Among

THE NEWSLETTER OF THEFriends FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY VOLUME 21 NUMBER 1 • SPRING/SUMMER 2008

Internationalism New VP of International Affairs Lays Out His Vision Reenergizing Brown’s Latin American Collections A Campus Landmark Reaches Triple Digits Jeffrey Schreck ’73 From the University Librarian’s Office Chair Linda Aro ’81, MA ’83 Vice-Chair Harriette Hemmasi Joukowsky Family University Librarian Honorary Directors Maurice Glicksman ScD ’97, P ’78 Internationalism Martha S. Joukowsky ’58, P ’87 Chair Emerita and the Library Fraser Lang ’67, P ’04 Chair Emeritus nternationalism is a buzz word there is no substitute for foreign John F. Mastroianni, Jr. ’71 on every college campus and travel, it is important that students Barbara Mosbacher ’45 I Brown is no exception. Cognizant learn about the history of different Henry D. Sharpe, Jr. ’45, LLD ’70 Hon., of the fact that our graduates must cultures throughout different ages P ’77, P ’88, P ’MAT ’86 thrive in a globalized world, Brown as well as the current challenges that Chair Emeritus has embarked on a series of initiatives face our world. Here, the Library is President Ruth Simmons to strengthen its international instrumental in facilitating these Directors standing. This issue of Among Friends discussions and debates.

Board ofBoard Directors examines the role that the University I often describe the Brown Constance Andrews ’48, P ’78 Library plays in supporting the study Library as the nexus of scholarly life Prof. Thomas Banchoff, P ’91 of foreign cultures. Behind the on campus, but we are equally in the Alice H. R. H. Beckwith ’69 Library’s walls and across its wires “experience” business. This is evident John Berylson ’75 are seminal works from around the in the rapt appreciation of students Sophie Blistein ’41 world. From postage stamps to on seeing a note from the hand of Thomas Bryson ’72 portraiture, biographies to broad George Bernard Shaw, the hushed Seth Dorsky ’03 swords, our materials are breathtaking reverence of visitors when they walk Mary Ann Ehrlich P ’85 in their global scope. into the John Hay’s Reading Room, Gary Enos ’83 The advent of the internet means and the perceptible wave of nostalgia Herbert Iselin ’42, P ’79, P ’81 that the Library’s reach transcends that passes over alums as they S.T. (Sunand Tryambak) Joshi ’80, MA ’82 the borders of state, nation and pos- recount an afternoon spent looking Jon Land ’79 sibility. We subscribe to online data- at the Audubon folios. Pulitzer Prize Brent Lang ’04 bases, create wikis that enable classes winning novelist Marilynne Robinson Christy Law-Blanchard to add their own scholarship to digi- ’66 writes “Experience is something Bernicestine McLeod ’68, P ’99, P ’03 tal collections, and produce web that’s given to you to interpret ... and Ryan Roth ’05 resources on topics such as the the authenticity of your thought Daniel Siegel ’57 Kanto Earthquake and theatre in depends on how scrupulously you are Fredi Solod ’50, P ’78 ancient Rome. Technological in fact responding to what you have Dennis Stark advances are the impetus for many been given to experience.”At Brown Andrew Wendel ’85 of these developments, but none of this is rarely a problem. Brown Leslie Wendel ’55, P ’85 this would be possible without people students are always thirsty for new Robert Wigod ’54, P ’84, P ’88 power. Great libraries are built on experiences. Their adventures provide Hon. Frank Williams the perseverance and shared vision the spark that enables them to craft Richard Williamson ’65, P ’03 of countless individuals. Librarian works that dazzle you with their Prof. Emeritus Don Wilmeth Patricia Figueroa’s passion for Latin intellectual daring. Constance Worthington ’68 American Studies, Jean Rainwater’s Be they Babylonian clay tablets Member Ex-Officio skill at creating online tools, and the or the latest census data from Africa, Edward Widmer generosity of staunch advocates like I am confident that we will continue Director and Librarian, Maurice Glicksman are all essential to to offer resources that inspire our John Carter Brown Library what makes us a leader in the field. patrons to broaden their sense of the Staff In considering the Library’s world around them, experience the role in supporting a focus on human past in all its complexity, and Jane Cabral Friends of the Library and Events internationalism, I return to chart the scientific and social future. Coordinator something that David Kennedy, Vice Brent Lang President for International Affairs, Communications Specialist articulates beautifully. Professor Kennedy reminds us that being well Harriette Hemmasi Cover: Edwin Lord Weeks,“Crossing the Joukowsky Family University Librarian Desert,” ca. 1881, currently on display at the traveled is not the same thing as Annmary Brown Memorial. being worldly. He is correct. Though

