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28 Syracuse Herald-Journal, July 21, 1977Silvia Saunders-legend in own timeId the music room, Nanelle Napp, a 1974 graduate of Kirkland College, chats with Silvia Saunders at the Saunders' family home in Clinton.Silvia Saunders and her home are a legend at Hamilton College and Kirkland Coi-lege. Silvia is the 75-year-old daughter of the late Percy and Louise Saunders, and the Saunders' house stands on the bill occupied by the two colleges in rural Clin* ton. Professor Saunders taught chemistry at Hamilton from 1900 to 1939, and Silvia has lived on this beautiful campus most of her life.For years, Percy and Louise Saunders were renowned hosts at Hamilton. Lecturers and artists who visited the campus often stayed with the Saunders, and good conversation filled the house. Among their guests were such famous literary persons as Alexander Woolcott, drama critic, and Walter de la Mare, the British poet and novelist.Silvia's father was both a scientist and a musician. “My father played the fiddle. And he was very good. For most of his life, he played in a string quartet, and my parents added a music room because he wanted a place where he could play string quartets and Invite people in.”Silvia talked about what it was like to grow up in this environment, to be always surrounded by music. We constantly had chamber music in our house, she remembered. At the time I didn't realize how lucky 1 was.Likewise, when Silvia was a girl, she didn't appreciate the guests her mother entertained. Louise Saunders attracted her share of gifted people including John Masefield, the English poet.A history maker herself, Louise Saunders was one of the first women to receive a Ph.D from Bryn Mawr, back in 1897.Firsts seem characteristic of the Saunders family. Silvia was a professional photographer long before the days of women’s liberation. She graduated from Radcliffe in 1925, moved to New York, took up photography and worked in the field for about 20 years.Silvia captured two of her great loves in her pictures— architecture and flowers. Right now she is doing research about the life and architecture of Isaac Williams. Williams was a local farmer and master carpenter in the early 18©0’s, Silvia explained. He built my house and three other homes, still standing, on the hill. He constructed these houses in fine proportion, she declared.Silvia has published some of her research. Last year she wrote a piece on Williams each week for a local newspaper, and she thinks that someday she may put her articles into a book.Silvia also did some illustrations for a house and garden magazine. She returned to Clinton to help her parents with their small nursery business when they were both over 80, and the work was too heavy for them.That was back in 19L I’ve lived here in Clinton ever since, she said. Silvia had to give up the business herself last year.Each school year, Silvia has one or two Hamilton students staying with her. The boys bring life to the house. I enjoy their noise.Asked what ties she has to Kirkland, the new women’s college chartered in 1967 as a coordinate partner to Hamilton, Silvia replied, Well, ten years ago, when Kirkland started, I stood on the sidelines. I was jealous for Hamilton, the older child, being supplanted by a baby sister. After all, I was a first child myself. Now I go over to Kirkland much more often. But I must admit, I often get lost.I enjoy being 75, she announced. Having lived this long, I can remember what the horse and buggy era was like. And being alive today I can watch our country land a spaceship on Mars and scoop up a piece of that planet.
Newspaper Details
Syracuse Herald Journal
Syracuse, New York, US
Thu, Jul 21, 1977
Page 29
Full Page
Clipped by
Hamilton C.
NY, USA 17 Nov 2023
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