RE Log - Fall 2020

FALL 2020 Ransom Everglades LOG 73 great-grandfather Henry Hill Anderson, counsel for the City of New York, who was descended from James Anderson, a co-founder of Londonderry, N.H. (ca. 1718). Harry’s great- grandfather, Oliver Burr Jennings, was a Forty- Niner whose ancestor Joshua Jennings settled in Hartford, Conn., in 1645, concurrently with Jehue Burr, great-grandfather of Col. Aaron Burr of whom Henry H. Anderson Jr. is a collateral descendent (both families settled in Fairfield, Conn.). Brought up in Oyster Bay, N.Y., Harry was commodore of Seawanhaka Corinthian and New York Yacht Clubs, and an honorary member of yacht clubs extending from Long Beach, Calif., to Helsinki, Finland. Harry was a flag officer of ten different yacht clubs, including The Revolting Colonies Outpost of The Imperial Poona Yacht Club. Harry experienced the Great Depression of the early 1930s as a pre-teen, and survived World War II as a Field Artillery captain in Patton’s Third Army. He was a vice president and assistant treasurer of the Columbia Lincoln Corporation, and a vice president of the Lincoln Safe Deposit Company in Manhattan before moving to Connecticut and subsequently Rhode Island. He always saw sailing as education, and tirelessly supported and promoted it, whether as a yacht club officer, US Sailing director, college sailing advocate, Congressional Cup judge or advisor to many sailing organizations. Harry was instrumental in introducing the Finn and Raven classes to the United States, and was actively associated with numerous educational institutions including Tall Ships America, University of Rhode Island, Yale University, and the U.S. Naval Academy. Anderson chaired US Sailing’s Appeals Committee for 25 years. A race course he designed, known as the Harry Anderson Course, is often used in college sailing. Harry was a devoted, life-long researcher driven by a compelling curiosity about subjects ranging from the location of Captain Cook’s ships on the bottom of Newport Harbor, to the lives of his illustrious antecedents. He participated in producing comprehensive publications and films about railroad magnate Arthur Curtiss James (another collateral ancestor), and America’s third vice president, Aaron Burr. He was determined that those forgotten (James) or maligned (Burr) be accurately celebrated, and assigned their proper places in history. His philanthropies included Ransom Everglades, where his name appears on the school’s gymnasium and sailing center. He was long involved as a champion of Yale (Class of 1942), and the University of Rhode Island sailing programs, having donated several fleets of boats, raised funds for sailing facilities and as an advisor. A longtime resident of Newport, R.I., Commodore Anderson sat on the boards of Tall Ships Newport (ASTA), Seamen’s Church Institute, the U.S. Naval War College, the Rhode Island Marine Archeology Project, and the Foundation for the Preservation of Captain Cook’s Ships. Always a volunteer himself, no one worked harder. Harry had a subtle way of snapping the whip that not only produced results, but also brought him respect and admiration. He was often the silent person at the table whose succinct conclusions solved problems. His work continued way beyond the usual retirement age. Harry’s awards and honoraria include Intercollegiate Sailing Association Hall of Fame; National Sailing Hall of Fame; Doctor of Laws from the University of Rhode Island (2009); The Bebbe Croce Trophy (International Sailing Federation and International Yacht Racing Union); Nathanael Herreshoff Trophy (U.S. Sailing Foundation); Lifetime Service Award (Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association); Congressional Cup Scarlet Blazer; 33rd Congressional Cup (dedicated to HHAJr); Post Captain’s Trophy (North American Station, Royal Scandinavian Yacht Clubs & Nylandska Jaktklubben); Bronze Star U.S. Army; Richard S. Nye Trophy (Cruising Club of America); Henry H. Anderson, Jr. Sail Training Scholarship Fund (American Sail Training Association); Lifetime Achievement Award (American Sail Training Association); W.P. Stephens Award (Mystic Seaport); Henry H. Anderson, Jr. Memorial Library (Seamen’s Church Institute). Harry is survived by a brother, David Anderson ’41 , and 45 nephews, nieces, and great-nephews and nieces, and a contributor to this piece, friend Roger Vaughan.