Lawrence Reid, president of the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, has announced what he termed “our Hall of Fame’s contribution to the 250th anniversary celebration.”

That contribution, scheduled for July 19, the real Rhode Island Independence Day via our state’s ratification of the Declaration of Independence, will occur at Butts Hill Fort in Portsmouth, the site of the American headquarters during the Battle of Rhode Island, in conjunction with the Battle of Rhode Island Association and the Heritage Harbor Foundation. The public is invited to attend.

The event consists of the induction of four major figures associated with Rhode Island’s Revolutionary history. These honorees are:
- Major General John Sullivan, victorious commanding general in the August 29, 1778 Battle of Rhode Island and later Governor of New Hampshire (1786-89) and federal district judge, owing to his civilian career as a lawyer.

- Lt. Colonel Samuel Ward, Jr., commander of the Black Regiment that fought valiantly at Butts Hill and later a prominent merchant and businessman in Rhode Island and New York. He was a son of Governor Samuel Ward and the grandfather of Julia (Ward) Howe, author of “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Now he joins both in the Hall of Fame.

- Rev. Dr. Roderick Terry, philanthropist and donor of the Battle of Rhode Island site for public use as well as an officer and benefactor of the Redwood Library and the Newport Historical Society and an author and bibliophile.

- Reverend Henry Wight, longtime Congregational Church leader, prominent Bristol civic leader, and the person who began and sustained for five decades Bristol’s nationally prominent Fourth of July Celebration, the oldest in America.

According to Reid, these inductees were recommended to the Hall of Fame by Dr. Patrick T. Conley, the Hall’s former president in his capacity as a member of the Hall’s Historians Committee. Conley, the chairman of the Rhode Island Bicentennial Commission (ri76), was assisted by playwright Ken Dooley and Christian McBurney, the leading historian of Rhode Island’s role in the American Revolution.

Reid stated that the event will occur at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 19 on Butts Hill in a setting hosted and staged by volunteers from the Battle of Rhode Island Association. The Artillery Company of Newport with their Paul Revere cannons will also participate. Among the invitees are Dr. Karl F. Stephens of Barrington, biographer of General Sullivan, state Historian Laureate Keith Stokes, members of the Bristol Fourth of July Committee, Secretary of State Gregg Amore, and directors of Rhode Island’s 250th Commission, that Amore chairs.

Beautifully-crafted historical flyers containing lengthy biographical information about each inductee will be presented to those in attendance courtesy of the Heritage Harbor Foundation, that is providing a buffet following the induction.

For further information contact the Hall of Fame at 401/272-1776 or Joseph Studlick at 832/472-1334.