Library Associates Celebrates 50 Years ON A TYPICALLY COLD AND SNOWY paper collages by Claire Van Vliet, represent- evening last December, some 70 members ing quilt blocks inspired by African and guests of Syracuse University Library American designs; Eastward the Armies,an Associates gathered in the stately great hall anthology of the pacifist poetry of William of the Chancellor’s Residence for their annu- Everson, printed from handset type by al holiday reception. This year’s event was Richard Bigus of Labyrinth Editions, with special, for it marked the 50th anniversary of linoleum prints by Tom Killion; and the the founding of this organization of dedicat- complete first volume of Nature and Art ed Library supporters and friends. (London, 1866), a monthly serial featuring Chamber music by Bach and striking early examples of chromolithogra- Mendelssohn, played by a student quartet phy and photolithography. from the Setnor School of Music, filled the A clinking of glasses brought the group Tudor-style mansion with an air of celebra- together to share a tribute to one of the Three bookmen in a library, symbol designed tion as the company feasted on whole roast- founding members of Library Associates, in 1957 by printmaker and engraver John ed turkey, savory cheese puffs, canapés, Professor Mary Hatch Marshall, who DePol for Library Associates. champagne punch, and other culinary inspired generations of students during her delights. Senses were also stimulated by the 45-year teaching career in the English splendid selection of items that the Library department and at University College. Associates endowment had purchased over Dorothea Nelson, a past president of Library the preceding year, including Beauty in Use, Associates, announced the creation of the a collection of poems by Sandra McPherson; Mary Hatch Marshall Essay Award—a fitting Second Annual Meeting of the Library Associates Board of Trustees, September 21, 1954. Present were (left to right) Hugh Gregg, John W. Brooks, Phillips Bradley, Carl R. Bye, Roscoe Drummond, Mary Marshall, Mrs. William Blanding, Harry Davies, Alonzo Flack, Adrian Van Sinderen, Wharton Miller, and William P. Tolley. SPRING 2004 1 way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Marshall was one of the original 10 Mary Marshall’s birth, as well as the 50th trustees (and, incidentally, the only woman) anniversary of Library Associates. Nelson appointed by Chancellor William P.Tolley led the fund-raising effort to establish the to serve on the board of the Syracuse award endowment, which will annually fund University Library Associates, which he a cash prize for the best essay written by a organized in May 1953, with Professor Syracuse University graduate student in the Phillips Bradley and Dean Robert Oxnam. humanities. Among the other founding trustees was New York financier George Arents Jr., who had served as chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees and had endowed the George Arents Pioneer Medal to recognize Mary Hatch Marshall, 1903-2000 outstanding alumni accomplishments. Within the first year, the trustees of Mary Hatch Marshall was born in Scarborough, New York on May 21, Library Associates had drafted a constitution 1903, the daughter of Reverend Benjamin T. Marshall, a Presbyterian minister and initiated a campaign that resulted in a and professor, and Laura Hatch Marshall. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa dues-paying membership of 143. In 1956, and graduated from Vassar College in 1924, earning a Ph.D. in English from the doors of the Lena Richardson Arents Yale University in 1932. Rare Book Room, a memorial gift from her Marshall was selected as a husband, opened to welcome faculty,stu- Guggenheim Fellow for 1945 dents, and visitors to explore the rapidly and 1946 to conduct research in growing collections of fine books and manu- medieval drama. She joined the scripts assembled by Arents and other collec- faculty of Syracuse University in tors, including Chancellor Tolley.Just two 1948 and became the first woman at Syracuse to achieve years after its opening, the space was com- the rank of full professor in the pletely filled! In 1957, printmaker and College of Liberal Arts. During engraver John DePol designed the Library her tenure there, she held the Associates symbol, three bookmen in a Jesse Truesdell Peck Chair in library, which was first used on a brochure to English literature and helped solicit new members and, later, on the establish the Honors Program, Associates’ letterhead and in their periodical, serving as its first director. She The Courier. was among the founding mem- In the first issue of The Courier, which bers of Library Associates. appeared in April 1958, chairman Adrian Professor Marshall retired Van Sinderen summarized the four-fold pur- from full-time teaching in 1970 in pose of Library Associates: accordance with rules of the era • to acquire for the University by gift and and was awarded emeritus sta- purchase important books and special col- tus. She promptly began a sec- lections; ond career in adult education, offering courses through