Kathleen Sullivan Connell (born May 24, 1937) is an American former politician from the state of

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

. She was the

Secretary of State of Rhode Island The secretary of state of Rhode Island is an elected office in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of 2015, the current secretary of state is Nellie Gorbea. The Rhode Island Department of State or is composed of five separate divisions: *The Ele ...

between 1987 and 1993.

Early life

Connell was born on May 24, 1937, in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

. Her parents were Laurence Sullivan and Margaret Sullivan (née Brynes). She attended St. Mary’s School and St. Catherine Academy. She received a bachelors of science degree in nursing from Salve Regina College in 1958, graduating '' magna cum laude''. She completed graduate studies at Boston College, the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...

and Rhode Island College. She married Gerald Connell in 1960 and the couple had three children: Laurence, Margaret and Kathleen. Connell worked as a registered nurse from 1970 to 1986.

Political career

Connell was a delegate at the 1984 Democratic National Convention and the following year, she was appointed to the Democratic National Committee and became a member of the Women's Democratic Caucus. She started her political career as a member of the Middletown, Rhode Island school committee, where she served for 13 years, and the Middletown town council. She served one term in the

Rhode Island Senate The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of wh ...

in the 48th district, being elected in 1983 and serving until 1984, before running for Secretary of State. She was the

between 1987 and 1993. During her State Office position, one of her most noteworthy achievements was saving historical records in the Rhode Island state capitol's basement. After leaving office, she worked as the Rhode Island Director of AARP. Connell was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2010, and is a 2013 recipient of the Isabelle Ahearn O'Neill Award.

References

External links

Guide to Office of the Secretary of State Kathleen S. Connell records
from the Rhode Island State Archives 1937 births Democratic Party Rhode Island state senators Secretaries of State of Rhode Island Women state legislators in Rhode Island Living people 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women {{RhodeIsland-politician-stub