2 Among Friends Spring/Summer 2008 The Politics of Poetry: View from the Chair Walt Whitman and the Public Memory of Abraham Lincoln John D. Rockefeller Library April 1 – June 15 Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln never met in life, but Whitman has played an instrumental role in the way Americans think about Lincoln. This exhibition, drawn from the McLellan Lincoln Collection and the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays at the John Hay Library, explores Whitman’s memorials to Lincoln and hen I applied for admis- many Americans winning Nobel their influence on generations of sion to Brown, I had only prizes are foreign-born. Approxi- Americans. W a superficial understand- mately one-third of Silicon Valley ing of the admission process. As I companies were started by individuals Looking at Jazz understood it, Brown sought to admit born in India and China (Economist, Orwig Music Library the “best students” who applied. At Jan. 5, 2008). April 14 – May 9 the time I did not know what con- Education is a global business. Recordings, books and scores for Benny sideration was given to social issues The number of students studying

Exhibits Calendar Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie and Billie or sports or anything else. As a mid- outside their home countries has Holiday. This exhibit coincides with the dle class, partial scholarship student grown exponentially. The United ALA/NEW sponsored discussion/film from Long Island, I knew only of States competes for students with series “Looking at Jazz” co-sponsored by the Brown University Library and grades, SAT scores, school activities Australia, Europe, and increasingly, the Music Department. and recommendations. I did under- India, South Korea and China, a stand that it would be better if I were process that forces our universities Machado de Assis: Reading the a star athlete, not a mathlete. to improve in order to remain Brazilian Master, Then and Now I have been a Brown School competitive. In that respect, Brown John Hay Library Alumni Committee interviewer for provides benefits to prospective April 15 – June 5 many years, and I now understand students, including world class Machado de Assis is a name that stands the admission process better than I collections and resources available in alone in 19th century Latin American did as a student. I am pleased to see its library. These collections reflect fiction. During his prolific career, more diversity among admitted the global sources of information Machado explored nearly every medi- students, by which I include race, that are important to the education um, but it was as a novelist and a short country of origin and state (for US process, including collections that story writer that he forged a narrative students). There still appears to be focus on East Asian studies, 15th voice that would forever impact the lit- a lack of economic diversity, some- century European painting, and the erary topography of his nation. Brown University Library commemorates the thing that I trust will be addressed. papers of Sergei Khruschev. 100th anniversary of Machado’s death One of the most significant It is important that Brown con- with a display of early criticism of changes from 1969 to 2008 is the tinue to develop the library resources Machado’s works, donated by Professor greater presence of students at Brown that give Brown an important role William Leonard Grossman. from outside the United States. This in the global exchange of ideas. But is a change that reflects the global- it is important that Brown be more Child’s Play: Abraham Lincoln ization process in education and than a “winner” in the competition in Games, Toys and Stories world economics. As much as I to attract foreign students. Brown John Hay Library applaud Brown’s role in admitting should assess its role in the process August 4 – October 31 international students, and as happy and communicate how and to what For more than a century, Abraham as I am that talented foreign students extent the University’s success is a Lincoln has been employed by authors, come to Brown, I believe it is worth- benefit for all concerned. toymakers and educators to present a while to examine how admission model of honesty and probity for chil- dren. This exhibition will display some decisions affect Brown, foreign of the more unusual items from the students, the United States and the McLellan Lincoln collection, docu- countries from which foreign menting the didactic use of Lincoln’s students come. image while promoting childhood fun. Foreign students are very successful, suggesting that the benefit Jeffrey Schreck ’73 For library hours and updated to the United States is substantial. Chair information on library exhibits visit: They earn a significant percentage http://dl.lib.brown.edu/libweb/hours.php of American PhDs, especially in http://dl.lib.brown.edu/libweb/exhibits engineering and the sciences, and

