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RESPONSE of Bill Walker to Larry McGilvery's email of 5/27/2012 Bill's response is highlighted in RED Begin forwarded message: > From: Laurence McGilvery <[log in to unmask]> > Date: May 27, 2012 9:05:08 PM EDT > To: "Ann Abid" <[log in to unmask]>, Caroline Backlund > <[log in to unmask]>, "Craig, Susan V" <[log in to unmask]>, Wolfgang > Freitag <[log in to unmask]>, William Walker > <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: ARLIS prehistory > > Dear Friends, > > I was going to send the following to ARLIS-L unvetted but then > thought I would run it past the five of you first: > > ARLIS/NA-Prehistory > > Dear Friends, > > The 40th anniversary of ARLIS and some recent correspondence with > Ann Abid have inspired me to unearth some of the prehistory of this > wonderful organization. > > ARLIS/UK was founded in 1969 by Trevor Fawcett, according to the > website, though another source seems to credit Philip Pacey. 1969 > was a pretty darned good year for art libraries and librarians: > ARLIS/UK was founded in 1969 by Trevor Fawcett and/or Philip[Pacey, > Meanwhile in Buffalo NY the art librarian at SUNY Buffalo, > Florence DaLuiso (prompted by Wolfgang Freitag and Herb Scherer at > the 1968 ALA conference) had the vision and initiative to secure a > grant of $7,500 in 1969 from the U.S Dept of Education to fund an > Institute for Training in Librarianship. This was "Art Libraries: > Their Comprehensive Role in Preserving Contemporary Visual Resources." > The institute took place in Buffalo from June 16 to the 20th, with > a faculty of seven librarians and VR curators, three art museum > directors, and one art curator. The "class" consisted of a > seasoned, interactive group of 24 art librarians and VR curators > from all over the U.S. (footnote: It was at the Buffalo > Institute that I met Judy Hoffberg. WW) (Larry's text resumed here WW.) > > I personally attended an event that must have been in January, > 1972. Judy Hoffberg had organized a meeting of perhaps twelve or > fifteen people in San Francisco. It took place at a long table in a > high, old-fashioned room somewhere in the city-perhaps at the > public library or the old San Francisco Art Museum. The guest of > honor, and the occasion for the meeting, was Philip Pacey, who was > visiting from England. The other person I am absolutely certain of > was the glamorous Contessa Alessandra Marchi of Centro Di, who > entered the room as though she had just stepped out of a Fellini > movie. > > CAA was meeting at the San Francisco Hilton. My diary for > Wednesday, January 26, 1972, notes a "CAA library session-lunch, to > 6 p.m." but, alas, names no specific individuals. On Thursday and > Friday I exhibited all day. From Saturday on I was out on other > business around the Bay Area. > > On Thursday, the 27th, I had lunch with Roger Gardiner, the art > librarian at the University of Western Ontario in London. He > attended the early ARLIS conferences and quite likely was at Judy's > meeting. At 6:00 that evening I drove Kate Steinitz to her hotel. > She must also have been at the Wednesday event. Judy would have > pulled any strings necessary for Kate's support, and she would have > given it wholeheartedly. At 7:00 I had dinner with Bill Treese of > the University of California, Santa Barbara. It was he who formed > the collection of exhibition catalogues that graces the art library > now. He also was an early exponent of computer cataloguing. > > Among the other people who might have been present, Mary Ashe of > the San Francisco Public Library seems certain. A message to her a > few weeks ago has not produced a reply yet. Other likely candidates > are David Patten of Art Index, or the late John Larsen. > > Here, from http://www.arlis.org.uk/about.php, is a relevant > quotation: "ARLIS has held an annual conference since 1972, when it > was in Aberystwyth. Judy Hoffberg was among the participants there > and, upon her return to the US, established ARLIS/NA." This was in > April 1972. > > The first meeting under the aegis ARLIS/NA was at ALA in Chicago in > 1972 -- in June? > > Volume 1, number 1 of the ARLIS/NA Newsletter appeared in November > 1972. > > The following year, in Las Vegas, with the temperature around 113 > degrees, if memory serves right, I recall a rather contentious > meeting at ACRL. The Las Vegas conference was approximately Monday, > June 25, to Thursday, June 28. I have notes about the wonderful > Jacqueline Sisson and the very different but equally wonderful Lo > Parr of Fort Worth who brought a measure of sanity at a > particularly stressful moment; also, Jean Finch of Stanford. Ann > Abid says she did not attend because she didn't want the City > Museum in St. Louis paying for a trip to Las Vegas, but I might > first have met Susan Craig and several other old friends there. I > remember Robert Daw of Topeka Public Library. Perhaps Daphne Roloff > was there, or Caroline. > > What must have been the first directory came out in August 1973 and > listed about 300 members. It was a looseleaf, letter-size affair of > 48 pages edited by David Patten. He produced two supplements of 10 > and 19 pages. > > There were other early efforts that led to the founding of ARLIS/ > NA. Florence Da Luisa of Buffalo had a class or workshop that > people have said was very influential. There also were librarians > who opposed the whole program. Elizabeth Usher, then-librarian at > the Met, was quite dismissive of the fledgling organization wthin > my hearing, and she certainly was not alone. However, she was on > board in time for that first directory, in August 1973. > > My copy of the 1974 directory is date-stamped "Oct 7 1974." Again, > David Patten was the editor. It is thick at 121 saddle-stitched > pages, 8.5 x 5.5 inches. The membership had more than doubled to 651. > > I hope others will add to and correct this small archaeological > excavation. Please post anything relevant on ARLIS-L, rather than > sending it to me personally. Your recollection may jog someone > else's memory > > That's the end of my letter. Anything any of you can contribute > will go into the above e-mail, with full credit, or we can all sign > it. In case the header on your e-mail doesn't display the other > names, you are Ann, Caroline, Susan, Wolfgang, and Bill W. > > Ann wrote me: "My first ARLIS experience was the meeting at the > classroom at Columbia. Earlier, I had attended a CAA session > devoted to art libraries but that was unrelated to Judy H. and her > vision for ARLIS. I was going to attend ALA the year it was in Las > Vegas but backed out when I heard to venue - didn't want to ask the > St. Louis Art Museum to send me to LV." When was that Columbia > meeting, and who was there? Ann also wrote: "I always thought that > ARLIS began at an ALA in CA and that whichever art librarians were > there coincidentally became the kind of founding members." That > doesn't match, however, because the ALA conferences during those > years were: 1970, Detroit; 1971, Dallas; 1972, Chicago; 1973, Las > Vegas; 1974, New York. Could it have been CAA in San Francisco in > 1972? > > With warmest regards, > > Larry > > -- > Laurence McGilvery > Member, Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America > Post Office Box 852 > La Jolla, California 92038 > USA > > (858) 454-4443 > [log in to unmask] > www.mcgilvery.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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.arlisna.org Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~