Eleanor Walker Keyes was a native of Newport. She attended Newport public schools and graduated from Rogers High School in 1941. She was one of the first African American women to work at the Newport Torpedo Station on Goat Island during WWII and at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center until her retirement in 1986. She was a founding and long-time active member of the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society and of the Newport Historical Society. She was also instrumental in establishing a permanent monument at Patriots Park in Portsmouth, dedicated to the role of the First Black Rhode Island Regiment during the American Revolution.
Biography and image provided Keith Stokes, Rhode Island Black Heritage Society
Built with Shorthand