I am pleased to point out the article on the Ainsworth estate gift in this issue of Keywords. This wonderful gift will help the University Libraries with some immediate collection and infrastructure needs, and it will also help in the future as the main portion of the gift will become an endowment. Estate gifts are a wonderful way to create a lasting legacy. The university has created the 1848 Society for those interested in this possibility or contact Michael Upton, the library’s development director, for more information.
On a sadder note, in recent months we have lost some very dear friends who helped to make the library a more wonderful place. Betty Harrington taught in the university’s theatre department for many years. She was also a loyal member of Friends of the Library for years and regularly attended events at the library such as the opening luncheon and program for the Conference for the Book, which the library sponsors. Miriam Weems of Jackson was another loyal member of Friends. Weems, who graduated from Ole Miss in 1963 and again in 1986, was a student in Chuck Noyes’ English class while she was here. When Dr. Noyes was honored by the university with the Noyes graduate student reading area in the library, he asked Weems, a highly regarded artist, to paint his portrait, which now hangs in the Noyes Room.
Finally, the library lost a wonderful friend with the passing of Howard Lenhoff, who retired to Oxford in 2001 with his lovely wife, Sylvia, after a distinguished career as a biology professor at a number of prestigious universities including, most recently, the University of California at Irvine. The Lenhoffs “adopted” their new university and library with enthusiasm and generous gifts to support not only the library but also the English department. Visiting the library frequently, they also enjoyed using the different collections and attending events. Dr. Lenhoff was a fan of the late writer Barry Hannah and donated his extensive collection of items about and by Hannah, including advance proofs of some of his famous works. He also donated a number of significant religious studies books, including a new edition of the Tanakh, the Jewish scriptures in Hebrew and English.
The legacy and impact of the Ainsworths, Lenhoff, Weems and Harrington live on in the form of a wonderful endowment, videos, books, collections and a lovely portrait in our library. We will remember them and the love and support they showed the University Libraries.
Sincerely,
Julia Rholes
Dean of University Libraries