SARANAC LAKE -- A new postage stamp saluting Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau was unveiled Monday in the heart of the Adirondack village he adopted 132 years ago.

At a ceremony in the ballroom of the Hotel Saranac, the 76-cent postage stamp became the 11th in the "Distinguished Americans" series developed by the U.S. Postal Service.

Other luminaries featured in the series include 19th century writer Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and Joseph W. Stillwell, who served as a four-star general in the U.S. Army during World War II.

"I have to say that I consider Dr. Trudeau a personal hero," said Dr. David Woodland, president of the Trudeau Institute, which was founded by Trudeau in 1884 to research tuberculosis and continues to study infectious diseases today.

After contracting tuberculosis, the New York City-born doctor traveled to the Adirondacks, in which he had hunted as a young man. Instead of succumbing to the illness, he found that the clean air and serene setting had curative properties.

He established a laboratory and later a sanatorium, which up until the 1950s was an internationally sought destination for TB sufferers and their families.

Rep. John McHugh (R-Pierrepont Manor) praised both Trudeau and his adopted home in the Adirondack Mountains.

"When Dr. Trudeau came here, it wasn't for any other reason that he loved this part of the world and that he was expecting to die. Over time, he found a kind of joy and exhilaration, a kind of renewal that causes many of us to choose this very special place as our home.

"After that, he devoted the rest of his life to curing the scourge that took his brother's life and ultimately took his."

Woodland said Saranac Lake's history and destiny are intertwined with the legacy of Trudeau and the continuing work at the Trudeau Institute.

"This is an incredible research institute located in your back yard here in Saranac Lake. The other legacy that E.L. Trudeau left us was the Village of Saranac Lake. The village, in part, exists because of his efforts and his legacy."

The ceremony was attended by Trudeau descendants Ursula Trudeau and Jeannie Trudeau Fenn.

Following the ceremony, members of the public lined up out the door of the historic Saranac Laboratory on Church Street for a tour of the former TB research institute, now owned by Historic Saranac Lake, a historical preservation group.