Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame Women Inductees


The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes those who have brought credit, prominence, or contributions to the heritage or history of Rhode Island.

History

The organization was founded and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1965 to recognize the contributions of citizens of the state of Rhode Island. Since 2013, it has had a partnership with the Heritage Harbor Museum. Though the organization recognizes the contributions of any citizen, a separate listing of women inductees is maintained.

Criteria

The eligibility criteria for membership requires that significant contributions to the history or heritage of Rhode Island and is open to those born in the state, those who are residents when their notability occurred, and those who have permanent homes in Rhode Island.

Inductees

The hall inducts new members annually and includes both contemporary and historical Rhode Islanders.
NameImageBirth–DeathYearArea of achievement
1966Champion golfer who dominated the sport in the 1920s
1967Noted American soprano
1967Academy Award-nominated actress
1968Holder of twenty national and world swimming records in 1930s and 1940s; selected for 1940 Olympics which was cancelled due to World War I
19681954 national collegiate shot put champion, 1956 Melbourne Olympic shot put competitor
19681924 Paris Olympic Games swimming competitor, later Rhode Island Republican National Convention delegate
19681948 London Olympic Games breaststroke competitor, 5 time national champion
19681952 Helsinki Olympic Games gold medal 4 x 100 meters relay winner
19681928 Amsterdam Olympic Games gold medal swimmer
19681956 Melbourne Olympic Games athlete
1969Five-time national women's amateur golf champion and three-time Rhode Island golf champion
1969Philanthropist, who established with her husband the Burrillville Town Buildings Project
1969First distinguished professor at Rhode Island College
1970Contralto diva of the Metropolitan Opera
1971American comedian and actress
1971Only woman to serve as vice president of the Zionist Organization of America and the American Jewish Congress
1972Chief of the Division of Women and Children and Commissioner of minimum wage for Rhode Island
1975Civil rights advocate, Assistant Director of the University of Rhode Island Extension Division Service
19771964 Advertising Woman of the Year of the Advertising Federation of America, first woman vice president of Bryant College
1977Internationally renowned soprano
1978Preservationist and Chair of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission and the Providence Historic District Commission
1978Director of the U.S. Passport Office
1978Narragansett tribe member, assisted in drafting the tribal bylaws under the Indian Reorganization Act and designed the tribal seal
1980Journalist and later editor of the Harvard Business Review
1980First woman state senator, the first woman judge and the first female member of the Rhode Island Supreme Court
1981First Director for the R.I. Department of Elderly Affairs
1981Conservationist, preservationist and founder of the Preservation Society of Newport
1982State Representative, State Senator and National Democratic Committeewoman
1983Founder of Gibbs College
1985African American Day Care founder and Mother of the Year
1986First Commissioner of Higher Education
1987Teacher, Principle, and Head of the Guidance Department at St. Mary's Academy
1987Founder of the Amos House homeless shelter of Providence
1988Founder of the Traveler's Aid Runaway Youth Project
1990Catholic liturgical artist and the artistic director of the Terra Sancta Guild
1991Historian and author
1992Pioneer in the travel and tourism industry serving on state and national tourism advisory committees; first woman in the country to serve as a station manager in the airline industry
1992Short story writer and professor, recipient of University of Rhode Island President's Award for Excellence in Teaching
1993Geriatrics, president National Senior Citizens Education and Research Center
:fr:Lizzie Murphy|1994First woman baseball player to play against major league players
1994Child welfare advocate, author and the Director of Rhode Island Hospital's Child Life Department
1996Director and developer of the Women’s Athletics Program at Providence College
1996First Girl Scout of Newport and later served on the national staff of the Girl Scouts of the USA
1996Founder and director of the Rhode Island School of Design
1996first woman attorney general in the United States
1997Quaker martyr, one of the founders of Portsmouth
1997Jewish philanthropist, president of Providence Jewish Federation
1997established the settlement of Portsmouth in what became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
1997Co-founder of Meeting Street School for special needs children
1997First American-born opera singer to perform Madame Butterfly at La Scala
1998Benefactor of the Rhode Island School of Design and president of the RISD Corporation, recipient of the first honorary degree awarded by the institution
