Rhode Island

She was a suffragist, stage and screen actor, and RI's first female lawmaker | Opinion

Published

2 years ago

March 16, 2024

She was a suffragist, stage and screen actor, and RI's first female lawmaker | Opinion

Ken Dooley is a member of the board of directors of the Heritage Harbor Foundation.

Her Irish friends would agree that Isabelle Ahearn O’Neill, a stage and screen actor of the silent film era, a suffragist, and the first woman elected to the Rhode Island legislature, died most appropriately on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1975. The resolution passed by the state House of Representatives recognizing March 8, 2007, as Women’s History Day mentioned O’Neill’s accomplishment in becoming the state’s first woman legislator “just two short years after women gained the right to vote.” To call her a pioneer would be an understatement.

Born in Woonsocket in 1880, Isabelle was the youngest of 13 children and moved to Providence in 1892 with her family. She attended the Boston College of Drama and Oratory. Marrying John O’Neill in 1907, she had one child, who died at age 3. Her marriage ended later in divorce, and she never remarried.

A powerful speaker, Isabelle was an actress on the vaudeville stage and in silent films, establishing the Ahearn School of Elocution in 1900 when she was 20 years old. Her students gave recitals at the Providence Opera House. She also worked as an actor for nearly two decades (1900–1918), taking both lead and supporting roles in primarily summer stock and vaudeville shows in Rhode Island and New York. In 1915, she began to take roles in silent films such as Joe Lincoln’s “Cape Cod Stories,” made by the Providence-based Eastern Film Corporation. O’Neill became a suffragist and began campaigning for Democratic candidates in Rhode Island.

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Perhaps inspired by her father, a former councilman, she entered politics and made history in 1922 as the first woman elected to the General Assembly. O’Neill’s acting career and divorced status made her a somewhat risqué choice, but her solid Catholic background and maternalistic agenda affirmed her respectability. In that election year, she also chaired the women’s committee for the gubernatorial campaign of William S. Flynn.

Isabelle Ahearn O'Neill was the first woman elected to the Rhode Island General Assembly. — Isabelle Ahearn O’Neill was the first woman elected to the Rhode Island General Assembly.

Like other female politicians of her day, she built a career on “women’s” issues, such as pensions for widowed mothers, better teacher pay and protections for female workers. On June 18, 1923, she steered a maternity bill through the House, the first of its kind in the nation, only to see it killed in Senate Committee. Not content with the support of her middle-class Irish American peers, she courted the state’s polyglot electorate by delivering speeches in French and Italian. After eight years in the House of Representatives, the popular Smith Hill legislator moved to the Senate and served as deputy Democratic floor leader, the first woman in the nation to hold this position. Another career highlight came in 1924 when she was temporarily Chair of the Democratic National Convention.

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Throughout her career, O’Neill was known for her outspoken and principled stands. Despite, or perhaps, because of her unconventional life, some seized on her as a model of activist Catholic womanhood, frequently inviting her to speak to parish groups on such topics as “Women in Politics.” At the request of President Franklin Roosevelt, she left the state Senate after only two years to serve as the president’s legislative liaison to the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. In 1943, she resigned and returned to her home state, where she took an executive position at the Rhode Island Labor Department to work on the cost-of-living index. She retired from government service in 1954 and passed away in 1975 at the age of 94.

In 2011, the YWCA of Rhode Island created the Isabelle Ahearn O’Neill Award in her memory to honor the state’s women leaders. She was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2014.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: She entered politics and made history in 1922 as the first woman elected to the General Assembly.

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Rhode Island

RI Lottery Powerball, Lucky For Life winning numbers for Jan. 10, 2026

Published

12 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Jan. 10, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from Jan. 10 drawing

05-19-21-28-64, Powerball: 14, Power Play: 3

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Jan. 10 drawing

17-24-36-38-43, Lucky Ball: 17

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Numbers numbers from Jan. 10 drawing

Midday: 6-3-1-0

Evening: 3-7-1-4

Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Wild Money numbers from Jan. 10 drawing

10-13-27-37-38, Extra: 19

Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
Winners of the Lucky for Life top prize of $1,000 a day for life and second prize of $25,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.

