Comfort Cary Richardson
Professor of Physical Education (1969-82)
Presented by Athletic Director Jon Hind. December 4, 2012.
Comfort Richardson arrived on the Hill in the fall of 1952 with her husband Channing and they quickly settled in to the recently renovated Root farmhouse with their new neighbors, Sid and Ellie Wertimer, who were also just arriving to Clinton, NY. Just a few years later, the Richardsons and Wertimers moved up College Hill Road, where they lived side by side for most of their adult lives as neighbors, colleagues, and most important, as friends.
Comfort, a 1940 graduate of Vassar College, received her master’s degree from Haverford College. She held many different positions and titles while on the Hill. She was first asked in 1969 to organize a physical fitness program for newly formed Kirkland College. For the next several years, she worked diligently to create a variety of sport and recreation offerings for the Kirkland students. She organized and coached the first women’s athletic team here on the Hill, the women’s tennis team. She also served as Dean of Student Affairs for a year at Kirkland College.
The two colleges combined in 1978, and Comfort, having done such a wonderful job cultivating interest in physical activity and sports during her tenure, had Kirkland poised to participate in athletics. Upon the merger, Hamilton competed immediately in 4 women’s intercollegiate sports. Today, Hamilton College offers 15 different women’s intercollegiate programs. She served as Assistant Professor in Physical Education and Associate Athletics Director at Hamilton College until her retirement in 1982.
However, the titles and positions held don’t tell the whole story regarding Comfort Richardson’s impact. She is, indeed, the true Champion of women’s athletics here at Hamilton College. When asked to create programming for Kirkland College, Comfort was limited in every way: facilities, budget, and staffing. She formed a tremendous relationship with Gene Long, then Director of Athletics at Hamilton, and found resourceful ways to partner with Hamilton while maintaining Kirkland’s identity and independence. Her efforts were heroic, according to Gene. In a recent conversation I had with him, he intimated, “I’m not sure there could have been a better person anywhere to pioneer women’s athletics participation on the Hill: her expertise, commitment to women’s opportunities and participation, ability to work with others and her easy going nature were the perfect ingredients necessary for successful integration.”
Her competitive spirit, of course, spilled into her personal life. Ellie Wertimer recalled recently that she and Comfort often played tennis together. So competitive were the two of them that they continued to play one another deep into their pregnancies - most likely way too far, according to Ellie – because neither wanted to be the first to say she could no longer play. Comfort was competitive in a good way. Along with her competiveness, she was caring, compassionate, concerned, and committed. As a class of ’80 student-athlete who was here during the merger, I remember speaking with Professor Richardson often during my junior and senior years. No longer able to play football, I served as a student trainer in the fall and winter. Many afternoons, she would be out and about taking in the activities at the various venues. That is how I met her. In the spring, while I was still playing lacrosse, she would often share nice words with me about my efforts and participation. I learned that she cared greatly for all of the athletes – in fact, all of the students - on our Hill.
Comfort married Channing in 1948. Channing, long time Professor of Government at Hamilton and Hamilton’s first professor of International Relations, passed away in 2009. Comfort passed away in October. She was 94. Comfort and Channing are survived by their four children and their families. Comfort was presented the Bell Ringer Award, the Alumni Association’s highest honor, in 1997. In 2000, alumni and friends established the Channing B. and Comfort C. Richardson Fund for Faculty Innovation in honor of the couple for their many contributions to the Kirkland and Hamilton communities.
As Erica Silbersher ’82, a member of the first Hamilton varsity athletics program, recently recounted, “I remember holding the actual bell with her – sharing the handle with our hands for a photo op – and misting up with tears from the tenderness of having shared a small but powerful cause together on the Hill.” I and all of my colleagues in the Department of Physical Education and Athletics would argue Comfort stood for much, much more than a small cause. As Gene Long put it so well, “Comfort was one of the truly unsung heroes of coeducation at Hamilton College.”