Spring/Summer 2008 Among Friends 3 Brown University Library Treasures of the Hidden Chest

Reclaiming the Konrad Tuchscherer, Associate Professor of African History and Director of Africana Studies John Hay at St. John’s University Gallery, Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Manning Hall, Main Campus Reading Room Wednesday, April 2, 2008, 5:30 p.m. Dr. Tuchscherer is Co-Director of the Bamum Scripts and Providing 21st century Archives Project at the Royal Palace of Bamum Kings in Foumban, Cameroon. His lecture will explore Africa’s students and scholars with writing traditions. He will concentrate on his work in a link to Brown’s proud history Cameroon to preserve endangered archives and his research on the literary past of the Bamum inspired by the discovery of a hidden chest left by a royal Bamum scribe. Co-sponsored by the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology and the Friends of the Library of Brown University.

coming Events How Jewish is He? Arthur Miller and the Holocaust Fourth Annual Don Wilmeth Endowed Lectureship in American Theatre

Up Christopher Bigsby, Professor of American Studies at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England Lownes Room, John Hay Library Wednesday, April 9, 2008, 7 p.m. This $3.5 million leadership opportunity will: Internationally known expert on American drama, Professor Bigsby has published more than thirty books • Restore Brown landmark, fi rst opened in covering American theatre, popular culture and British 1910, to its original elegance and function drama. He is an authority on Arthur Miller and has recently completed a biography, Arthur Miller: A Critical • Create an inspirational space for Study (2005). According to Prof. Bigsby, “Miller was often research and refl ection accused of denying or suppressing his Jewishness. This is an exploration of that, more particularly in the context • Offer unique setting for University of the Holocaust.” and cultural events

• Open entire room (a total 4,400 square feet) An Evening for use by the Brown community with Hélène Cardona List Art Center Auditorium • Increase exhibit space to showcase Thursday, May 15, 2008, 7 p.m. Special Collections Spend an evening with Hélène Cardona, • Extend operating hours and services distinguished poet, literary translator, and actress, as part of the annual Yoken Lecture Series. A graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, she studied with Ellen Burstyn at the Actors’ Studio, played Fuffi Drou in Lasse Hallström’s Chocolat and Candy in Lawrence Kasdan’s Mumford.Her first book, The Astonished Universe,an Raised: uplifting collection of poetry about consciousness, is the $200,000 first bilingual edition in English and French from Red as of 3/1/2008 Ω Hen Press. A book signing will follow her talk.

For more information, please contact Brent Lang, Communications Specialist 4 Among Friends Spring/Summer 2008 Email: [email protected] • Phone: 401-863-1518 A chat with David Kennedy What the Library Means for Internationalism