When are the Rhode Island Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. ET daily.
Numbers (Midday): 1:30 p.m. ET daily.
Numbers (Evening): 7:29 p.m. ET daily.
Wild Money: 7:29 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Rhode Island

GoLocalProv | News | Gov. McKee’s Schedule for the First 10 Days of the New Year

Published

24 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

GoLocalProv | News | Gov. McKee’s Schedule for the First 10 Days of the New Year

Saturday, January 10, 2026

GoLocalProv News Team

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Governor Dan McKee PHOTO: GoLocal

It’s a new year, filled with new challenges. The General Assembly is back in session. Rhode Island’s economy is flat at best, and according to the University of Rhode Island economist Leonard Lardaro, the state is in a recession. Rhode Island is also in daily legal conflict with the Trump administration.

Add that the state is trying to recover from a mass shooting at Brown University, which killed two students and wounded nine others.

For Governor Dan McKee, it is a critical time.

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He has announced he is running for reelection—the Democratic primary is just nine months away.

McKee’s poll numbers have plummeted to record lows.

A poll released by the University of New Hampshire in November of 2025 found that in the race for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Rhode Island, 29% of likely Democratic primary voters (N=359) say they would currently vote for former CVS executive Helena Foulkes, 13% would vote for Speaker of the RI House of Representatives Joe Shekarchi, 11% would vote for incumbent Governor Dan McKee, 6% would write in someone else, and 42% are undecided.

Is the 74-year-old McKee criss-crossing the state to reassure Rhode Islanders, listening to residents’ ideas, and sharing his vision for the state in his second term?

GoLocal offers a recap of the McKees’ public schedule for the first ten days of the month.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 10 & SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 2026

No public events.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2026

No public events.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2026

2:00 PM

Governor McKee will deliver remarks at the Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty’s 18th Annual Interfaith Poverty Vigil.

LOCATION:

RI State House Rotunda

82 Smith Street

Providence, RI

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2026

No public events.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2026

No public events.

MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2026

9:30 AM

Governor McKee will deliver remarks at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new community learning center at the Cross’ Mills Public Library.

LOCATION:

Cross’ Mills Public Library

4417 Old Post Road

Charlestown, RI

SATURDAY, JANUARY 3 & SUNDAY, JANUARY 4, 2026

No public events.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2026

11:00 AM

Governor McKee will join members of Rhode Island’s Congressional Delegation and local and state leaders for a rally hosted by Climate Action RI, Climate Jobs RI, and the AFL-CIO in support of Revolution Wind and other offshore wind projects.

LOCATION:

CIC Providence

225 Dyer Street

Providence, RI

THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2026

No public events.

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Rhode Island

GoLocalProv | Politics | Providence On Sunday Is One of the Sites for a National Protest Against ICE

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

GoLocalProv | Politics | Providence On Sunday Is One of the Sites for a National Protest Against ICE

Saturday, January 10, 2026

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Protest in Providence in June against ICE PHOTO: GoLocal

Organizers in Rhode Island and across the country are mobilizing against ICE after a pair of shootings in the past few days.

Organizers locally said, “Rhode Islanders will gather on Sunday to honor the life lost, make visible the human cost of ICE’s actions, and demand that state and federal leaders reject local contracts with ICE, take every action possible to stop ICE from operating in Rhode Island, and hold ICE agents accountable when they break the law.”

The RI event begins at 2 PM at the State House on Sunday.

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Nationally, it was a announced on Friday that, “A broad national coalition, including Indivisible, MoveOn Civic Action, the American Civil Liberties Union, Voto Latino, United We Dream, 50501, the Disappeared in America Campaign of the Not Above the Law coalition, and partner organizations across the country, is calling for a coordinated ICE Out For Good Weekend of Action.

“The mobilization comes in response to the escalation of ICE violence in our communities, the killing of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old wife and mother of three, and the months-long pattern of unchecked violence and abuse in marginalized communities across America. Across the country, communities will gather in nonviolent, lawful, and community-led actions to honor the life lost, demand accountability, and make visible the human cost of ICE’s actions,” said organizers.

Organizers added, “Good and the Portland victims are part of a broader and deeply alarming pattern of unchecked violence and abuse by federal immigration enforcement agencies. In September, ICE reportedly shot and killed Silverio Villegas González, a father and cook from Mexico living in Chicago. In 2025 alone, more than 30 people have reportedly died in ICE detention.”