Helen Drew was born in Rollingstone, Minnesota, on November 3, 1892, the daughter of James and Elsie Salisbury Drew. Though born in Minnesota, her roots lay in Walworth and Rock Counties since her grandfather, Daniel Salisbury, was a pioneer settler in Spring Prairie.

Her uncle, Rollin Salisbury, was the student and successor to Thomas Chamberlin, distinguished geologist and Beloit College alumnus. When Chamberlin went to the University of Wisconsin to become President, Salisbury became Chair of Geology at Beloit. Later, when Chamberlin founded the Department of Geology at the University of Chicago, he brought Salisbury to Chicago, where his reputation was established as a great physiographer.

Helen’s father was a Professor of Agriculture at the University of Minnesota and so she was reared in an academic atmosphere. After receiving her B.A. at the University of Minnesota, she got an M.A. at the University of Chicago in English Literature. The remainder of her life was spent in education and history fields.

She taught at Girton School in Winnetka, Illinois, and at Wellesley College in Massachusetts before joining the faculty at Rockford College. Later, she received her doctorate at Cornell University.

After her marriage to Professor Robert K. Richardson in 1940, Helen came to Beloit to preside over their Church Street home as hostess, wife, and intellectual companion to Beloit’s beloved “Dickie.” Here she became active in college, church, and community.

At Beloit College, she was lecturer in the English Department, and after the death of her husband, she took over the job of editing her husband’s manuscript of the History of Beloit College.

Always active in historical circles, she served several terms as trustee of the Rock County Historical Society Board and for many years was a member of the Beloit Historical Society, the State Historical Society, the Beloit Association of University Women, Beloit Art League, and Wisconsin Academy of Arts and Sciences.

For forty years she was a devoted member of the First Congregational Church, serving as Moderator and also President of the Fellowship Guild.

A scholar in her own right, she published articles on Beloit College and Rockford College history, as well as ones on the First Congregational Church, which appeared in the Wisconsin Magazine of History and the Congregationalist.

Mrs. Richardson will be remembered by those who knew her as one who for nearly forty years was seldom absent from Sunday Services and for her loyalty and devotion to Congregationalism. When she married Professor Richardson, she also “married” Beloit and Beloit College.

Her concern for the preservation of history and the betterment of the Beloit community was evident in all she did.

It is my honor to present the name of Helen Louisa Drew Richardson for enshrinement in the Beloit Hall of Fame.