Thomas and Rachel Higgins Papers (Mss. Gr. 192)

Biographical note

Thomas Craven Higgins (1902-1992) was born in Detroit, MI and was raised on a farm in Jefferson Township. After completing a year of study at Michigan State College in agricultural science, he transferred to University of New Hampshire (UNH). Higgins also worked as the poultry plant manager there until 1928.

Higgins met Rachel Shepard while at University of New Hampshire and they married in 1928. The couple moved to Maine where Higgins managed a poultry farm for a year then moving to Kingston RI where he took a poultry management position at Sunny Ridge Farm, operated by M.H. Brightman. In 1931 he was hired by Dr. John C. Weldin to serve as superintendent of the poultry operation for the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station located in the newly acquired East Farm. Higgins then took over management of the Egg Laying Contest when Prof. H.O. Stuart assumed leadership of the newly established Poultry Department in 1931. Higgins continued in these positions until 1947. He also completed his degree work in agricultural science earning his BS in 1944. He then took teaching and research assignments.

Higgins' research interests were in poultry disease control, nutrition, and marketing. In an investigation of the respiratory disease, cocciodiosis, with associate Dr. J. P. Delaplane in the mid-1940s, a pioneering discovery regarding disease control through low-level administration of the drug, Sulfaquinoxaline was made. This discovery had an enormous impact on the management of the poultry industry and served as a model for future research. Higgins went on to earn his M.S. degree in poultry husbandry in 1955. He retired from teaching in 1965, after more than thirty-four years of service to the university. Over his career, Higgins authored or coauthored more than 30 scientific publications.

Higgins was involved in many industry-related activities, including: Chicken of Tomorrow Contests in the 1940s; poultry marketing schools; NEPPCO Egg Grading and Quality School; Poultry Producers Association of Rhode Island, and the Rhode Island Red Centennial Proclamation committee. Through his efforts to popularize chicken barbecues, he was deemed "father of the chicken barbecue in Rhode Island." He also was one of the first people in the Northeast to promote the idea of barbecuing turkey.

Higgins and his wife were long-time congregants in the Kingston Congregational Church. Following his retirement, Higgins remained active in local affairs, and served the Kingston Fire District as a warden, and the Kingston Water Company as a manager. He also studied painting and was a noted portraitist. He participated in shows of his work through the South County Art Association.

Rachel Higgins remained at home in Kingston to raise their three children: a son, Lawrence (b. 1932); and twin daughters, Nancy and Teresa (b. 1935). While raising her family she maintained interests and activities that were far-reaching. Concerned with issues of justice and human relations, she demonstrated a pursuit of spiritual knowledge and meaningful engagement. During an interview in 1989 for the oral history project, "What Did You Do In The War, Grandma?" (Mss.Gr. 85), Higgins noted that she had worked for peace organizations, supported conscientious objectors, and studied the roots and reasons for non-violent techniques.

Rachel Higgins was a founding member of the local chapter of the League of Women Voters (circa 1937). She remained very active during her lifetime in the Kingston Congregational Church, where she taught high school-aged students through the Pilgrim Fellowship program. She also participated in spiritual retreats beyond the local community. She and her husband befriended international students and faculty at the university.