4:47. Read more >
David Patten (1888-1975)
Categories: Famous RI Families, Literature / Writers / Newspapers

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 >
Leslie Pawson (1905-1992)
Categories: Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other

Les Pawson, 1905-1992, of Pawtucket was a world-class marathon runner of the 1930's and 1940's, and the chief local rival to the famed "Tarzan" Brown. Pawson had three victories in the Boston Marathon, including a record-breaking win in 1933, his first Boston triumph. He was named to the U.S. Read more >
George Pulliam (1923-1956)
Categories: Education & Universities, Olympic Athletes, Sports - Baseball, Sports - Football, Sports - Hockey

George Pulliam, 1923-1956, is regarded by some as Rhode Island's greatest all-around schoolboy athlete. At Cranston High, he won All-State honors twice in football and hockey and once in baseball, where he played at every position but catcher. For his extraordinary efforts he was nicknamed "The Cranston Crusher." He was the fullback and star of the 1940 Cranston eleven that was undefeated, untied, and unscored upon, and was chosen the 1941 Journal Honor Role Boy. Read more >
Dudley Shaw Richards (1932-1961)
Categories: Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other

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. Read more >
William J. Rowe (1914-1938)
Categories: Education & Universities, Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other

William Rowe, 1914-1938, was a member of the U.S. Track and Field Team in the hammer-throw at the 1936 Berlin Games. He recorded a fifth place finish--the best performance by an American. Read more >
Joseph Samuels (1868-1939)
Categories: Philanthropists, Retail Pioneers

Joseph Samuels, 1868-1939, was founder and president of the Outlet Company and one of the state's leading philanthropists. He developed a small shop into one of New England's leading retail establishments. Samuels was known for making generous gifts to hospitals and clinics for dental care. Read more >
John Spellman (1899-1966)
Categories: Education & Universities, Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other

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 teams coached by Brown's legendary wresting mentor Frank Herrick. Read more >
Lois Testa (Lynch) (1935-)
Categories: Education & Universities, Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other, Women

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. Read more >
Frederick D. Tootell (1902-1964)
Categories: Education & Universities, Olympic Athletes, Sports - Other

Fred Tootell, 1902-1964, became an Olympic champion in the hammer-throw at the 1924 Paris Games with a toss of 174'10". Tootell, the first American-born winner of the hammer event, became a legendary track and field coach at University of Rhode Island, where his Ram teams compiled a phenomenal winning percentage in dual meets. He remains the only Rhode Islander ever to win an individual Olympic gold medal in a track and field event. Read more >
Ralph A. Warburton (1924-)
Categories: Education & Universities, Olympic Athletes, Sports - Hockey

Ralph A. Warburton was was an All-State hockey selection at LaSalle Academy in 1941, and went on to star at Dartmouth College where he captained the Big Green's national championship team of 1947. Warburton was a member of the American Hockey Association team chosen to play in the 1948 Winter Olympics. George Pulliam was a member of the rival AAU contingent. Read more >
Joseph Whalen
Categories: Industry - General

Joseph Whalen, a former president of Bostich, Inc., developed a small stapling-machine plant into one of the state's major industries. His corporation became one of the world leaders in its field. Read more >
Leonard Randolph "Lenny" Wilkens (1937-)
Categories: Education & Universities, Sports - Basketball

Grew up the Bedford-Stuyvesant streets of Brooklyn, son of an African American father and an Irish mother. His father died when he was quite young, and the family was forced into welfare. He learned to play basketball on the playgrounds of Brooklyn and later earned a scholarship to Providence College. At Providence, Lenny matured, gained self-confidence and developed into one of the best basketball players in the country. Read more >
J. Harold Williams
Categories: Civic Leaders

J. Harold Williams, a native of Providence, served for forty-three years as a Boy Scout executive in Rhode Island. He was planner, lecturer, friend, and advisor to some 200,000 boys and men. He developed Camp Yawgoog in South County into one of the nation's leading scout camps and a model for boys' camping. Read more >

Browse through our collection of 750+ amazing Rhode Islanders:

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Inductees from 1968

William LeBaron "Billy" Beck (1929-)

Robert H. "Bob" Bennett (1913-1974)

E. Doris Brennan (Weir)

Ellison M. "Tarzan" Brown

Frankie Carle (1903-2001)

John Collier (1907-1984)

Paula Deubel -Phillips (1935-1993)

Henry F. Dreyer (1911-1986)

Dr. William H.P. Faunce (1859-1930)

Fred Friendly (1915-1998)

Ivan Fuqua (1909-1994)

Carole Garnett (Wheeler)

Robert Gaudreau (1944-)

John Higgins (1916-2004)

Gerald W. Kilmartin (1927-1970)

Clara Lamore (Walker) (1926-)

Alvin Loftes (1890-1971)

Janet Moreau (Stone) (1927-)

Albina Osipowich (Van Aken) (1911-1964)

David Patten (1888-1975)

Leslie Pawson (1905-1992)

George Pulliam (1923-1956)

Dudley Shaw Richards (1932-1961)

William J. Rowe (1914-1938)

Joseph Samuels (1868-1939)

John Spellman (1899-1966)

Lois Testa (Lynch) (1935-)

Frederick D. Tootell (1902-1964)

Ralph A. Warburton (1924-)

Joseph Whalen

Leonard Randolph "Lenny" Wilkens (1937-)

J. Harold Williams

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