David Kennedy recently assumed the newly created AF: What are your major goals? position of Vice President for International Affairs. DK: I want to continue the process of making Brown a Professor Kennedy comes to Brown from Harvard Law global university. This will require a change in mindset. School, where he authored numerous books and articles It will be equivalent to that move that Brown made from on international law, history and legal theory. Despite being a well regarded regional college to a nationally being new to the faculty, Professor Kennedy is familiar recognized university. The legs for this effort were the with College Hill, having graduated from Brown in “New Curriculum.” It allowed Brown to make the 1976. Though he has been in his new post for only a few transition because it enabled us to offer something months, Professor Kennedy consented to sit down with dramatic and different. We need to do the same thing Among Friends to discuss his plans to strengthen Brown’s today. Brown’s peer institutions are all engaged in Dposition as an internationally recognized university and similar initiatives. Consequently, we are going to have the role that the library can play in fostering the study of to project our unique identity. foreign languages and cultures on campus. AF: What role do Brown’s collections play in these efforts? DK: They are enormously important. Globalization and Among Friends: What does the internationalism do not simply refer to zooming all over term internationalism mean to the world. They require creating a global community on you? campus. The most important developments will take David Kennedy: Internationalism place right here on College Hill. I think it also speaks to means the opportunity for the fact that being well traveled is not the same as being everyone at Brown to engage with worldly. The libraries are important tools for making global peers. This means creating Brown students global citizens. They house the opportunities for faculty members accumulated knowledge of other cultures and countries and students to have conversations and they enable our students and teachers to engage in the with scientists, policy makers, sort of global conversations that I was referring to earlier. artists and journalists from I anticipate that digitizing this material will only around the world. In that context, make them more widely known and in demand. It also I believe that the Library can means that people in other countries can access many make a contribution. It helps us of the items that they need for their own work and attract people to campus. For collaborate with our faculty members and staff online. example, if you are doing leading investigativework in a particular AF: How do you think the Library needs to develop, field, there may be only one lab to meet these needs? David Kennedy, Vice in Brazil or one archive in France that you need. The DK: It’s a little early for me to say. I know we’ll need President for International Affairs, same is true when it comes to drawing scholars here. to look at library collections carefully and develop a hopes to help make Brown needs to put something on the table. That’s strategic plan for building them. As our focus on Brown a global leader in educational where the libraries come in. The collections and archives graduate and advanced research increases, it means innovation. that are housed here are one-of-a-kind. that there will be a greater strain on the Library and a corresponding need to enhance its resources. We’re aware AF: What is it like to come back to Brown? of this. If you look at the Plan for Academic Enrichment, DK: It’s exciting to come back to Brown. Many things there is a strong emphasis on strengthening collections. still feel the same. The libraries are still a key part of We’re going to continue to work to attract new campus. In fact, I have always had a great affinity for the collections. Political treatises, periodicals and ephemera Library, partly due to the fact that as a student I worked are examples of the kinds of items that we can preserve at the John Carter Brown Library. Some things have that relate to international affairs. Fortunately, we will changed. The place where I lived has been torn down. be operating from a position of strength, as there are In fact, the house I lived in was located where the Watson already wonderful resources available. Institute is today. My office is more or less in the same place as my Junior year bedroom.

Spring/Summer 2008 Among Friends 5 Latin American Collection comes of age Patricia Figueroa is a Librarian on a Mission

Patricia Figueroa doesn’t have much free time on her eager to improve access to Latin American rare materials hands. Between putting the finishing touches on an at the John Hay Library. The internet has provided her exhibition on one of the luminaries of South American with a perfect forum. With help from the Center for literature, managing digital projects, and assisting with Digital Initiatives, Figueroa and Professor Green created a festival that will highlight Brazilian films, there’s barely “Latin American Travelogues” (http://dl.lib.brown.edu/ a minute left to concentrate on what she does best — travelogues) a digital resource for students and scholars. building a collection. Yet, amazingly, because of her The project features digitized Latin American travel efforts over the past seven years, Brown’s holdings in accounts from the 16th-19th centuries alongside essays Latin American Studies have grown to over 120,000 written by undergraduates in Professor Green’s classes. volumes, with an average of 2,000 titles added annually. “I try to incorporate the collection into the PFigueroa picked an opportune time to relocate to curriculum of Latin American Studies,” said Figueroa. Brown in 2001. The collection, which had been moribund “One of the best ways is by including original work during the seventies and eighties, received one-time produced by Brown students in our online exhibits. funding from the University in 2002. This funding was They provide a context.” augmented by several important donations. Specifically, When not forging digital avenues to Brown’s Professor Emeritus Thomas Skidmore, former Director collection, Figueroa has mounted two exhibitions in of Brown’s Center for Latin American Studies the past year with the help of graduate students. The and a scholar of Brazilian history, gave his first, “Venus in Chains,” examined the stereotypes about personal library to the Library. Partnering with slave women in the Caribbean Basin. More recently, James Green, Associate Professor of History and “Positivisim in Brazil,” provided an overview of the Skidmore’s successor at the Center, Figueroa nineteenth-century school of thought popularized by has built on that foundation. Auguste Comte (1798–1857), whose philosophical Together, they are enhancing the Library’s system, based on scientific methods in pursuit of social holdings in a few strategic areas and geographic reforms, is the precursor to modern day “sociology.” regions: namely Cuba, Haiti, Brazil and Mexico. True to form, this spring promises to be a busy They hope to make the Brown University time. Figueroa is on the planning committee for Library a repository for the work of scholars CINEBrasil, a festival of 11 films from Brazil that will of Latin American studies, as it currently holds screen at the Avon Cinema. In collaboration with the archives of Professor Skidmore. In addition graduate student Ana Loso, Figueroa will kick off an to these ambitions, they are using a Title VI exhibition on Brazilian writer Machado de Assis in Education Grant to select items that support mid-April. Regardless of how the exhibit is received, courses being taught through the Center. A Figueroa is already drawing raves from her cohort. private donor, Dr. Alfredo Cassiet, has provided “She’s wonderful,” Loso gushes. “She’s always sending Top: Patricia Figueroa crucial assistance with this effort, generously enabling us suggestions for ways to incorporate the Collection has been a whirlwind of activity since the Library to enrich the Argentine and Chilean history into our work. We’re just lucky to have her.” joining the Library. book collection. Above: Illustration from Americae tertia “It’s a delight to work with her,” Green said. “Patricia pars memorabile is a perfectionist. When she does something, I know it’s provinciæ Brasiliæ historiam, Johann going to look professional.” Theodor de Bry, 1592. Last year, Figueroa and Green traveled to Rio de Right: Illustration from Travels in Brazil, Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil, to work on a preservation Henry Koster, 1816. project targeting 19th and early-20th century women’s journals from Brazil. To secure funds for this project, Figueroa presented a proposal to the Latin American Microfilm Project (LAMP), an area study of the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago. Figueroa isn’t content with simply increasing Brown’s general holdings in her area of specialty; she’s

