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The Lawrence Family Carl Lawrence, president of Southern State Normal College from 1919-33 in Springfield, is the father of two sons with enormous contributions to science. Ernest Lawrence was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1939 for developing the cyclotron. This discovery led to the atomic bombs dropped in Japan. An element, Lawrencium, is named for him. John Lawrence made strides in medicine, notably cancer research, and became known as the "father of nuclear medicine." Recently, John's son and his wife were in Springfield and visited the museum where they found college yearbooks with memories of their family. The University of South Dakota Foundation in Vermillion is working to preserve the history, according to a Yankton Press & Dakotan report dated Dec. 12, 2001. "We are working to rekindle the ties with the Lawrence legacy. You can't overstate their importance to the world," said Kent Scribner, of the USD Foundation. Yearbooks at the Springfield Museum recount the students' fondness for their president and his wife. During June of 1927, students reported in the "Pulse": "The spirit of sociability and kindliness so prevalent in the student body, is due in large measure to the hospitality with which the students, faculty, town people and out of town guests are treated at President and Mrs. Lawrence's lovely home. There are many social functions held here, from which the student guests are reluctant to depart, but nevertheless they carry home with them the ideals of social fellowship which make college life joyous." |
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 The Lawrence Family, 1931 Pointer yearbook (L to R, Ernest, Carl, Gunda and John) |
The Lawrence Home, 1926 |