William C. Prout
William Christopher Prout (December 24, 1886 – August 4, 1927) was an American athlete. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London and was president of the American Olympic Committee.[1] He was also the tenth state deputy of the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus from 1921 to 1924.[2] He stood for election to become the District Attorney of Suffolk County, Massachusetts in 1926, but lost.[1]
Early life
He was born in the West End of Boston, Massachusetts on December 24, 1886.[2] He was frail as a child.[2] He attended Boston Latin School and English High School in Andover, Massachusetts, and then Brown University and Boston University where he was president of his class.[2] He is in the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame.[1]
Athletics
Prout won his preliminary heat of the 400 metres at the 1908 Summer Olympics with a time of 50.4 seconds. He advanced to the semifinals, where he was eliminated following a fourth and last place finish in his semifinal heat.
He was elected president of the American Athletic Union in 1921.[2] Prout founded the Boston Irish-American Athletic Association.[1] From 1926 until his death, he was president of the American Olympic Committee.[1]
Knights of Columbus
Prout served as the tenth state deputy of the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus from 1921 to 1924.[2] He was also a Supreme Director from 1922 to 1927.[1] As a knight, he sponsored the resolution that led to the creation of the Columbian Squires.[1]
For his service to the Catholic Church he was made a knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 1924.[1]
References
Works cited
- Lapomarda, Vincent A. (1992). The Knights of Columbus in Massachusetts (second ed.). Norwood, Massachusetts: Knights of Columbus Massachusetts State Council.
- Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
- De Wael, Herman (2001). "Athletics 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 24 July 2006.
- Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 24 July 2006.
- Knights of Columbus
- Boston University people
- 1886 births
- 1927 deaths
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics
- Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
- American male sprinters
- Boston University alumni
- Brown University alumni
- Boston Latin School alumni
- Presidents of the United States Olympic Committee
- People from the West End, Boston
- American sprinter stubs