Westerly's Gold

Book excerpt: Written, compiled, and edited by Thomas A. O'Connell in 2003. Mr. O'Connell has unearthed the lives and achievements of our hidden treasures - some of our most talented predecessors - in Westerly's Gold. Our own Admiral Dunn appears, not just as a famous inventor, but as one of our neighbors. We see Westerly's Elizabeth Fitz Pendleton, who became the president of prestigious Wellesley College. We meet Westerly's first high school principal, Osceola Holcomb Kile. We learn about some of our other institutions, such as the original armory, the origins of the police department, and Town budget machinations during the Depression. We find that change is less than it seems over the past one hundred years.