By JIM BARON

PROVIDENCE — Route 146 from Route 95 to the Massachusetts border could be getting a new name soon.

Woonsocket Sen. Marc Cote has introduced legislation to change its official name to the “Blackstone Valley Heritage Byway.”
Currently named The Eddie Dowling Highway, the road was named after the influential Broadway actor, playwright, producer, songwriter and composer in the first half of the 20th century.
Cote and Blackstone Valley Tourism Council director Robert Billington, who suggested the name change, hope that Massachusetts will continue the “byway” designation from Uxbridge, Mass, to the highway’s end in Worcester if Rhode Island approves the change on its section.
"Many residents and travelers do not realize the national significance of the Blackstone River Valley as the birthplace of industrialization in America. We felt it would be appropriate to recognize the importance of the Blackstone River Valley's contribution to America by using Route 146 between Providence and Worcester, which follows the Blackstone River and Canal between the second- and third-largest cities in New England," Billington said.
Under Cote’s plan the spur of Route 146A between Park Square in North Smithfield and its intersection with Route 146 would bear the name Eddie Dowling Highway, with the main thoroughfare named for the Blackstone Valley that it traverses.
ddie Dowling was born as Joseph Nelson Gaucher in Woonsocket on Dec. 11, 1889.
Gaucher took the maiden name of his mother, Bridget Mary Dowling of Ireland. After marrying actress Rae Dooley, his children also apparently used the last name Dowling. He later became an outspoken and militant supporter of the Irish Republican Army.
“If you look closely at a gravestone located … at St. Joseph’s Cemetary on Cumberland’s Mendon Road in the village of Berkeley, you can read the name ‘Gaucher,’ and then ‘Eddie Dowling, and his wife Rae Dooley,” Valley historian David Balfour writes. “As a youngster, he worked for pennies singing Irish songs and French Canadian ballads ouside the saloons of Woonsocket’s Social District.
“Eddie Dowling became one of the best song-and-dance men this country has ever known,” he continued. “He made his debut in 1918 in a Victor Hebert operetta called ‘The Velvet Lady.’ The next year, he appeared with his wife in (the) ‘Ziegfeld Follies,’ along with Will Rogers and Fannie Brice. By the
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1930s, he had become a Broadway producer, (and), by 1937, he produced ‘Richard II,’ starring Maurice Evans.
“In 1939, he won an award for his production of ‘Time Of Your Life,’ (and), in 1945, he won acclaim for Tennessee Williams’ ‘The Glass Menagerie,’ in which he acted and co-directed. Eddie Dowling was a theatrical genius — born in Woonsocket, buried in Cumberland, a true product of a Blackstone Valley byway.”
According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), Dowling was “an enormously influential composer, songwriter (‘Do You Remember?’), author, actor, producer and director,” and also a founder and president of the USO (United Service Organizations’) Camp Shows. He gained honorary degrees from Boston College, Providence College and Mount Mary College, not to mention Catholic University, and made a world tour as a choir boy with the St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir in Providence
“Dowling’s theatrical career was extremely varied,” IDMb added. “He appeared in vaudeville, and in the Broadway productions of ‘She Took a Chance’ … “The Girl in the Spotlight,’ ‘Blaze of Glory,’ ‘Love’s Old Song,’ ‘Purple Dust,’ and ‘Our Town.’ He wrote the plays ‘The Greatest Love’ and ‘Heart of the North;’ and produced ‘The Double Life,’ ‘Big Hearted Herbert,’ ‘Richard II,’ ‘Shadow and Substance’ and ‘Madame Capet.’”
There’s more: He wrote the librettos and appeared in “Sally, Irene and Mary;” and produced and appeared in “Here Come the Clowns” and “Thumbs Up.” He also produced, directed and appeared in “The Time of Your Life” (which garnered a Pulitzer Prize in 1940), and “The Glass Menagerie;” and produced and directed “The White Steed,” “The Iceman Cometh,” “Hello Out There” and “Hope if the Thing With Feathers.”
His stage scores and librettos included “Honeymoon Lane” and “The Sidewalks of New York;” and his other popular-song compositions were “The Little White House;” “Dreams of You;” “Half a Moon;” “Jersey Walk;” “Headin’ for Harlem;” “Mary Dear;” “Whereever You Are;” “Little Log Cabin of Dreams;” “Row, Row with Roosevelt;” “Did God Die in Dixie;” “May God Keep You in the Palm of His Hand;” “Logic;” Velvet Lady;” “Suzie from Sioux City;” and High Up On a Housetop.”
Dowling also played the role of national chairman of the stage, screen and radio division of the Democratic National Committee from 1932-38 and again in 1940. Joining ASCAP in 1927, his chief musical collaborators were James F. Hartley, J. Fred Coots, Victor Herbert and Bernie Wayne
Cote said he believes the proposed name change reflects both the highway's importance as the gateway to the Blackstone Valley and the region's historical significance.
"Route 146, the prime highway connecting the Blackstone River Valley, is at the center of the historic, economic, cultural and infrastructure resurgence occurring in the region and serves as the major byway connecting the Blackstone Valley with commerce, travelers and commuters,"
Cote and Billington said they believe the designation would help travelers recognize the valley's outstanding resources natural, cultural and historical resources.
"Beginning in the 17th century, the Blackstone Valley provided the setting for a remarkable transformation from farm to factory — a national phenomenon that became the model for the rest of America,” Billington said in a written statement. “America's first textile mill could have been built along practically any river on the eastern seaboard. However, in 1790, the forces of capital, ingenuity, mechanical know-how and skilled labor came together in Pawtucket, where the Blackstone River provided the power that kicked off America's drive to industrialization at the Slater Mill.”
"The Heritage Corridor project has been a key element in helping the Blackstone Valley communities tell their unique story to visitors,” Cote noted. “The Blackstone Valley Heritage Byway naming will emphasize to residents and visitors that the Blackstone Valley is a special place in America and will help the valley further recognize its national significance."
“We hope that by calling additional attention to Route 146 in this way we can celebrate both Eddie Dowling as well as the many other facets of our valley's heritage that we need to keep alive," Cote said.
The bill is awaiting a hearing before the Senate Committee on Constitutional and Regulatory Issues.