The Rhode Island GOP is proud to announce the 2019 Inductee Class for the RIGOP Hall of Fame. These prestigious awards were presented at our sold out Standing Ovation Awards Gala on November 16th where we raised $12,000 to support our 2020 Election General Assembly candidates.
Mary’s election on November 3, 1992, at the age of 69 as a Republican, in the most heavily Democratic House District in the state (which had previously been held by the Speaker of the House), drew nationwide attention and front-page coverage from the Providence Journal. She was the first African American woman elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives.
For over 20 years, Mary had been a leader in PACE (People Acting through Community Effort), the coalition of block clubs on Providence’s South Side and West End, which fought for services from the city government. As noted in an article about her life: “It was refreshing to see the State Legislature from the vantage point of a 70 something outsider, who was always amazed at the things that went on at the State House. Mary would call me every morning at 7:30 AM to describe what had happened the previous night at the lengthy evening sessions. I recall one night, when she called me at 11 pm and said ‘”we got out early tonight, so I thought I would call you now, instead of waiting until morning.”
Mary never took advantage of the perks that a legislator had available (even though she was only paid $300 a year at the time.) For example, she did not take the special license plates available to legislators. There was only one special privilege Mary truly enjoyed. She loved calling radio talk shows and was thrilled when she called into the Arlene Violet Show, she got on right away, instead of being put on hold for 45 minutes.
One of the many plaques she received for her good works in the community read: “For doing things that others would not do, could not do, or couldn’t find the time to do to make the West End a better neighborhood.”
Mary Ross “did things”, and many of them involved the Bucklin Street pool, which she supervised for 11 years during the summer. It was there, from her seat on the deck overlooking the pool that she got to know and befriend and counsel hundreds of children. And it was there that she saw the drug dealers brazenly doing business. Sometimes, she confronted them. Sometimes she went to City Hall, to the office of the then Mayor Buddy Cianci, to demand action on not just the drug dealing, but the prostitution, public drinking, bad housing and the long list of problems that kept the neighborhood from being what she knew it could be.
Mary’s two favorite professions: public service and being the mom of 9 children. One of her daughters said that when her mother was a state rep, she would call her at 11 pm and Mary wouldn’t be home. She would be off dealing with a constituent concern. They were actually relieved that Ross didn’t serve a second term in the legislature as they thought she should slow down being in her mid-70’s. But then, she was appointed to the Board of Regents…
Mary Ross additional service: Teaching Assistant. Member of 8th Ward Republican Committee (Vice Chair- Providence); State GOP; Rhode Island State Black Political Caucus; Rhode Island State Pharmacy Board; Providence Human Relations Commission; House Committee on Health Education and Welfare; Joint Committee on Naming State Constructions.
Mary Ross’ family flew in from all over the country to receive this honor on behalf of their mother.
During one’s lifetime, you meet people who are passionate and committed to a cause. Martha is that person. She never gives up, she is totally committed and passionate regarding the RI Republican Party and has more time in the saddle than anyone we know over time.
Martha has never zigged or a zagged on commitment to party and spreading the word to others, without reservation as to what others may think or how they may judge her. She is one in a billion and when God made Martha –he broke the mold. She is unique, loving, caring, a good daughter, a good friend and
the best example of a diehard, lifetime Republican.
A true leader, she coordinates the South County Breakfasts each month. She embraces family values and carries on the principles of a Patriot and as a proud American. She is known for her spectacular hats and for staying on top of all the issues
in attending multitudes of conservative focused conventions, she mingles with the GOP upper crust and supports the newcomers. Congratulations to RI’s Grand Dame of Conservative politics…Martha Stamp.
June was a leader in the Republican Party for over four decades, serving in leadership roles as a delegate to the statewide committee and for the National Republican Committee, such as Secretary in 1977. She first got involved in politics as a volunteer campaigning for Eisenhower in 1952. From serving on the Middletown town council, to being RI’s National Committeewoman & the Housing Chairwoman of the 1976 Republican National Convention in Kansas City, she had her name all over the map. At the time, she was the first woman ever elected to the Middletown council, and later became its first female president. June served in WWII in the Navy in Washington, DC breaking German code
However, her favorite role was that of State Senator, serving Middletown, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Tiverton, and a bit of Newport for over thirty-four years. She served as Deputy Minority leader for thirty-two of those years. Her legislative service included membership on the Senate Health, Education and Welfare Committee; Senate Finance Committee; Joint Committee on the Environment and Energy; the Long-Term Care Coordinating Council; and the Permanent Commission on Child Care.
She was known as THE champion to eliminate the master lever, was a respected advocate on women’s equality issues, and was the biggest voice for cleaning up Narragansett Bay. Every election cycle, even up into her late eighties, her palm card would include a new picture of her windsurfing off Third Beach. It was said she canvased her entire District windsurfing. June took pride in the fact she was one of the first ten people in Rhode Island to get a Toyota Prius, and would often drive other legislators around to champion her green energy mantra.
June dedicated over 40 years to the Republican Party and its core values.
Herreshoff is a former Bristol Town Administrator and Town Council Member with 33 years of public service under his belt.
Halsey was involved in politics for over thirty years. From1982-1986 he served two terms as a Republican Town Council Member. From 1986-1994 he served four terms as the elected chief executive officer (Town Administrator) in Bristol. Following that, he served eleven terms on the town council from 1994-2016. Many of his years on the council he served in the Republican minority; often times as the only Republican. He served on multiple committees in varying capacities and throughout his career always represented the values and principles of the Republican Party. He is still a regular attendee and contributor to the Republican Town Committee.
He is responsible for seven parks being installed in Bristol and is one of the architects of one of Bristol’s most well-known civic traditions: the Christmas Festival Tree Lighting. He has spoken out on a number of important issues, including an alarming proposal to implement RhodeMapRI, and its high-taxing effect on Bristol properties.
A lifelong Republican, business owner, and civic-minded individual, he is the descendant of a proud family known in the marine industry. He is President of Herreshoff designs, and on the Board of Directors for Herreshoff Marine Museum/America’s Cup Hall of Fame. Born Halsey Chase Herreshoff (born in 1933), he is a Naval Architect of production- and custom yachts, sailor and former president of Herreshoff Marine Museum. At the museum he and Edward duMoulin founded the America’s Cup Hall of Fame in 1992. Halsey is son of Sidney DeWolf Herreshoff and Rebecca Chase Herreshoff and the grandson of the famous Nathanael Greene Herreshoff.
As several before him in the Herreshoff family, he studied naval architecture at the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture where he finished a bachelor’s degree and later a master’s at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the US navy he achieved rank of Lieutenant before he started as a Naval Architect at the Bethlehem Steel Company and as a teacher at MIT. As a yacht designer, his Herreshoff Freedom 40 design led to a line of Herreshoff ketches from 27 to 45 feet and changed the way the world felt about un-stayed masts. Halsey might be best known for his career as an America’s Cup sailor, having served on many cup defenders of the 12-metre class era, first as bowman on Columbia in 1958, and concluding as navigator on Liberty in 1983. But perhaps his greatest contribution to sailing has been his development of the America’s Cup Hall of Fame at the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, Rhode Island.
Halsey is a world traveler and constant an ambassador of Rhode Island and our proud boating heritage. Herreshoff boats adorn our airport lobby and a Herreshoff steam engine was on display in the lobby of the Marriott for a period of time. Despite his very busy life and the seemingly hectic paste he manages to keep, he also authored several books on sailing.
Mr. Herreshoff is a stateman, an entrepreneur, and a civic leader whose decades of service have helped promote the ideals of the Republican Party in the town of Bristol and across the state.