6 Among Friends Spring/Summer 2008 Centennial Celebration Time The Annmary Brown Memorial Ages with Dignity

One-hundreth birthdays don’t come around that often. The Annmary Brown Memorial recently reached this rare milestone and the Brown University Library used the occasion as an excuse to host a party. In November, the Library celebrated the momentous anniversary with a birthday celebration that attracted over 75 well-wishers to the Memorial. The event honored General Rush Hawkins, the principal force behind the building’s creation, and his wife Annmary, for whom the memorial was named. Visitors were treated to cake and music from Oa student string quartet and the Chattertocks, a female acapella group that sang lighthearted renditions of “Happy Birthday” and “My Funny Valentine.” The highlight of the afternoon was a performance by Toni Adashi, wife of Eli Adashi, outgoing Dean of the Medical School. Adashi gave interpretive readings of poems by the likes of Anne Bradstreet, e.e. cummings and Switzerland, Portugal and Italy, and features authors Edith Wharton, that beautifully articulated the such as Petrarch, Ovid and Thomas Aquinas. story of love and loss that is at the heart of the The impetus to build the Memorial stemmed from building’s enduring appeal. General Hawkins’ wish to share these exquisite items “It was tremendous fun,” said Harriette with a broader audience. In 1907, the Memorial first Hemmasi, Joukowsky Family University opened its doors to scholars. Independently operated for Librarian. “There were some tongue and check two decades following Hawkins death in 1920, the elements in the song selection and the birthday Memorial was transferred to Brown in 1948, where it cake, but the occasion was very respectful. continues to support scholarship on campus. Today, the Toni’s performance was tastefully modulated to Memorial still houses the great works of art from convey the passionate attachment that General around the world that Hawkins amassed in his lifetime. Hawkins and Annmary shared. It is always The candles may be blown out, but Library staff and wonderful to have an excuse to share this Brown faculty are using the anniversary as a springboard unique space with the Brown community.” to highlight the many treasures that the Memorial holds. The Hawkinses were a socially prominent They’re getting a hand from Brown students. Steve Lubar, couple in Rhode Island in the 19th and early chair of the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public 20th centuries and spent much of their lives Humanities, arranged to have his American Civilizations collecting paintings and rare books. Believing it class “Methods in Public Humanities” mount an exhibition his patriotic duty to import the finest examples at the Annmary Brown that drew on Brown’s extensive of European art to America, Hawkins built a network of collections. Entitled “From AA to Zouave,” Above: A massive collection of academic and representational paintings. the exhibition showcases the diverse collections that banner of Charles Willson Peale, founder Among the many notable artists represented are Brown houses, including toy soldiers from the Anne S.K. of one of America’s Angelika Kauffmann, Francesco Solimena, Thomas Brown Military Collection, a mosaic fragment from first museums, welcomes visitors Couture, Giuseppi Barbaglia and Fredrik Kaemmerer. ancient Pompeii, and a script from the television show to the Annmary. Hawkins was also an avid collector of rare printed Mork and Mindy. Above right: A tasty treat in honor of an works (known as incunabula). Many of the 500 volumes Now new visitors can learn about General important birthday. that Hawkins donated rank among the earliest examples Hawkins, his wife, and Brown’s remarkable collections (photo by Chris Bennett ’07.5) of printed books in their respective countries. The earliest of treasures from around the world. work in the Collection is a copy of Tractatus Rationis et Conscientiae (1408) by Matthias de Cracovia. Other examples cover an extraordinary assortment of authors and presses. The collection includes books from

