Exhibit 31.1

I, David M. Chamberlain, certify that:

1.       I have reviewed this  Quarterly  Report on Form 10-Q for the period
         ending  June  2, 2006 of The  Stride Rite Corporation;

2.       Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
         statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
         necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
         circumstances under which such statements were made, not
         misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
         financial information included in this report, fairly present
         in all material respects the financial condition, results of
         operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for,
         the periods presented in this report;

4.       The registrant's other certifying officers and I are
         responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure
         controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
         13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial
         reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d
         - 15(f)) for the registrant and have:

        (a)      designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                 such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                 our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                 to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
                 made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
                 during the period in which this quarterly report is being
                 prepared;
        (b)      designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
                 caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
                 designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable
                 assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and
                 the preparation of financial statements for external purposes
                 in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
        (c)      evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                 controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                 conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
                 and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
                 report based on such evaluation; and
        (d)      disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                 internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
                 the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's
                 fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that
                 has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
                 affect, the registrant's internal control over financial
                 reporting; and

5.      The registrant's other certifying officers and I have
        disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal
        control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors
        and the audit committee of registrant's board of directors (or
        persons performing the equivalent functions):

        (a)     all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                design or operation of internal controls over financial
                reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
                registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
                financial information; and
        (b)     any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                or other employees who have a significant role in the
                registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

Date:  July 7, 2006                        /s/ David M. Chamberlain
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                                           David M. Chamberlain,
                                           Chairman and CEO