The front cover of the 2022 edition of Potsdam People is inspired by one of the most famous albums of all time—The Beatles’ 1967 masterpiece, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band," on its 55th anniversary.
The release of the Beatles’ album "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" in June of 1967 was a huge success, artistically and commercially. In 2012, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it as the greatest album of all time. It has also remained one of the best-selling albums of all time. The songs are stunning in their musical diversity, with styles ranging from psychedelic to Hindustani, and from classical avant-garde to circus music. The album is also impressive in the diversity of the celebrities featured on the cover. Close inspection will reveal people like musician Bob Dylan, actresses Mae West and Shirley Temple, philosopher Karl Marx, boxer Sonny Liston, and writer H. G. Wells. Also notable are the people the record label demanded be left out of the original plan: Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, and Adolph Hitler. The life-size images are a combination of cardboard cutouts and wax figures borrowed from Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in London. At the time, it was the most expensive album cover ever made, but the record company was willing to do anything to keep the Beatles happy.
Our homage to the classic album brings together Potsdam people, past and present. See if you can recognize some familiar faces!
Potsdam People 2022 front cover caption:
- 1 - Benjamin Raymond, founder of St. Lawrence Academy and land agent who helped settle the Town of Potsdam for the Clarkson family
- 2 - Haven Gotham ’21, music education graduate
- 3 - Jerry Welsh (Hon. ’80), legendary Potsdam Bears men’s basketball coach who led the team to two NCAA Division III championships in 1980 and 1986
- 4 - Ty Santiago ’17, chemistry graduate
- 5 - Vanna Deer-Thompson ’18, early childhood/childhood education graduate
- 6 - Laura Brown, associate professor of secondary English education
- 7 -Ernest Blood, known nationally as basketball’s first great coach, head coach of Potsdam Normal School team from 1906 to 1915
- 8 - Dr. O. Ward Satterlee, Director of Education 1947-1969 and first Dean of Education
- 9 - Fadi Bou-Abdallah, professor of chemistry
- 10 - Brianna Reyes ’22, psychology student
- 11 - Aliaksandra Reutovich ’22, biochemistry and biology student, Goldwater Scholar
- 12 - Clarence Stephens, mathematics professor emeritus and groundbreaking educator behind the “Potsdam miracle” in math education
- 13 - Monica Mack ’21, biology graduate
- 14 - Minerva, the goddess of wisdom (sometimes known as “Minnie”), whose statue has graced campus since 1892
- 15 - Brooklyn Collier '19, dance graduate
- 16 - Wilber Parada ’20, exercise science graduate
- 17 - Walt Conley, professor of biology
- 18 - Kadjahtou Baldé ’19, communications and biology graduate
- 19 - Thomas Barrington, tenth president of the College and longtime dean of students/vice president of student affairs prior to that
- 20 - Tanya Hewitt, instructor of exercise science
- 21 - Max C. Bear, beloved campus mascot
- 22 - Octavia Duvigneaud ’24, music education major
- 23 - Eric Coffey ’18, English creative writing & speech communication graduate
- 24 - Frank Revetta, professor emeritus of geology
- 25 - Jessica Rogers, associate professor of environmental studies
- 26 - Eliza Kellas, an alumnus of the Potsdam Normal School who went on to join the faculty in the Preparatory Department.
- 27 - Julia Crane (Class of 1874), founder of The Crane School of Music and pioneer in music education, original editor of the Normal Alumni Magazine
- 28 - Edwin A. Merritt, instrumental in locating the Normal School in Potsdam.
- 29 - Frederick Crumb, the longest serving College president, who oversaw the original construction of the new campus and the institution’s entrance into the new SUNY System
- 30 - Amelia Morey, longtime preceptress at Potsdam Normal School’s Practice School
- 31 - Edwin Portugal, professor of business administration
- 32 - Nikki Ramirez ’21 & ’23, psychology and business administration graduate, master’s student in management
- 33 - Charlie Sarkioglu ’22, anthropology student
- 34 - Danielle Vetere ’22, childhood/early childhood education student
- 35 - Jason Sanchez ’23, criminal justice studies student
- 36 - Donald Lougheed (Hon. ’54) and Kathryn Kofoed Lougheed ’54, beloved benefactors whose transformational historic gifts support applied learning, the LoKo Arts Festival and more
- 37 - Shannon Boyle ’20 & ’22, music performance graduate and master’s student
- 38 - SUNY Potsdam has been home to the Potsdam Bears since 1964, when the mascot was changed from the shortlived Polar Bears and the earlier moniker, The Racquetteers
- 39 - A bust of Helen Hosmer (Class of 1918), dean emerita of The Crane School of Music and visionary who brought world class composers and conductors to Crane and oversaw construction of the then-new Crane Complex