Niles Lee Perkins, Jr. (July 1, 1919 – April 25, 1971) was an American

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

and

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

. Perkins was United States champion in men's 35-lb

weight throw Weight throw (or Weight for distance) is a traditional strength sport and throwing event derived from ancient Scottish Highland games. Unlike its other counterpart, the Weight over bar which involves a stationary pendulum like swing for height, ...

in 1940 and held the weight throw indoor world record for nine years. He was also a good

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

er and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player.

Biography

Early life and athletic career

Perkins was born in

Augusta, Maine Augusta is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Maine. The city's population was 18,899 at the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Maine, 12th-most populous city in Maine, and third ...

on July 1, 1919. He became an athlete at

Cony High School Cony High School is a public school located in Augusta, Maine, United States that educates students from Grades 9 to 12. Cony draws its students from Augusta, as well as the surrounding communities of Chelsea, Maine, Chelsea, China, Maine, China ...

in Augusta, setting a school record in the hammer and playing tackle on the football team. For one year he attended Governor Dummer Academy, where he threw the 12-pound high school hammer 201 feet in training (the national high school record was 196 feet) and was named 1938's top high school hammer thrower in the United States. After graduating from high school Perkins went to

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794. The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...

; his track coach at Bowdoin was Jack Magee, whose previous pupils included 1924 Olympic hammer throw champion Fred Tootell. At the 1939 national ( AAU) junior championships Perkins placed third in the hammer and second in the 56-pound

; both were won by Stan Johnson, a fellow Maine thrower. Perkins also continued to play football; he was noted as a good field goal kicker, and in one game against

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

he scored Bowdoin's only points in a 6-0 win with his two field goals. At the 1940 national indoor championships Perkins won the 35-lb weight throw, throwing 56 ft in (17.10 m) and defeating former champions Henry Dreyer and Irving Folwartshny. Two weeks later, on March 8, 1940, Perkins threw 58 ft in (17.86 m) and broke Dreyer's world record by three inches; Perkins held the world record for almost nine years, until Jim Scholtz broke it in the 1949 IC4A indoor championships. In training Perkins reportedly threw over 59 feet, and 61 feet on a fouled throw. After two years at Bowdoin Perkins switched to the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

to study

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

, and his athletic career trailed off; although he attempted to defend his indoor weight throw title at the 1941 championships, he was no longer one of the favorites, and only placed fifth as Dreyer regained the title.

Later life

In 1941 Perkins got a job as a

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechan ...

for

Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics, one of the world's largest ...

, staying with the company until 1944 and becoming its production and planning supervisor. During the last years of World War II he served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, but started suffering from serious health problems, including

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

and

poliomyelitis Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

. After recovering and receiving his discharge from the Navy in 1945 Perkins embarked on a new career as a

, returning to Bowdoin for a one-year pre-medical course and then enrolling at

Tufts University School of Medicine The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a Private university, private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in down ...

. He served as assistant track and field coach at both schools while studying; at Tufts, he coached Tom Bane and Bob Backus, both of whom also set indoor world records in the weight throw. After completing his internship at the Maine General Hospital Perkins returned to Bath Iron Works, this time as an industrial physician; he also worked as a private practitioner. In 1955 he became full-time mill physician for the Oxford Paper Company. Later, he moved to Portland, where he specialized in

cardiology Cardiology () is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery di ...

and

internal medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...

; in 1965, he received the A. H. Robins Award for outstanding community service by a Maine physician. He was instrumental in the creation of the Penobscot Bay Medical Center, and became its first executive director. Perkins drowned in the

Miramichi River The Miramichi River is a river located in the east-central part of New Brunswick, Canada. The river drains into Miramichi Bay in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The name may have been derived from the Montagnais words "Maissimeu Assi" (meaning Mi'km ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

on April 25, 1971 while on a fishing trip. His canoe capsized, and in heavy clothes in the cold water he was unable to swim to safety; although he was presumed to have drowned, his fate was not known with certainty until his body was found washed up on the shore in Blackville, New Brunswick some time later. After Perkins's death, the Penobscot Bay Medical Center named its ambulatory care unit and library after him. Perkins was posthumously inducted in the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Niles 1919 births 1971 deaths Accidental deaths in New Brunswick American male hammer throwers American football tackles Sportspeople from Augusta, Maine Bowdoin Polar Bears men's track and field athletes Maine Black Bears men's track and field athletes Physicians from Maine American cardiologists World record setters in athletics (track and field) American track and field coaches Boating accident deaths Male weight throwers 20th-century American physicians Bowdoin Polar Bears track and field coaches Tufts Jumbos track and field coaches Track and field athletes from Maine The Governor's Academy alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II Cony High School alumni 20th-century American sportsmen