Spring/Summer 2008 Among Friends 7 Spotlight on Collections

ALocal Philanthropist’s Hobby Leads to a World Class Stamp Collection

he John Hay Library is known for housing one of the largest collections on military history, a world T renowned collection on American poetry and plays, and postage stamps. That last item proves perplexing to many visitors to the John Hay. “Stamps?” is often their incredulous reply. Yet stamps provide remarkable insight into the history of their countries of origin. One of the crown jewels of Brown’s stamp collections is the Champlin International Stamp Collection, which maintains and preserves over a hundred volumes from Above: George Champlin, every country that issues stamps as postagerather than local philanthropist, whose modesty prevented for purposes of revenue. the University from Scion of a Rhode Island manufacturing family, recognizing his generosity until after his death. George S. Champlin began anonymously donating Right: Vibrantly colored portions of his collection to Brown in 1960. Starting stamps from Oman are but one example of the with an initial gift of six albums, Champlin added to it range of countries repre- every year. In 1980, following his death, his philanthropy sented in the Collection. Below: Molly Flynn, a was acknowledged publicly. Theatre Arts graduate Devoted to business interests and twice widowed, student, examines items from the Champlin Champlin’s principal hobby was stamp collecting. So Collection for a project on passionate was his interest that employees and friends propaganda art. still remember Champlin’s admonitions to check hotel wastebaskets for discarded stamps when they went out of President John F. Kennedy respectively. Perhaps the most town.His collecting style was governed by his political impressive item is an 1846 British stamp, christened the views. Champlin, a fierce anti-communist, refused to Penny Black, representing the earliest adhesive postage collect stamps from communist and iron curtain countries. stamp ever produced by a country. The Champlin Foundations, a Rhode Island based In the early years of the Collection, Mr. Champlin foundation, continues to support the University’s efforts had his secretary, Isabelle Sanford, handle its upkeep. to maintain and grow the collection through annual Upon her retirement, an all volunteer group from the donations. This year was no exception. In addition to Rhode Island Philatelic Society was brought in to awarding $50,000 for the Champlin Collection, the administer the Collection. Members of the Society make Foundation also gave $200,000 towards the renovation up the stamp committee, a governing body that oversees of the John Hay Reading Room. the budget, arranges for new and retrospective acquisitions, “The Champlin Foundations have been generous and organizes displays of the material. Today, the supporters of the Library for years and we are grateful committee is comprised of Brent Thurston, Thomas E. for all of their efforts on our behalf,” said Harriette Greene, and Louis McGowan, and you can usually find Hemmasi, Joukowsky Family University Librarian. “The one or all of them on any given Tuesday afternoon stamps that Mr. Champlin left provide valuable insight poring over recent purchases. into the history and cultures of a wide variety of countries. While the Champlin Stamp Collection offers unique Many are magnificently detailed works of art or insight into international stamps, its holdings are propaganda that enhance the coursework and research augmented by the other collections housed at Brown. The of our students and faculty.” Robert Galkin ’49 Collection has first day covers with Prominent items in the Champlin Collection include over 184 hand illustrated images of World War II themes, a mint set of the Diamond Jubilee Issues commemorating the Webster Knight Collection covers postage and revenue Queen Victoria and printed in Canada, Soviet era stamps stamps issued by the United States and its possessions, sporting the Hammer & Sickle and other iconic state and the W.L.L. Peltz Collection contains almost all of the symbols, and stamps from the Caribbean and the Middle plates used in printing special delivery issues since 1945. East that incongruously feature Disney characters and

