The name Occom comes from Samson Occom, one of the legendary figures in Dartmouth history. Occom, a Mohegan Indian born in Connecticut in 1723, was a student of Dartmouth founder Eleazar Wheelock, and himself became a Presbyterian minister who served as a missionary to Native Americans in New England and Long Island, NY. On a fundraising trip to England and Scotland on Wheelock’s behalf, it was Occom who secured financial gifts from King George III and William Legge, the Second Earl of Dartmouth, that enabled the founding of Dartmouth in 1769.
In addition to Occom Pond and Occom Ridge in Hanover, there are a number of other places and things named after Occom. At Dartmouth, historian Colin Calloway is the Samson Occom Professor of Native American Studies. The Occom Commons community space is part of Goldstein Hall, in the recently opened McLauglin Residential Cluster. There is also a residence hall named after Occom at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, CT; during World War II, the Liberty ship USS Samson Occom was named in his honor.
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