All Scholars

RICHARDSON, Leonard Woods

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  • Date of Birth: July 17, 1853
  • Born City: Portland
  • Born State/Country: ME
  • Parents: Nathaniel Putnam & Mary Greenlief Smith R.
  • Date of Death: October 18, 1929
  • Death City: Albany
  • Death State/Country: NY
  • Married: Elizabeth T. Austin, 9 Aug. 1876; Alice Madeline Lobb, 26 Dec. 1882.
  • Education:

    A.B. Trinity Coll. (Hartford, CT), 1873; A.M., 1876; study in England, France, & Germany, 1883-95; ordained deacon 1884; priest, 1885; LL.D. Griswold Coll. (Davenport, IA), 1897.
  • Professional Experience:

    Tutor Lat. Trinity Coll., 1873-6; prof. mod. langs., 1876-83; prof. Gk. & Lat., chair dept. New York State Normal College (Albany) (later New York State College for Teachers at Albany and since 1963 The State University of New York at Albany), 1895-1929.
  • Publications:

    The Normal School Idea (Albany, NY, 1900); Six Sermons Preached in 1906 (Philadelphia, 1906); articles listed in Trinity College archives for which no source can be found: "Plato and Platonism," "The Greek Dogma," "Homer and the Homeric Age," "Classical and Literary Influence."
  • Notes:

    The Rev. Dr. Leonard Woods Richardson combined careers as an Episcopal clergyman and a classicist. As valedictorian of his class at Trinity, he held the title "Optimus" (i.e. summa cum laude) and was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa. At Albany he had been preceded by the first classicist at the College, Floyd J. Bartlett, a graduate of Yale College, who was on the staff from 1891 to 1895. Among his students was Edith Owen Wallace, who later became professor and chairman of the Department of Ancient Languages and Literature at the college.For about 30 summers he served as minister of the Saranac Inn Chapel in upstate New York. Also in his religious capacity he delivered the baccalaureate sermon to the graduating classes at the college for many years. His publications ranged from classical studies to pedagogy and sermons. As a posthumous honor, the building for language studies on the Western Avenue campus in Albany was named Richardson Hall.
  • Sources:

    Trinity Coll. archives.
  • Author: Emil J. Polak