'From Granite to Gold'

Jonah Mathison-Regan, a student at the University of Vermont, had a most unusual summer internship: creating an exhibition for the Hardwick Historical Society about Burdean Sebert. You might be thinking, Who? Sebert (1900-95) was something of a local celebrity back in the day. The daughter of a local granite cutter, she left home to attend a conservatory in Boston and then perform in a touring entertainment company; she went on to earn an Emmy for her role on a public access television show in Ohio, and eventually returned to Vermont to teach drama and public speaking. “I felt that [Sebert’s] story spoke to the idea that even people from modest origins can go on to do great things,” Mathison-Regan writes, “while at the same time showing the importance of continuing to stay connected to one’s home community.” Now a junior in UVM’s Honors College, he is pursuing a self-designed major combining literature, philosophy and political history.