Donor Spotlight: Eleanor Goldman Lurensky, CSH’49 and CPS’62

By Michal Biletzki

This story of a family devoted to Northeastern University and its library begins with a future donor, a proud Husky who comes from a lineage steeped in a love of learning and generous giving.

Jacob Kuhn, COS’24, graduated in May and considers himself fortunate for his Northeastern undergraduate experience. With three successful co-ops and a role as a Presidential Ambassador with a seat on the Student Philanthropy Council, Jacob is now beginning his post-Northeastern life focusing on “building myself so that I can give back.”

Jacob’s grandmother, the late Eleanor Goldman Lurensky, CSH’49 and CPS’62, was a Husky through and through. Throughout her life, she was constantly inspired as she watched her alma mater—a small commuter school—transform into a global university system that later welcomed her grandson.

Eleanor had an intense love of literature and books, a frequent visitor to her hometown library in Peabody from an early age. Her strong connection to the Northeastern University Library dates to 2018 when, at an alumni luncheon in Naples, Fla., Dean of the Library Dan Cohen and former Director of Development Gail Mansfield excitedly shared with her news about the Boston Globe archives gifted to the library. One of Eleanor’s co-ops as a student was at the Globe’s photo morgue, clipping some of the articles and photos that were now part of the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections—a coincidence that created a quick and meaningful bond for her with Dan, Gail, and the library.

Eleanor’s relationship with the library deepened during a campus visit later that year when she committed to making a major gift. During the visit, she described herself as “Alice in Wonderland…amazed at all the positive changes and possibilities.” In making her gift, Eleanor named a space aimed to increase, support, and elevate the opportunities available to Northeastern students through the library, with books and learning.

Jacob is particularly happy that his grandmother’s gift to Northeastern was directed to the library. As a first-hand witness to the renewal of Snell Library during his time at Northeastern, he is thrilled that other future students, as well as himself as an alumnus, will benefit from these improvements. While Jacob’s positive attitude was accentuated during his time at Northeastern, it is directly attributable to the family motto often repeated by his mother, Harriet Kuhn, and grandmother: “Actualize yourself!”

Harriet is not a Husky herself, but is as dedicated to Northeastern University as her mother and son. Eleanor’s bond with the university and library over the years has extended to become a permanent relationship for the whole family. Harriet’s love and admiration for her mother is obvious, and she continues Eleanor’s love of life, learning, family, and, yes, Northeastern.

Harriet has many memories of her mother sharing stories about her unique Northeastern experience, as one of the first women admitted to the school in the early 1940s. She attributes her mother’s later success in life and constant intellectual and professional growth to her undergraduate experience and co-op opportunities. After graduation, Eleanor went on to a long and illustrious career in education, tutoring at the Kingsbury Center and in her home and later teaching developmental reading, vocabulary development, comprehension, and study skills to international students at Southeastern University in Washington, D.C., for 25 years. She also taught reading development courses to file clerks and secretaries at the Internal Revenue Service.

Despite growing up poor during the Depression, Eleanor’s strength and resiliency allowed her to forge a successful life. Strong in spirit and character and physically active well into her 90s, Eleanor took an RV trip with Harriet and her husband Adam in the midst of the COVID pandemic in order to spend time with her family in Maryland rather than by herself in Florida. “Mom kept asking when she can fly back home, and since that wasn’t an option with her health and age, we got an RV,” said Harriet.

Harriet fondly remembers two specific campus visits with Eleanor in 2018 and 2021, both centering around Eleanor’s connection to the library and Jacob’s application to and acceptance into Northeastern. In particular, the library celebrated a gift Eleanor made in honor of her husband, Robert Lee Lurensky, in August 2021 with a 95th birthday party for her, and a celebration of her brother Joe’s 90th birthday, during Jacob’s move-in weekend. Jacob’s warm memories of this weekend solidified his own devotion to Northeastern, both as a Husky himself and as a way to continue Eleanor’s legacy. A psychology major minoring in marketing and photography, he shared his educational, creative, and experiential learning successes with Eleanor until her passing nine months before his graduation.

Eleanor’s gifts to the library were always from both her and her husband. Robert’s successful business investments and good saving habits allowed him to leave Eleanor with a comfortable life that allowed her to support an institution that had been so pivotal and influential in her life. The plaque in the renovated lower level of Snell Library reads “The Eleanor Goldman Lurensky and Robert Lee Lurensky Study Area.”

That plaque was unveiled this past May, when the Kuhn family visited for Jacob’s commencement weekend. The dedication event was bittersweet, as Eleanor’s absence was felt by all.

Continuing the family’s legacy of giving, Harriet and Adam made a Challenge Gift during Giving Day in April 2024, honoring Jacob’s experience and success at Northeastern. This gift encouraged many others to support the library, contributing to the library’s most successful Giving Day to date.

Eleanor died on August 13, 2023, just two weeks shy of her 97th birthday and less than a year before Jacob’s graduation. The impression she had on her family as a devoted matriarch driven by a love of learning and generosity, and an example of strength and adaptability, lives on in Harriet and Jacob. For both, honoring her legacy means continuing the family’s connection to and support of Northeastern University Library.

To join the Lurensky/Kuhn family in supporting the Northeastern University Library, visit our support page or email Michal Biletzki at [email protected].