Alvan T. Fuller, American businessman and politician, 50th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
Alvan Tufts Fuller (February 27, 1878 – April 30, 1958) was an American businessman, politician, art collector, and philanthropist from Massachusetts. He opened one of the first automobile dealerships in Massachusetts, which in 1920 was recognized as "the world's most successful auto dealership", and made him one of the state's wealthiest men. Politically a Progressive Republican, he was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1916, and served as a United States Representative from 1917 to 1921.
From 1925 to 1929 Fuller was Governor of Massachusetts, continuing the fiscally conservative and socially moderate policies of his predecessors. In 1927 he was enveloped in the international controversy surrounding the trial and execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, Italian immigrant anarchists convicted of robbery and murder. Fuller's handling of the affair, in which both domestic and international sources sought clemency for the two, effectively ended his political career.
Fuller was an avid collector of art, some of which has since been donated to museums in eastern New England, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He founded the Fuller Foundation, a charity that supports a variety of causes in eastern Massachusetts and the seacoast region of New Hampshire. Fuller Gardens, founded by him in North Hampton, New Hampshire, are now open to the public.
1878Feb, 27
Alvan T. Fuller
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Events on 1878
- 18Feb
Lincoln County War
John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jesse Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico. - 3Mar
Treaty of San Stefano
The Russo-Turkish War ends with Bulgaria regaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano; a few months afterwards the Congress of Berlin stripped its status to a vassal principality of the Ottoman Empire. - 25May
Comic opera
Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London. - 15Jun
Sallie Gardner at a Gallop
Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs; the study becomes the basis of motion pictures. - 22Oct
Salford, Greater Manchester
The first rugby match under floodlights takes place in Salford, between Broughton and Swinton.