R 171

2018 -- H 8062 Enacted 04/05/2018

H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

JOYOUSLY CELEBRATING THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WESTERLY SUN

Introduced By: Representatives Kennedy, Azzinaro, Shekarchi, Morgan, and Price

Date Introduced: April 05, 2018

WHEREAS, The Westerly Sun is a distinguished and award-winning newspaper

covering the communities of Charlestown, Hopkinton, Richmond, South Kingstown, and

Westerly, Rhode Island, and Groton, North Stonington, and Stonington, Connecticut; and

WHEREAS, The Westerly Sun was founded on August 7, 1893 and was guided by its

first publisher, the Honorable George H. Utter, who went on to serve as the Secretary of State,

Lieutenant Governor and Governor of Rhode Island. He was also elected to the Rhode Island

Senate and the Rhode Island House of Representatives and served as Speaker in 1889. Mr. Utter

was a Seventh-Day Baptist who observed the Sabbath from sunset Friday to sunrise Sunday, and

that was why The Westerly Sun, at that time, was the only newspaper in the nation that printed its

Sunday newspaper in the afternoon; and

WHEREAS, On the fateful morning of December 7, 1941, World War II came to the

United States when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On the East Coast, it was in the

afternoon, and that's how The Westerly Sun became the first newspaper in the United States to

print and report the attack on Pearl Harbor; and

WHEREAS, Word of the attack had reached President Francis Delano Roosevelt at 1:40

p.m. Eastern Standard Time and the news was announced from the White House at 2:22 p.m.

Word of the attack came to The Westerly Sun newsroom when Katherine Utter, the wife of then-

editor and publisher Ben Utter, heard about the event on the radio and immediately called the

newsroom. City Editor C. Starr Baker then called the Associated Press to gather as much

information as he could and composed the headline that announced the attack, the first such

newspaper headline in the United States, thereby making history for The Westerly Sun and the

State of Rhode Island; and

WHEREAS, Throughout its distinguished 125 year history, The Westerly Sun has

enlightened and educated the local community while always adhering to the strictest journalistic

principles. Hopefully the communities of Southern Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut will

continue to be informed and enriched by The Westerly Sun for another 125 years; now, therefore

be it

RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby joyously celebrates the 125th Anniversary of The Westerly Sun and

thanks them for the high-quality journalism they provide to the Southern Rhode Island

community on a daily basis; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. David Pare, Senior Vice President and

Chief Operating Officer of The Westerly Sun.

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LC005432

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