Niles Lee Perkins, Jr. (July 1, 1919 – April 25, 1971) was an American

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. Perkins was United States champion in men's 35-lb

weight throw Two sports have events that fall under the name of weight throw one being the track and field event and the other being the Scottish highland games events. The track and field event is most popular in the United States as an indoor equivalent t ...

in 1940 and held the weight throw indoor world record for nine years. He was also a good

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consis ...

er and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player.

Biography

Early life and athletic career

Perkins was born in

Augusta, Maine Augusta is the capital of the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Kennebec County. The city's population was 18,899 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous city in Maine, and third-least populous state capital in the Un ...

on July 1, 1919. He became an athlete at

Cony High School Cony High School is a public school located in Augusta, Maine, United States that educates students from Grades 9 to 12. Cony draws its students from Augusta, as well as the surrounding communities of Chelsea, China, Jefferson, Palermo, Somervil ...

in Augusta, setting a school record in the hammer and playing tackle on the football team. For one year he attended

Governor Dummer Academy The Governor's Academy is an independent school north of Boston located on in the village of Byfield, Massachusetts, United States (town of Newbury), north of Boston. The Academy enrolls approximately 412 students in grades nine through twelv ...

, where he threw the 12-pound high school hammer 201 feet in training (the national high school record was 196 feet) and was named 1938's top high school hammer thrower in the United States. After graduating from high school Perkins went to

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

; his track coach at Bowdoin was Jack Magee, whose previous pupils included 1924 Olympic hammer throw champion Fred Tootell. At the 1939

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

( AAU) junior championships Perkins placed third in the hammer and second in the 56-pound

; both were won by Stan Johnson, a fellow Maine thrower. Perkins also continued to play football; he was noted as a good field goal kicker, and in one game against

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanthr ...

he scored Bowdoin's only points in a 6-0 win with his two field goals. At the 1940 national indoor championships Perkins won the 35-lb weight throw, throwing 56 ft in (17.10 m) and defeating former champions Henry Dreyer and

Irving Folwartshny Irving Henry "Shorty" Folsworth (born Folwartshny; March 16, 1914 – July 27, 1994) was an American hammer thrower and weight thrower. He was a seven-time United States champion and briefly held the indoor world record in men's weight throw. Bio ...

. Two weeks later, on March 8, 1940, Perkins threw 58 ft in (17.86 m) and broke Dreyer's world record by three inches; Perkins held the world record for almost nine years, until Jim Scholtz broke it in the 1949 IC4A indoor championships. In training Perkins reportedly threw over 59 feet, and 61 feet on a fouled throw. After two years at Bowdoin Perkins switched to the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

to study

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, and his athletic career trailed off; although he attempted to defend his indoor weight throw title at the 1941 championships, he was no longer one of the favorites, and only placed fifth as Dreyer regained the title.

Later life

In 1941 Perkins got a job as a

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling ...

for

Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics. It is the fifth-largest de ...

, staying with the company until 1944 and becoming its production and planning supervisor. During the last years of World War II he served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, but started suffering from serious health problems, including

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

and

poliomyelitis Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...

. After recovering and receiving his discharge from the Navy in 1945 Perkins embarked on a new career as a

, returning to Bowdoin for a one-year

pre-medical Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med course ...

course and then enrolling at

Tufts University School of Medicine The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a Private university, private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in downto ...

. He served as assistant track and field coach at both schools while studying; at Tufts, he coached

Tom Bane Tom Bane (December 28, 1913 – April 11, 1999) was an American politician who served in the California State Assembly from 1959 to 1965 and from 1974 to 1992. Early life and education Bane was born on December 28, 1913, in Los Angeles and grad ...

and

Bob Backus Robert ("Bob") Hudson Backus (July 11, 1926 – June 30, 1999) was an American track and field athlete who set List of world records in athletics, world records in the hammer throw. He wore ballet slippers during competition and after using weight ...

, both of whom also set indoor world records in the weight throw. After completing his internship at the Maine General Hospital Perkins returned to Bath Iron Works, this time as an industrial physician; he also worked as a private practitioner. In 1955 he became full-time mill physician for the Oxford Paper Company. Later, he moved to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, where he specialized in

cardiology Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart d ...

and internal medicine; in 1965, he received the A. H. Robins Award for outstanding community service by a Maine physician. He was instrumental in the creation of the Penobscot Bay Medical Center, and became its first executive director. Perkins drowned in the

Miramichi River The Miramichi River is a river located in the east-central part of New Brunswick, Canada. The river drains into Miramichi Bay in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The name may have been derived from the Montagnais words "Maissimeu Assi" (meaning Mi'km ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on April 25, 1971 while on a fishing trip. His canoe capsized, and in heavy clothes in the cold water he was unable to swim to safety; although he was presumed to have drowned, his fate was not known with certainty until his body was found washed up on the shore in

Blackville, New Brunswick Blackville is a community, formerly an incorporated village, in Northumberland County, New Brunswick, Canada. It is located on the Southwest Miramichi River approximately southwest of Miramichi. History The first post office opened in the are ...

some time later. After Perkins's death, the Penobscot Bay Medical Center named its ambulatory care unit and library after him. Perkins was posthumously inducted in the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Niles 1919 births 1971 deaths Accidental deaths in New Brunswick American male hammer throwers American football tackles Sportspeople from Augusta, Maine Bowdoin Polar Bears men's track and field athletes Maine Black Bears men's track and field athletes Physicians from Maine American cardiologists World record setters in athletics (track and field) American track and field coaches Boating accident deaths Male weight throwers 20th-century American physicians Bowdoin Polar Bears track and field coaches Tufts Jumbos track and field coaches Track and field athletes from Maine The Governor's Academy alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II