1998First female newspaper editor of the American colonies
1998Published Providence's first newspaper, The Providence Gazette
1999Philanthropist, preservationist and historic home conservationist
2000Ed Sullivan dancer with the Holloway Sisters, later mental health professional and professor at Brown University and Rhode Island College
2001Founder of a school that became the first integrated classroom in the United States
2001Philanthropist, preservationist and founders of the Newport Restoration Foundation
2001Amateur landscape architect, who spearheaded landscape design at Brown University, the Japanese Gardens at Roger Williams Park, and the renovation of India Point Park.
2001Teacher and founder of a children's aid society called the Children's Friend Society
2002Abolitionist and suffragette, the first woman to be memorialized with a statue in the Rhode Island State House
2002Teacher and state House Representative
2002Founder of the Sisters of Mercy in America
200219th-century poet and writer
2003Abolitionist and entrepreneur
2003Co-founder of the New England Woman Suffrage Association
2003Abolitionist and author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"
2003State Senator and state Supreme Court judge
2004Two-time Olympic ice hockey medalist: 1998 Nagano gold and 2002 Salt Lake City silver
20041988 Seoul Olympic gold medalist in the women’s 470 Class yachting
20041932 Los Angeles Olympic gold medalist in the women’s 400-meter freestyle swim
2004Three time Winter Olympic ice hockey medalist
200419th-century poet, abolitionist, botanist, and suffragette.
20041984 Los Angeles Olympics women's eight rowing gold medalist
20041920 Summer Olympics swimming gold medalist
2004State Senator and Senate minority leader
200419th-century poet, essayist, and Spiritualist
)2005Founder of the Rhode Island School of Design and establishing women's education at Brown University
2005Recognized as Teacher of the Year by Rhode Island and Maine, 1991 White House Distinguished Teacher Award recipient
2005First woman to serve in the U.S. Lighthouse Service
2005Women's sport activist and educator, successfully lobbied for the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s sports program to include girls.
2006President of Salve Regina University
2006Co-founder of The Poverty Institute and the Rhode Island Campaign to Eliminate Childhood Poverty
2006the first woman Gorlin Cardiology Fellow at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and the first woman to practice adult cardiology in Rhode Island
2007president of the Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association
2007one of America’s youngest college presidents
2008American writer, noted winning the Pulitzer prize in collaboration with her sister for their mother's biography The Life of Julia Ward Howe
2008artist and illustrator who created the largest body of Rhode Island-themed illustration work
2009mountaineer and adventurer who scaled Mount Huascaran in Peru
2010Politician, who served at the local and state levels and was Secretary of State of Rhode Island between 1987 and 1993
2010First woman in Rhode Island to hold a statewide office, when elected as Secretary of State
2010Fifth President of Wellesley College and credited with establishing an endowment for enduring financial stability
2011first woman portraitist of Newport
2012Journalist, television anchor and newscaster
2012Rhode Island Republican national committeewoman from 1992–2008
2012artist and founder of Providence’s Wheeler School
2013All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player who led the league in home runs during the 1953 season and ranks second in the all-time home runs list
2013Co-founder and a director of the Rhode Island College Dance Company and master swimmer, setting 800-meter freestyle and the 1500-meter long course world records in her age category
2013First American woman to fly in combat and was also the first woman to command a USAF fighter squadron
2013teacher and historic preservationist
2014Women's rights advocate and national organizer on women's issues
2014Silent-film actress, suffragette, first woman legislator
2014Philanthropist, who pushed for the creation of the Museum of Modern Art in New York
2015Served as White House Deputy Counsel, Deputy Undersecretary in the United States Department of Education, president of Lesley University and president of the WalMart Foundation
2015health care and education philanthropist
2015Founder of Johnson & Wales University
2015Founder of Johnson & Wales University
2016Historian
2016Mental health advocate
2016Medical Director of Women & Infants Hospital's Neonatal Follow-Up Program
2017Philanthropist,humanitarian, painter and sculptor, photographer, suffragette and author
2017Religious piety
2017Philanthropist
2018Television journalism
2019Missionary who helped establish McAuley House, Dorcas Place, and Sophia Academy.
2019Social justice reformer, actress, singer, producer and director