Famous Rhode Islanders
These are just a few of the famous people who were either born in Rhode Island or spent some important time in Rhode Island.
George Berkeley, philosopher, educator, and Anglican bishop
Donald Carcieri, Rhode Island governor
Lincoln Chafee, U.S. senator
William Ellery Channing, Unitarian church leader
George M. Cohan, song writer, playwright, actor, singer, dancer, producer
Colonel S. P. Colt, founder of the U.S. Rubber Company and the Industrial Trust (forerunner of the Fleet Bank)
Nathanael Greene, Revolutionary War general
Esek Hopkins, first Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Navy
Stephen Hopkins, Rhode Island governor and signer of the Declaration of Independence
Julia Ward Howe, author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic
Anne Hutchinson, first woman to establish a town in America: Providence, Rhode Island
Patrick Kennedy, U.S. representative
Nap Lajoie, baseball player; first batting champion of the American League
James Langevin, U.S. representative
Henry Lippitt, Rhode Island governor
Oliver Hazard Perry, naval hero
John F. Reed, U.S. senator
Samuel Slater, father of the American textile industry and builder of a water-powered cotton mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Gilbert Stuart, portrait painter
Charlene Touchette, artist and author
Cornelius Vanderbilt, railroad tycoon
Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island
Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame: http://www.rilin.state.ri.us
Newport Notables: http://www.redwoodlibrary.org.
