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
  1. Lapomarda 1992, p. 35.
  2. Lapomarda 1992, p. 33.

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.


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