Judge James E. Dooley, one of New England’s great early sports entrepreneurs and a long-time Johnston resident, is one of 10 distinguished people who have been elected to the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2019.
Dooley was born in Massachusetts in 1886 and at age 13 his family moved to Pawtucket. He graduated form Classical High School, earned a law degree from Georgetown University and was admitted to the bar in 1911.
According to Vincent Cimini, who chairs the prestigious RI Hockey Hall of Fame, Dooley later clerked for Rhode Island U.S. Senators Nelson Aldrich and Henry Lippitt and his family later settled n Johnston. He became a RI district court judge for a short time and then a state legislator.
“The title of ‘Judge’ remained over his lifetime,” Cimini noted. “He had a rather remarkable sports career that began in 1926 when he was one of the founders of the Canadian-American (Can-Am) Hockey League as well as founder and sole owner of the Providence Reds, our state’s first professional hockey team and one of the league’s original franchises.”
He later served for six years as president of the CAHL, which eventually evolved into the now highly-popular American Hockey League.
In 1929, Dooley hired Jean Dubuc, a former major league baseball pitcher, as general manager of the Reds. He became acquainted with Dubuc during his time as president and owner of the Providence Grays baseball team – its most illustrious player being the one and only Babe Ruth, with whom Dooley became a life-long friend.
In 1938, Dooley sold the Reds to the famed Louis A.R. “Lou” Pieri.
Dooley not only founded the Reds and purchased the Providence Grays, he became part owner of the Providence Steam Rollers of the National Football League and served on the league’s Executive Committee for seven years, during which his team won the 1929 NFL championship.
As a member of the RI General Assembly, his 1934 bill to allow pari-mutuel horse race gambling was passed and two months later Narragansett Park opened for thoroughbred horse racing. In 1938, he became president of the track and held that post until his passing in 1960.
His son, J. Alden Dooley took over as President after his father’s death and ran the track until 1975 when his son James A. Dooley Jr. took over until Narragansett Park closed in September of 1978.
Over that remarkable period, “Gansett” had become one of the most famous and successful horse tracks in the nation - a magnet for celebrities and high society. Among the many legendary horses that raced there were War Admiral, Whirlaway and Seabiscuit.
“This is a diverse group that spans the entire history of the game in Rhode Island,” said Vincent Cimini, chairman of the RI Hockey Hall of Fame, “From Malcolm Greene Chase, who brought ice hockey here form Canada in the 1890s to Brian Boucher, a first round draft pick who analyzes NHL game for a national TV audience, the Class of 2019 is a great one.”
The 10 people who were elected from a list of 30 nominees that came from a pool of 175 qualified candidates, are: Brother Adelard Beaudet SC of Mount St. Charles; Malcolm Chace; Brian Boucher, selected in the NHL draft in 1995; Brian Burke, who had a three-decade career in the NHL and built the Anaheim Ducks into a Stanley Cup winner; and Jack Capuano, an All-American defenseman at Maine who played three seasons in the NHL and coached the NY Islanders and is now associate coach of the Florida Panthers.
The Class of 2019, which will be inducted into the RI Hokey Hall of Fame on Sept. 6 at Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, also includes: Pete Demers, who spent 34 years as trainer for the Los Angeles Kings; Dooley, Tom Eccleston, legendary Burrillville High coach; David Emma, a three-time All-Stater at Bishop Hendricken and two-time All-American at Boston College who won the Hobey Baker Award in 1991 and only Rhode Islander to do so. He was the Pride of Cranston and played for the U.S. in the 1992 Olympics.
Also Margaret DeGidio “Digit” Murphy, who starred at Cornell and won 318 games as coach of the Brown University women’s hockey team. Tickets and more information about the induction celebration can be found on www.rihhof.com.
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