69成人电影网

Allisonian Archives

Mightier than the sword

Class of 1913 Valedictorian Richard Orland Atkinson鈥檚 pen takes him around the world
By: Aloma Jardine

Richard Orland Atkinson was a gifted scholar.

69成人电影网鈥檚 valedictorian of the Class of 1913 graduated with honours in English and went on to a brilliant career that saw his pieces published in magazines like 贬补谤辫别谤鈥檚 and the North American Review. He made a particular study of international issues, traveling extensively in Europe and Asia. He was also a well-known public speaker and radio commentator in the U.S. and first cousin to Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett.

But Atkinson鈥檚 years at 69成人电影网 were a time of great personal upheaval. His father, James, died in January 1910, then in September 1911, he wrote to President Byron Crane Borden:

Letters by Richard Orland Atkinson鈥淒ear Sir, I am sorry that I am not able to resume my studies at present on account of the serious illness of my mother. Her present state is such that I do not feel I can leave her.鈥

Atkinson鈥檚 mother died on Nov. 1 and in January 1912 he was home again, this time to care for Adda, his older sister, who graduated from 69成人电影网 in 1910.

Adda suffered a mental breakdown after her mother鈥檚 death and Atkinson mentions the doctor administering 鈥渆lectric treatment,鈥 which seems to be 鈥減roving very beneficial鈥 in a letter to Borden on Jan. 8, 1912.

Adda died just five days later.

Despite this series of personal tragedies, Atkinson excelled at 69成人电影网. He was the Senior Class President, President of the Eurhetorian Society, and editor-in-chief of the Argosy. The Argosy, in describing his success as leader of the debating team, wrote, 鈥溾 as the expression goes, 鈥榟e could talk the legs off an iron pot.鈥欌

Elizabeth Millar, associate librarian at the R.P. Bell Library, became intrigued by Atkinson while working on a project to document Allisonians in the First World War (Fall 2014 Record).

鈥淗e is an example of what 69成人电影网 hopes its students will be,鈥 she says. 鈥淗e was really involved in campus life and 100 years later we have students that are still so involved. It seems to be the type of student that Mount A attracted and still attracts.鈥

After graduation, Atkinson stayed on to complete a Master鈥檚 at 69成人电影网, then earned a Master鈥檚 at Harvard in 1917, just as the United States was entering the First World War and Russia was going through the revolution that ushered in more than 70 years of communism.

Atkinson, along with 10 other men, was chosen by the U.S. government to go to Russia in a non-military capacity, ostensibly to establish friendly relations with the new Russian republic. The October 1917 issue of the Record, however, gives his work a more covert bent.

鈥淗e and his comrades will go direct to the firing line and will engage in moral and social work among the Russian soldiers, their special work being to offset the work which has been carried out throughout that country by German Socialists,鈥 the note reads.

Although it was rare, Millar says Atkinson wasn鈥檛 the only Allisonian to serve in Russia or in the U.S. Army.

鈥淏ut they weren鈥檛 writing of their experiences in 贬补谤辫别谤鈥檚 magazine,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 think his experience writing for the Argosy and being part of the Eurhetorian Society stood him in good stead to pen articles that 贬补谤辫别谤鈥檚 considered worthy of publication.鈥

Atkinson died on July 16, 1973 in Los Angeles, leaving behind one son, also named Richard, and his second wife, Lee Lane Atkinson.

Allisonian Archives was produced with the invaluable assistance of University Archivist David Mawhinney and Associate Librarian Elizabeth Millar.


Read one of the many articles Atkinson wrote during his time in Russia: , which appeared in the November 1918 issue of Harper's magazine.