8 Among Friends Spring/Summer 2008 Spotlight on Friends of the Library

Jackson W. Robinson ’64 The Collection was started in honor of my grandfather, Jackson and Sarah Edward North Robinson, class of 1896, who was the Robinson combine football coach at Brown between 1898 and 1925, including their love of athletics with their passion the famous 1916 trip to the Rose Bowl. “Robbie,” as he for scholarship in was known, was a charismatic and tough guy in the great their support of tradition of coaches. He believed in discipline, persistence the Library. and hard work. I didn’t know him well, as he died when in the intellectual tradition that is Brown. I was three, but I grew up thinking about those values. We are fortunate to have such a supportive When I arrived at Brown, in 1960, the Collection President! To quote from President Simmons, “Here at was basically dormant — and I had other things on my Brown, there is a great synergy between academics and mind. In the 1990s, I stopped by the John Hay to find athletics. For more than a century, athletics have out more. I met Martha Mitchell, the legendary Library contributed enormously to the cohesion and vigor of archivist, who had breathed life into the Collection. the Brown community.” Martha told me she needed a student intern, so we seeded Sarah and I, and Heather ’89, Mark ’92 and Scott an endowment. Today the Collection is humming, under ‘94, encourage others to contribute to this vision and the stewardship of Jay Gaidmore, Peter Mackie and add to the Collection. We are looking for ways to bring David Thompson. together the scholarly and athletic aspects of the Brown As I think about this Collection, I am influenced experience, and we are so inspired by President by the correlation between mental performance and Simmons’s philosophy. physical fitness. Fitness and exercise crank your brain up. And teamwork is important for getting along in the N.B. The Edward North Robinson Sports Collection world. Going forward, we want the Collection to reach supports the acquisition and preservation of Brown beyond athletics to embrace all sports and wellness — athletic material and outreach to alumni groups and everything from baseball to Pilates, as I like to say — the athletic department.

Maurice Glicksman ScD ’97 My interest in books and reading goes back libraries), first as a member of its President’s Advisory to primary school days, when I was allowed Committee, and then as a Board member for twelve years. to borrow from the “grown-ups” section of OCLC started as a cooperative catalogue facilitator and our local library. When I came to Brown, the has been serving libraries as they adapt to the changing library was an essential resource for me — world of information creation, storage and dissemination. both in research papers related to my own I enjoy my contact with the Brown University work, and in browsing for reading. But my Libraries, its Librarian and the Friends group, as a retiree interest in policy was excited thirty-odd but a continuing reader. The Friends of the Library is years ago when I agreed to serve as chair of important to the libraries and to Brown as a supporter the Board of the Center for Research of library programs and as potential donors. It provides Libraries and worked, unsuccessfully, for the a communication link for the Library’s staff with creation of a National Periodicals Center. It alumni and friends. The libraries are often seen as an seemed natural to me that electronic means infrastructure of the education and research at Brown, (then in its infancy) could eventually assure taken for granted and not overtly nurtured. The Friends Maurice Glicksman’s that only one print copy of a serial was needed, as long help counter this. lifelong affinity for libraries prompted as access was simple. However, it was too early (before him to establish a the Internet was in place), and our Congress would not N.B. The Maurice and Yetta Glicksman Book Fund was book fund at Brown. buy it — with publishers leading the charge against it. established in 1990 by friends and colleagues of Maurice I championed the notion that sharing of resources ScD ’97 and Yetta Glicksman P ’78 for the acquisition was a win-win solution to the challenge presented by the of books on Oriental culture and technology. increasing volume of information. My publications and talks on this subject (even to the annual meeting of publishers) led to my involvement with the OCLC, Inc. cooperative (a non-profit serving close to 50,000

