East High School - Redjacket Yearbook (Pawtucket, RI)

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James L. Jenks TAMES LAWRENCE JENKS. one of Pawtucket's foremost lawyers and citizens, was born in 1858 in a part of Smith-field which is now Central Falls. He had already entered high school when he came to Pawtucket and entered the old Summit Street School. He left before the completion of his course to enter a pattern shop where he planned to learn the trade, but after three years he decided that this wasn't his calling and returned to the high school. In 1879 he graduated, one of a class of three under the principalship of William E. Tolman. The following fall he entered Brown University and graduated four years later in 1 884 with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. Then the young graduate decided to study law, getting a place in the office of the late Nathan W. Littlefield. After three years of careful preparation he was admitted to the Bar and set up an office of his own in this city. He soon gained recognition in an appreciative city and in the late eighties was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives. He served there two terms, during which time he was chairman of the Committee on Special Legislation. A few years later he was again selected for public office, serving in turn as coroner and then as City Solicitor. In 1906 he returned again to the State Legislature—this time the State Senate—and was a member of the Judiciary Committee. Among the city business men he was a popular figure and in 1890 was elected Sec- retary of the Business Men's Association, a position which he filled with great distinction until his recent retirement, the oldest living member of the association, on the fiftieth anniversary of his election to this post. He has held various other posts and positions important in local business organizations. He was for a time president of the Pawtucket Bar Association, and he has been and still is on the boards of directors of many of our important industries. Always interested in youth, he is one of the two surviving charter members of the local Y. M. C. A. and was its first recording secretary. He was also chairman of the committee which directed the construction of the present building. Many years ago he conceived the plan for the making of a playground at Hammond's Pond, and although the project has now passed out of his hands, he was one of the first to suggest the idea. His interest in the high school has never waned, and only a few years ago he was the chairman of the seventy-fifth anniversary committee. Far from being retired at the age of eighty-two. he still carries on an active business in his law office on Main Street. This man. who has gained acclaim and recognition because of his untiring service to his community, is in the opinion of the class of 1 940 an ideal citizen. Chandler E. Sivalloiv. Jr. [ 13 1

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