By the Beautiful Sea
KEEP ON THE SUNNY SIDE
ABOVE: High school students Susan Earnshaw and Leonora Gilson at Bonnet Shores Beach Club in Narragansett, 1954 (State Archives/
Rhode Island Memories II: The 1940s and 1950s, courtesy of Leonora Gilson Dursin). FACING PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A
Scarborough Beach patrolman carries his surfboard, circa 1948 (“Rhode Island Vacation” tourism brochure, via Quahog.org). A beach beauty
contest, circa 1955 (PPL digital collections). A family takes in some sun at the beach, circa 1955 (State Archives). Gertrude Ward of the Ward
Singers performs at the Newport Jazz Festival, 1957 (PPL digital collections).
44 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JULY 2020