Page 20 - fall2011

Since its earliest days, before the
Civil War, St. Lawrence Universi-
ty has been a partner with North
Country communities in shaping young
men and women who have gone on to
distinguish themselves in signifcant
and ofen extraordinary ways,” wrote
President Daniel F. Sullivan ’65 in his
introduction to the 2005 booklet North
Country Laurentians. “From the farms
and villages of the region have come fa-
mous authors, bridge-builders, explorers,
journalists, scientists, librarians, natural-
ists, inventors, educators and social
reformers. Possessed of that indefnable
‘North Country character,’ they enrolled
at St. Lawrence and went on to make
major marks in the world.”
Te booklet brought under one
cover the life stories of 37 remarkable
Laurentians that are presented in poster
form in Eben Holden Dining Hall. Te
project, leading up to St. Lawrence’s
sesquicentennial observances in 2006,
was conducted by John Clark ’69,
researcher; Neal Burdick ’72, writer;
and Ken Alger ’92, M’97, designer/
producer. During the course of the
project, they realized that, as they wrote
in the booklet’s Aferword, “Te North
Country, especially in the late 1800s, has
been a fountainhead of talent, energy
and innovation for which it has received
too little recognition.”
North Country Roots
Early Laurentians from the Region
Were a Distinguished Lot
Helen Probst Abbott
1880-1958
Born: Canton, N.Y.
St. Lawrence Class: 1901
Distinctions:
● Vocal women’s sufrage leader
● Leader of city government
reform movement in Rochester,
N.Y.
● First alumna trustee of
St. Lawrence, 1924
Irving Bacheller
1859-1950
Born: Pierrepont, N.Y.
St. Lawrence Class: 1882
Distinctions:
● First best-selling novelist of 20th
century (Eben Holden)
● Founder of newspaper syndicate that
introduced such writers as Stephen
Crane, Joseph Conrad, Rudyard
Kipling and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
● Donor to SLU of Bacheller Memorial
Chime
“
18 Fall 2011 . St. Lawrence University Magazine