BURRILLVILLE, R.I. -- Rhode Island's Austin T. Levy, says Kenneth Proudfoot, was a man ahead of his time.
The textile industrialist, who lived from 1880 to 1951, pioneered paid vacations and profit sharing long before such things became common in the business world. He was also a musician, athlete and philanthropist, with an elementary school named for him in Harrisville.
"He would fit right in today as what they call a 'conscious capitalist,'" Proudfoot said. "But he was doing this in 1912."
Levy also provided housing for some of his workers and, in 1933, established the Burrillville Town Buildings Project, which donated several buildings to the town.
He is now the subject of a 55-minute documentary written and produced by Proudfoot, called "The Amazing Life and Times of Austin T. Levy." Jim Karpeichik was director of photography and editor for the project. It will premiere Saturday, Oct. 1, at the Assembly Theatre in Harrisville, with a second showing on Sunday, Oct. 2.
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Proudfoot said he first became aware of Levy in 2013, when he was researching grants for area nonprofits and came across the June Rockwell Levy Foundation, named for Levy's wife. Curious, he read a biography of Levy by Louis Bleiweis, and decided to make a documentary. (The June Rockwell Levy Foundation is among the financial backers of the film.)
Proudfoot couldn't find any film footage of the Levys, but there were thousands of photographs, and lots of people in Harrisville who remembered them.
In addition to being a forward-thinking businessman, Proudfoot said, Levy was a musician, playing violin and viola, and a fine tennis player. A Republican, he ran unsuccessfully against John O. Pastore for U.S. Senate in 1950.
Besides his interests in Rhode Island, Levy developed an agricultural business on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas, so Proudfoot also traveled to the Caribbean to explore that aspect of Levy's life.
"The Amazing Life and Times of Austin T. Levy" will premiere Saturday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. at the Assembly Theatre, 26 East Ave., Harrisville. A second showing is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 2, at 1 p.m. Admission is $5, and proceeds will go to benefit the Burrillville Historical and Preservation Society. For more information, call the society at (401) 568-8449.
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