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Others Who Shaped the Century

Thousands of people helped shaped Vermont in the 20th century. Here are some who made significant contributions in a variety of areas:

Wallace "Bunny" Bertram, considered one of the people most responsible for developing skiing into the sport it is today. Bertram helped develop the first commercial ski tow in the 1930s and owned Suicide Six ski area.

Jeanne Brink, who has devoted herself to keeping alive the Abenaki language and heritage.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the creators of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, which provided a boost to Vermont's dairy farms but also became a symbol in the rest of the nation of Vermont quality and social concerns.

Art Cohn, director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, who has focused attention on Vermont's great lake and worked to preserve its historic artifacts.

Howard Dean, whose long tenure as governor included the strongest economy in the state's history and an overhaul of the state system of financing schools.

Helen Hartness Flanders, whose years-long collection of Vermont songs, ballads and stories made an immeasurable contribution to the state's heritage.

Ralph Flanders, inventor and U.S. senator, who made a heroic stand on the floor of the U.S. Senate against Joe McCarthy.

Robert Frost, whose poems and persona came to represent Vermont and Vermonters to the nation.

Arthur Gibb, former state representative and state senator, who headed the commission in 1969 that came up with the proposals that eventually became Act 250, the state's pioneering development control law.

Samuel Hand, University of Vermont professor of history emeritus, who is credited with inspiring a generation of writers and researchers to pursue Vermont history.

Marshall Hapgood, a pioneer in promoting the conservation of land for the public, who believed that mountain land "should be absolutely reserved as public property, for combined watershed, game, scenic and lumber purposes." His land became the first parcel in the Green Mountain National Forest.

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