William D. Metz, who starting in 1945 and until his retirement in 1982 served as professor of history at the University of Rhode Island. In 1958 he was also the driving force behind the founding of the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society (now the South County History Center) and was instrumental in acquiring the old Washington County Jail in Kingston as its headquarters. Professor Metz was the first chairman of the South Kingstown Historic District Commission, chairman of the South Kingstown Bicentennial Commission, and founding member of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission. In 1977, he was elected to head the prestigious Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities. He was president of the South County Museum for fourteen years and helped to relocate it to its current site in Narragansett, where a building is named for him. He died on February 11, 2003, at his home in Kingston. Dr. Metz was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2016.
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