TALL SHIP PERRY Pg. 14
BORN FREE
WEDNESDAY, JulY 3, 2013
Vol. 41, No. 27
Council Approves Final Budget
WhAT’S INSIDE
NAVY Pg. 8
By Tom Shevlin
Table of Contents CAlENDAR FAITh COMMuNITY COMMuNITY BRIEFS CROSSWORD PuZZlE DINING OuT MAP DINNER & A MOVIE EDITORIAl FIRE/POlICE lOG GARDEN MAINShEET NATuRE NAVY COMMuNITY REAlTY TRANSACTIONS REEl REPORT RECENT DEAThS SuDOKu
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Hero for the Fourth
Standing at the foot of Eisenhower Park in Washington Square, the statue of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry will preside over the Independence Day festivities of the Fourth of July weekend. The statue, by William Green Turner, was erected on Sept. 10, 1885 to honor Perry, one of Newport’s most patriotic and important 19th century citizens. The artist Turner, a native of Newport, was living and working in Florence when he won the city-sponsored competition to sculpt the statue. See stories about events and exhibits relating to Perry on this page and inside. (Photo by Kirby Varacalli)
Newport’s 19th Century Patriot: Oliver hazard Perry By Pat Blakeley One of Rhode Island’s favorite sons will be honored this week on dual fronts: at the opening reception for the Redwood Library’s new exhibit “Oliver Hazard Perry: The Hero of Lake Erie” and at the Dedication Weekend for the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, Rhode Island’s official tall ship. The young naval officer whose career almost ran aground when his ship Revenge hit a reef off Westerly, rebounded to become the hero of the War of 1812 just two years later. The Redwood Library will kick off its exhibition honoring Newport’s most famous naval hero at a public reception on Wednesday, July 3, 4-6 p.m. in the Van Alen Gallery. “Oliver Hazard Perry: The Hero of Lake Erie” will feature famous as well as rarely seen items chronicling milestones in Perry’s life, from Trinity baptismal records and a jacket he wore as an infant to personal correspondence to fragments of the Lawrence and Niagara, vessels he commanded during the famous battle. The exhibit commemorates the 200th anniversary of Perry’s victory at the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. In many ways, the Redwood is honoring one of its own – Perry was a shareholder and head of the donations committee at Redwood. Private collectors and institutions alike have come forward to honor the Rhode Island native who helped turn the tide against the British in the War of 1812. His decisive and unexpected victory on Lake Erie catapulted him to national prominence. With no previous combat
Who Was Oliver hazard Perry? By Brian Stinson
Painting by Jane Stuart, courtesy of Birmingham Museum of Art. experience and outgunned by the opposing forces, Perry became not only a naval hero, but also a symbol of bravery, determination, leadership and inspiration to the young nation, elevating the public’s mood after many crushing defeats at the hands of the British. Shortly after Perry’s death in 1819 at age 34, his biographer John Niles observed that the country had not expressed its grief so collectively since George Washington died twenty years earlier. Pieces featured in the exhibit include artwork and artifacts from the Redwood Library, as well as Brown University, the Rhode Island Historical Society, the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Naval War College Museum, the Newport Historical Society, the Preservation Society of Newport County, and several private collections. The exhibit is open to the public through January. The Redwood Library is at 50 Bellevue Ave.
The Fourth of July is a fitting time to remember one of the heroes of our country who lived in, and is buried in, Newport. Oliver Hazard Perry is considered to be Newport's most illustrious naval war hero of the 19th century. Although he was born in South Kingstown, he was baptized, educated, reared, and married in Newport, and he chose Newport as his home. Born in 1785, Perry was schooled in Newport and baptized with younger brother Matthew at Trinity Church. In his early teens, he entered the Navy as a midshipman. In this transitional stage in his life, he was placed on board the vessel General Greene, of which his father, Christopher Raymond Perry, was captain. This began his life-long career in serving his country. He saw action including two tours of the Mediterranean Sea. Commissioned a lieutenant in 1807, Perry was involved in various naval activities over the years, including being responsible for the building and commanding of gunboats for the government from headquarters located in Newport. On May 5, 1811, Perry married Elizabeth Champlin Mason in the drawing room of her father’s home, which once stood at #274-
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276 Thames Street. The site is now part of One Pelham East and the former People’s Credit Union parking lot. In 1812, a declaration of war was authorized by Congress against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This war came to be known as the War of 1812. The three main causes of the war were: Britain seized U.S. ships trading with France; they seized U.S. sailors; and they were arming the Indians who were raiding the western border (eastern Great Lakes region). In early 1813, Perry was given command of U.S. Naval Forces on Lake Erie with his headquarters at Erie, Pennsylvania. His job during that spring and summer was to oversee the building, equipping, and staffing of a fleet consisting of ten vessels. He had at his disposal two sister ships, the Niagara and the Lawrence. The Lawrence, Perry’s flagship, was named for his close friend James Lawrence who had been mortally wounded months before on June 1, 1813, off Boston. Perry even had a banner made bearing the last words of Lawrence, “Don’t give up the ship!” Perry assigned the Niagara to Lt. Jessie D. Elliott. The two men were very different from
See PERRY on page 14
With the start of the fiscal year looming, City Council members last week engaged in a lively debate over the fate of its FY2013-14 budget. In the end, the council remained divided, and in a series of 4-3 votes, narrowly passed a spending plan totaling just over $114 million. The final margin was the closest budget vote the council had let stand in years, and underscored the growing difficulties woven into the city's bottom line. During the discussion – which spanned the better part of half an hour – councilors jockeyed back and forth over school funding, procedural actions, and whether residents can sustain year-over-year tax increases of 3-4 percent.
See BuDGET on page 9
School Committee Nixes STEAM By Meg O’Neil At a special meeting held on Friday, June 28, the Newport School Committee voted to oppose a proposal for a Newport County charter school. The vote was 4-2, with Rebecca Bolan and Thomas Phelan the only members of the committee favoring the charter school. Robert Leary was absent. The resolution comes two weeks after the Middletown Town Council also voted to oppose the charter school. The proposed STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Academy would open at the Boys & Girls Club of Newport County in fall 2014, if approved. The proposed school also faced scrutiny recently during the first of two public hearings held by the Rhode Island Department of Education. At Friday’s school committee meeting, Bolan questioned whether vice-chair Jo Eva Gaines should be allowed to vote on the resolution because she is a member of the Rhode Island Board of Education – which is the chief policy-setting body overseeing K-12 education in Rhode Island. Gaines said she had the authority to do so. Bolan then said that the wording of the resolution included a “number of fallacies.”
See COMPlAINTS on page 7
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