Thank you, Sherman, for posting the very nice memoriam of Judith. I,
too, was at Cornell from 1969-1971, although I do not recall meeting
you, Sherman, even though I was working for the Library system, but in a
rather lowly position, first in the law library as a stacks person and
then in the reserve room at the undergraduate library. I was there
doing work as a Conscientious Objector.
When I transferred to the undergraduate library in July, as I recall, I
worked with Judith, as she was head of that department, before she moved
across the Quad to the Art and Architecture building to become Head of
the Library there. She was a terrific boss. Although I came to Cornell
with an M.A. in art history, she showed me another side of library work,
which eventually sowed the seeds to my later decision to move from a
career in academic art history to art librarianship, which I did after
getting my Ph.D. in the former and then my M.L.S.
I fondly remember her sense of humor (she named her VW after a character
in one Wagner's operas), her broad interests, and our shared involvement
with musical theatre. Although sadness is a part of everyone's life,
the phrase that comes to mind when I think of Judith is "joie de vivre".
When I returned to Ithaca in 1994 for a short visit, I was fortunate to
find Judith in her office. No longer supervisor and boss, but
colleagues, we reminisced and shared professional tales. As email and
the web became an increasing phenomenon, we stayed in touch on a more
regular basis.
I'll miss her, as I know others will and do. Her requests for
recipients of contributions in her memory say much about her gentleness,
humility, social responsibility, and caring for others.
Blessings,
Jeffrey
Jeffrey Weidman, Ph.D.
Senior Librarian, Public Services & Collection Development
Spencer Art Reference Library
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak Street
Kansas City, KS 64111
Tel: 816-751-1215
FAX: 816-751-0498
Email: [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: ART LIBRARIES SOCIETY DISCUSSION LIST [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Sherman Clarke
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 3:04 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ARLIS-L] In memoriam: Judith Holliday
Judith Holliday, the fine arts librarian at Cornell from about 1970 to
the mid 1990s, died last Friday at home in Ithaca. I first knew her when
I was a copy cataloger at Cornell from 1969-1971 and her fine example as
librarian played a part in my evolution from art history grad student to
library school student. Judith was a consummate bibliographer in
architecture, both for the Cornell collections and as compiler of the
SAH Newsletter booklist for many years. When I was back at Cornell in
the 1980s, Judith and I had a zillion conversations about architecture
and she taught me how to say Italian words better if not always
correctly. Her attendance at ARLIS/NA was mostly early on but she
continued to attend ARLIS/Western New York meetings. Margaret Webster
and I remember riding with her in the orange VW to various ARLIS/WNY
meetings.
At one ARLIS/NA annual conference (I think it was NYC in 1978), there
was a panel with publishers. Judith stood up and asked the Abrams
representative why they didn't put dates in their books. He said
something about wanting them to appear new when they were on the shelf
for Christmas presents and didn't realize how troublesome it was for
librarians. As far as I know, Abrams has put the date in all their books
since then.
I'll miss Judith a lot. The link to her obituary in the Ithaca Journal
is below, as well as the text of the short notice written by the Interim
Dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell.
Sherman Clarke
New York University Libraries
[log in to unmask]
Link to obituary:
http://www.legacy.com/TheIthacaJournal/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&Per
sonID=102975202
Dean's tribute, forwarded from SAH-L:
> Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2008 16:55:48 -0500
> From: [log in to unmask]
Judith's long service to the JSAH is to be remembered, to say nothing of
her warm companionship, keen eye and ready wit.
With best regards,
Michael [Tomlan]
> >
> >Dear Friends,
> >
> >I learned this afternoon that Judith Holliday, former Librarian of
the
> >Sibley Fine Arts Library passed away this morning at 10:00 at her
home.
> >Judith was a dear friend and valued colleague of faculty and staff in
our
> >college for many years, and a generous and dedicated mentor to
generations
> >of students. As you may know, Judith had struggled with cancer for
some
> >time. I understand that for the past couple of days, Judith was
surrounded
> >by family and friends and supported by Hospicare. A tentative date
for
> >Judith's memorial service is Saturday, March 1. Her obituary will be
in
> >tomorrow's or Monday's newspaper.
> >
> >Stan.
> >Willard Stanley Taft
> >Interim Dean
> >Associate Professor, Department of Art
> >
> >Cornell University
> >College of Architecture Art and Planning
> >129 Sibley Dome
> >Ithaca, NY 14882
> >College of Architecture, Art & Planning
> >Cornell University
> >129 Sibley Dome
> >Ithaca, NY 14853
P.S. A friend of Judith's is planning on a memorial gathering on March
29th at her gallery in New York City. If you would like details, let me
know.
__________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
For information about joining ARLIS/NA see:
http://www.arlisna.org/join.html
Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
to [log in to unmask]
ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance:
http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html
Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]
