Through more than 50 years of public life as an industrialist, philanthropist, and United States senator, Jesse H. Metcalf championed a variety of causes, not the least of which was The Rhode Island Foundation, to which he was the first contributor.

Born in 1860, Jesse H. Metcalf went to work in his father's successful textile business, Wanskuck Mills, at the age of 16. He learned millwork from the ground up and managed the company until his death in 1942.

Mr. Metcalf began his political career on the Providence Common Council in 1888. He continued to serve on the Council and then as a Rhode Island state legislator for 19 years. In 1924, he completed the remaining term of United States Senator LeBaron Colt, who had died in office. He then won two terms on his own, and served until 1937.

Jesse H. Metcalf once responded to his reputation as a conservative by saying, "I am so known because I insist that in expenditure of money our Government should get a dollar's worth for every dollar spent." His charitable philosophy followed this rule as well. He gave generously but prudently, investing in programs that would yield a return to the community far exceeding his gift.

He built a power house for the Rhode Island School of Design, for example, that would light up the institution long after his death. He built one of the first community centers in the state for Providence's Charles neighborhood, which housed in one facility not only athletic activities and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, but also embroidery classes, a Providence Public Library branch, and an immunization clinic.

In 1916, Jesse H. Metcalf gave The Rhode Island Foundation its first donation, an unrestricted gift of $10,000 to seed the fledgling community foundation. The Foundation embodied his belief that a charitable institution could create a growing pool of philanthropic money to support the state's citizens in perpetuity.

Jesse H. Metcalf's initial $10,000 has now generated at least $40,000 in grants and scholarships, and continues to generate more than $1,000 in grants every year. Many years after his death, Louisa D. Sharpe Metcalf followed her husband's example in her will, and left the Foundation approximately $1 million, which has now grown to more than $2.5 million.

There is perhaps no better testament to his leadership in the community and his prudent philosophy than that a gift Jesse H. Metcalf made 80 years ago continues to address Rhode Island's critical needs.