Judith Lamson Blackmer '57 remembers her mother, Lois Burbank Lamson '27, as a quiet woman with a hidden artistic talent and as someone who didn’t often speak about her days at the University of Vermont.

Judith recalls that her mother was busy working and raising a family to dwell too much on the past. 

But as Judith and her husband, John, recently began exploring an old portfolio of Lois’s artwork and memorabilia, they found themselves immersed in a side of her life they had never fully known.

The artistic journey of Lois Burbank Lamson reveals not only a portrait of her as a student in the 1920s but also the vibrant spirit of UVM’s campus life a century ago.

Lois graduated from UVM in 1927, a time when it was common for students to capture their college years in elaborate scrapbooks—a fad that was almost as popular as class rings.

Many students at the time filled these books with dance cards, ticket stubs, and hand-drawn illustrations of events. Lois’s scrapbook, rediscovered by Judith, was packed with mementos from her time on campus, showcasing her active involvement in campus life and, most strikingly, her artistic talents.

In one portfolio, Judith found beautiful posters Lois created for UVM’s Winter Carnival, a popular event on campus during the 1920s. These posters, Judith noted with a smile, “look so modern” even today, reflecting Lois’s unique style that was far ahead of its time. 

As Judith and John dug deeper, they discovered that Lois’s talent extended far beyond her college years. After graduating from UVM, Lois went on to study commercial art at Parsons in New York and spent a year in Paris in 1930, where she immersed herself in the city’s vibrant fashion scene.

She even visited the famous Lucien Lelong fashion house, recording her impressions for a local newspaper back in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. 

Judith’s mother rarely spoke of her college years or her art, focusing instead on her role as a mother and community member in Vermont. She encouraged Judith and her siblings to appreciate art and music, even guiding them to avoid a Vermont accent, perhaps as a nod to her own time spent in more cosmopolitan circles.

Though Lois eventually found work laying out pages for the White River Valley Herald in Randolph, her only job for pay, she continued to create art for personal enjoyment throughout her life, watercoloring in her later years and teaching art informally. 

Judith shared that discovering her mother’s past was like unfolding a map to a hidden legacy—one that connected her not only to UVM’s campus of the 1920s but also to a vision of Lois she’d never fully known.

This legacy now lives on, not only in Judith’s family but also at the Fleming Museum, where Lois’s Parisian fashion prints have been displayed. Seeing her mother’s name in an exhibit, Judith realized that Lois’s legacy of artistry and ambition had found a place within UVM’s history—a history Judith is proud to preserve and share.