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Biography Prize A Library The Boston Letter from Athenteum No. 117 JULY The Athenceum and the Abolition Movement VER the past decade the Athenreum has presented several exhibitions relat­ ing to the abolition movement in Boston and the African American pres­ ence in the city. Although we have always been curious about the role the Library and its members may have played in this important American movement, our research revealed nothing to enlighten us about the historical role we played (if any) in the emotional and political crisis that gripped many blacks and whites in Boston during the abolition years. We do know that the Library counted many prominent abolitionists among its members: Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garri­ son, and Lydia Maria Child, for example, all made use of the Athenreum during these years. We were always thirsty, however, for more information. During the past few weeks we have found a small tidbit that will encourage us to continue our search. In the course of looking through the Athenreum Archives for material for next February's exhibition commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Athenreum's Beacon Street building, Associate Print Curator Catharina Slautterback fortuitously came upon a letter from Samuel May, Jr., to Charles Folsom, then Director of the Athenreum, announcing the presentation of a complete run of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator to the Library. The letter is dated 19 April1854, at the height of abolition activities in the city, and reads in part: "A few gentlemen friends of the Anti -Slavery principle and movement in this country, friends also of the Boston Athenreum and those great objects which it has done so much to pro­ mote, desire to present to that institution the accompanying volumes of The Libera­ tor . The donors are Francis Jackson, Ellis Gray Loring, Edmund Quincy, Edmund Jackson, Wendell Phillips, Samuel May, William I. Bowditch, Samuel E. Sewall, Theodore Parker, Charles F. Hovey, and Samuel May, Jr. These gentlemen request that you will be pleased to consider these volumes the gift of the Massachusetts Anti­ Slavery Society." For many years we have wondered why the Athenreum happens to be the only library in this country to hold a complete run of this vitally important 2 newspaper, the bookplate reading only ((gift of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Soci­ ety," and it is a great satisfaction not only to know how these volumes came to us, but also to note the names of the donors who were Athen~um members. The Athenreum Centenary reveals that Mssrs. Quincy, May (both Junior and Senior), Sewall, and Hovey were Proprietors, and various other institutional records indicate that Wen­ dell Phillips, Theodore Parker, and William I. Bowditch used the Library as mem- bers. The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, the first state abolitionist society in the United States, was founded in 1832 by both blacks and whites. Headed by William Lloyd Garrison, the Society provided activist leadership and education to the move­ ment for Emancipation for many years. We are fortunate that the astute selection of its members listed above thought of the Athen~um as an appropriate repository for a complete run of their historic publication. Richard Wendorf's ''Sir Joshua" Shares the Annibel Jenkins Biography Prize Athen~um Director Richard Wendorf's 1997 biography Sir Joshua Reynolds: The Painter in Society has been awarded the first Annibel Jenkins Biography Prize, pre­ sented biennially by the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies to the au­ thor of the best book-length biography of a late 17th-century or 18th-century sub­ ject. He shares the award with Lloyd S. Kramer, Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for his Lafayette in Two Worlds. In their citation of the award the Society states: "Sir Joshua Reynolds is an origi­ nal, elegantly written book that repeatedly views Reynolds and portraiture in unex­ pected and illuminating ways ... Rich in detail and extensive in imagination, the book shows us Reynolds at work and play, with intimate friends and patrons and subjects, touches his 'deepest and most sacred levels of creativity; and, among other things, includes unforgettable insights into theatrical portraiture and two of Reynolds's most famous subjects, David Garrick and Sarah Siddons." The biography has also received high critical acclaim in journals such as Apollo, in which reviewer Martin Postle remarks, «Wendorf's text comprises five crisp chap­ ters ... Despite the mass of information encountered by [him], few stones are left unturned ... As Wendorf freely admits - and this is one of the real strengths of the book- Reynolds's character was brimming with ambiguity. He was intensely ambi­ tious, yet he did not fawn. He worked slavishly to amass a large personal fortune, yet he spent countless hours entertaining friends. His household was lavishly furnished ... yet his dinner parties were notoriously shambolic ... Wendorf may not lead one to love Reynolds, but he demonstrates that he remains a pivotal figure for anyone who seeks to understand the interstices of eighteenth-century cultural life" (Febru­ ary 1998). For those who have not yet read this volume, these words should entice you to check it out. Congratulations to our scholar/Director, who is now preparing a new book of essays on British art. 3 Mooney and Loring Fellowships Announced Recipients of four Mary C. E. Mooney and two Caleb Loring, Jr., Fellowships will spend a month's residency in 1998 pursuing advanced research in the Athenceum's collections. The Mooney Fellowships were funded by the bequest of a longti1ne teacher in the Boston Public Schools who died in 1991; the Loring Confederate States Imprints Fellowship Fund was established by our Trustee Caleb Loring, Jr., and re­ flects the personal interests of a New Englander with southern roots. All fellowships carry a stipend of $1,000. Three of the six award recipients will consult the Athenceum's unparalleled col­ lection of over 6,ooo Confederate States imprints and related Civil War documents in conjunction with work on their doctoral dissertations. Philip Acree Cavalier, a graduate student at the State University of New York at Buffalo, will refine his dis­ sertation on cultural and racial identities as reflected in the letters of northerners who traveled to the South both before and after the Civil War. David A. Cecere, a graduate student at the University of New Hampshire, will trace the reformulation of racial perceptions by Union soldiers, and Scott Hancock, also a graduate student at New Hampshire, will expand his work (( Free, Black, and American: Identity For­ mulation in Boston During the Antebellum Period." Mr. Cavalier and Mr. Cecere re­ ceived Loring Fellowships, Mr. Hancock a Mooney Fellowship. Two other important Athenceum collections will be used by Mooney Fellows. William B. Hart, Assistant Professor at Middlebury College, will consult the Library's Schoolcraft Collection of books in Native American languages as he revises his dis­ sertation on Mohawk responses to 18th-century Anglican missionaries. Michelle Mancini, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, will consult the unique collection of Gypsy material owned by the 19th-century British scholar Fran­ cis Hindes Groome, and acquired by the Athenceum in 1865. (( Nowhere at Home and Everywhere: Accommodating Gypsies in Nineteenth-Century Britain" is the title of her dissertation. The sixth fellowship recipient is sculptor Laura Baring-Gould of Somerville. She will consult the collection in order to investigate boat building forms and materials in preparation for her solo exhibition at the Chapel Gallery in Newton in 1999. The Athenceum is honored to assist these individuals in their scholarly work. We recognize that the $1,000 stipend awarded to our worthy scholars will not completely cover the expenses of their stay in Boston, so we are appealing to any members who might be willing to house a Mooney or a Loring Fellow for a month to contact Director Richard Wendorf's office without delay. Director of Development Joan Nordell also asks us to remember that the funding of fellowships is a priority com­ ponent of The Twenty-First Century Fund; interested members should call her for information about the impact of these awards, and for details about naming such fel­ lowships (617-227-0270). 4 Wellspring Fellows Announced For 1998-1999 Director Richard Wendorf has announced that Wellspring Fellowships have been awarded to three Athenreum staff members for the period 1998-1999. The Wellspring Fellowship program is in its second year, and was established by Mrs. Andrew Oliver and her three children to allow staff members to pursue extended research and pro­ fessional development activities (particularly internships at other institutions). Staff members honored for the upcoming period are Head of Reference Stephen Nonack, Paper Conservator Anne Pelikan, and Print Curator Sally Pierce. Stephen will be working on the second exhibition devoted to gay and lesbian history in Massachu­ setts, entitled «Public Faces/Private Lives, Part II." Anne will use her fellowship to study the making of preservation enclosures and pamphlet structures. And Sally has proposed a month-long professional internship in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the Worcester Art Museum, where she intends to work on the C. E. Goodspeed collection of Americana. Our congratulations to all three staff members. Attention! Attention! Les livres franrais! Athenreum readers who are yearning for modern books in French should look no further than the first floor Circulation Desk. The French Library in Boston has kindly offered to lend the Library thirty or forty recent publications in French for the summer, and will send us a selection of novels, poetry, and other stimulating read­ ing that will circulate normally. Francophilic Athenreum members and staff send re­ merciements to the French Library for this generous loan.
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