Alvan T. Fuller

Alvan Tufts Fuller
Portrait published in 1921
50th Governor of Massachusetts
In office January 8, 1925 – January 3, 1929
Lieutenant	Frank G. Allen
Preceded by	Channing H. Cox
Succeeded by	Frank G. Allen
48th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
In office January 6, 1921 – January 8, 1925
Governor	Channing H. Cox
Preceded by	Channing H. Cox
Succeeded by	Frank G. Allen
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 9th district
In office March 4, 1917 – January 5, 1921
Preceded by	Ernest W. Roberts
Succeeded by	Charles L. Underhill
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office 1914–1917
Personal details
Born	(1878-02-27)February 27, 1878 Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts
Died	April 30, 1958(1958-04-30) (aged 80) Boston, Massachusetts
Political party	Republican Progressive
Children	Peter Fuller
Profession	Motor Car Dealer

Alvan Tufts Fuller (February 27, 1878 – April 30, 1958) was a businessman, politician, art collector, and philanthropist from Massachusetts. He opened one of the first automobile dealerships in Massachusetts, which in 1920 was recognized as "the world's most successful auto dealership", and made him one of the state's wealthiest men. Politically a Progressive Republican, he was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1916, and served as a United States Representative from 1917 to 1921.

From 1925 to 1929 Fuller was Governor of Massachusetts, continuing the fiscally conservative and socially moderate policies of his predecessors. In 1927 he was enveloped in the international controversy surrounding the trial and execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, Italian immigrant anarchists convicted of robbery and murder. Fuller's handling of the affair, in which pressure was applied by both domestic and international sources seeking clemency for the two, effectively ended his political career.

Fuller was an avid collector of art, some of which has since been donated to museums in eastern New England, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He founded the Fuller Foundation, a charity that supports a variety of causes in eastern Massachusetts and the seacoast region of New Hampshire. Fuller Gardens, founded by him in North Hampton, New Hampshire, are now open to the public.

Alvan Tufts Fuller was born in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston on February 27, 1878, to working class parents, Alvan and Flora Tufts Fuller. His family moved to Malden, Massachusetts when he was still a child. He first worked in a rubber factory, repairing bicycles on the side. To promote his bicycle business he raced, winning local events. He also engaged in a practice, shared by other bicycle shops in the area, of holding an open house on the Washington's Birthday holiday.