Spring/Summer 2008 Among Friends 9 Spotlight on Gifts-in-kind

Recent Contributions to the Collections

everal years ago my son, Michael, mentioned that eimin Jiang a neighbor owned letters written by the playwright P ’08 and S George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950). Discovery of W Li Wang, important Shaw letters (he wrote thousands of letters Curator of the East and notes) is quite rare, and I assumed that these were Asian Collection, are likely perfunctory. When I finally saw them, I realized working to breathe how foolish I had been. new life into Brown’s Hidden in the attic of Alastair Maitland, a retired collection of Chinese Right: Collected British Foreign Service member, and his second wife, literature. Over the Humorous Stories of Bingling, written by Hazel Porter, were letters and postcards written by Shaw past year, Jiang has Weimin Jiang and between 1905 and 1926. There were also letters from actively encouraged published under a pseudonym. notable literary and theatrical figures of the time. All of Chinese authors to Below: Selections these were written to or about Mary Hamilton (1885- donate their work to from the lively correspondence 1945), a minor stage actress in the early 20th century. several libraries in the carried out between Maitland was assigned to duty in Canada in 1943. United States, including George Bernard Shaw and Canadian actress, There he met Betty, Mary Hamilton’s niece and Brown, through his Mary Hamilton. subsequently his wife (she died in 1981). The Hamilton work as Chairman of the Association of Chinese Writers. collection came down to Since last summer, the Library has received over 110 books Alastair and Betty from her by some 80 authors, many sporting the writers’ signatures. father. These include works by a number of prominent Chinese Mary Hamilton had a writers such as Wang Meng, Jiang Zilong, Liu Shaotang, brief theatrical career from Yuan Ying, Li Ying, He Jingzhi and Ke Yan. roughly 1903-1910. In 1905 Wang is quick to credit Jiang with doing an impres- she created small roles in sive amount of the legwork. It may be that he had little London productions of Shaw’s choice in the matter. Jiang’s son, Xiaohang (Harry), plays: The Doctor’s Dilemma worked in the Library as an undergraduate and devel- and Man and Superman. oped a friendship with Wang. Plus there was the added Two of Shaw’s letters to Mary bonus of drawing attention to something close to his are extraordinary. One from heart. Jiang (pseudonym Bingling) is a writer whose 1918 (typed by Shaw with works include several novels, humorous fiction and corrections in his hand), is short stories. five pages with comments on In November, the Library hosted a reception to his concept of God, Creative honor Jiang’s generosity. Teachers, graduate students and Evolution and the Life Force, staff raised glasses of champagne to salute Jiang’s efforts acting and playwriting, and to bolster Brown’s collections. While Jiang appreciated love and happiness. An earlier the kind remarks, he isn’t resting on his laurels. Instead, handwritten letter offers advice he’s talking to Li Wang and Harriette Hemmasi about on Mary’s possible return to the stage after a number of ways to improve the relationship between Chinese years and the physical decline of her father. literati and the Brown community. Discussions are When Alastair learned of the John Hay Library’s ongoing, but one thing is certain, the next chapter in Albert-Shaw Collection, he was eager to have what he this story hasn’t been written yet. called the “London Hamilton Archive” housed at Brown, generously donating his holdings to Special Collections.

By Don B. Wilmeth, Emeritus Professor For more information about giving to the Library, email Brent Lang at [email protected] or call 401-863-1518.

10 Among Friends Spring/Summer 2008 how new technologies how new decades ofexperience to hisrole inshaping Brown’s collections. Harriette Hemmasi observes firsthand David Sternbrings education here and enhancing are reshaping News and Notes and abroad. T co teaching. essential component of the Academy to usethecomputer asan of the part hold towards technologies andthereticence emerging on sheexamined theprejudices thatmany inacademia time, At thesame independent andcollaborative learning. environments technology-rich for books to flexible, asrepositories for “libraries” alter ourperceptions of She discussed how theseadvances scholars andstudents. in theways thework of thatnewtechnologies support to Ho tr different countries. The event drew over from more 150librarians thanten co wi andhe campuslife, of inthefabric part is anintegral David understands thatthelibrary impressive collections. work to David will enhance ouralready than 20years, first new Associate University atBrown inmore Librarian St pt atAi.Teocso:aninvitation from the Theoccasion: ip to East Asia.

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