the • to stimulate student interest in books and Humanistic Studies Center at reading; University College until 1993. • to improve the physical facilities of the For her service to the Library; and University and the Syracuse com- Mary Marshall • to dramatize the importance of the Library munity, she received many honors in University life. and awards. In 1956, she received the Post-Standard Award for Distinguished Van Sinderen, like Tolley and Arents, Service to the Syracuse University Library, which had been established the pre- was a noteworthy book collector who gave vious year. She received a Chancellor’s Citation in 1980, and in 1989 many bibliographic treasures to the became the third recipient of the University’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year Library’s special collections, including a Award. copy of William Morris’s limited-edition Mary Marshall spent the last months of her life at her home on Sumner Kelmscott Chaucer and William Blake’s Avenue, supported by Hospice of Central New York and a large circle of lov- Songs of Innocence. ing friends and family. She died on September 25, 2000, at age 97. In 1968, following 15 years of continual growth and expansion, Library Associates entered a difficult time of transition, precipi- tated by changes in campus and library administration. But the organization 2 THE LIBRARY CONNECTION renewed itself and persevered. By 1975, fol- lowing a successful fund-raising campaign, it had established an acquisitions endowment that has since grown to be one of the most significant resources for the Library’s special collections. “Transition and renewal” are words that well describe Library Associates today, as the The Mary Hatch Marshall Essay Award organization enters its second half-century. Library Associates continues to sponsor important acquisitions and awards, visiting To honor and perpetuate the scholarly standards and generous spirit of Mary lecturers and social events, and other cultural Hatch Marshall, Syracuse University Library Associates recently established the and educational opportunities. In addition, Mary Hatch Marshall Essay Award. Members of Library Associates, Mary’s the present board of trustees is considering friends and family, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the Central New York Community Foundation all contributed to the endowment that will proposals to revitalize publications concern- fund this annual award for the best essay written by a graduate student in the ing library collections and to renovate library humanities at Syracuse University. Eligible for the cash prize of $250 are part- facilities. Taking inspiration from past suc- time and full-time students from the following humanities departments and pro- cesses, and courage from the challenges it grams: African American studies; English; fine arts; languages literatures, and has overcome along the way, Syracuse linguistics; Latino/Latin American studies; religion; philosophy; the writing pro- University Library Associates forecasts—to gram; and the women’s studies program. Nominations will be submitted by borrow a favorite phrase from Chancellor each to a faculty panel selected to judge the essays. The winner will be Tolley—“visibility unlimited” for the Library announced at the annual Library Associates Spring Luncheon, which will be and for itself. held this year on May 7. Fund-raising efforts to create the award endowment were led by Dorothea —Christian Dupont Nelson, a board member and past president of Library Associates, who counts Secretary-Treasurer, Library Associates herself blessed to have been a student and close friend of Mary’s in her later Director, Special Collections Research years. The Mary Hatch Marshall Essay Award compliments other memorial Center tributes to her teaching excellence at the University, including the honorary dedication of the principal lecture hall on the second floor of the Hall of Languages and the annual Mary Hatch Marshall Memorial Lecture in the To learn more about Library Associates Humanistic Studies Center at University College. and how to become a member, please contact Christian Dupont at 315-443-9759 or [email protected]. William La Moy Appointed Curator of Rare Books and Printed Materials WILLIAM (WILL) LA MOY JOINED THE Prior to his appointment at Syracuse, Special Collections Research Center La Moy was the James Duncan Phillips (SCRC) in the newly defined position of Librarian and director of publications at curator of rare books and printed materials the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, on December 1, 2003. La Moy’s responsibil- Massachusetts. He holds a B.A. degree in ities include leading the center’s instruction- English language and literature from Yale al outreach programs, coordinating SCRC’s University and an M.S. degree from the exhibition program, helping develop the Simmons College Graduate School of SCRC collections, and promoting the cen- Library and Information Science. William T. La Moy, curator of rare books ter’s holdings through print and web-based and printed materials, Special publications.