OXFORD, Miss. – Susan Barksdale Howorth of Oxford had decided to pursue a master’s degree in art when her life was cut short. Her great interests and passions in both creating art and providing educational opportunities for others will live on through University of Mississippi students who receive scholarships in her name.
The Susan Barksdale Howorth Council Scholarship Endowment has been established under the umbrella of the Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy, or OMWC. The $100,000 fund was created by a gift from her husband, Circuit Court Judge Andrew K. Howorth for the Third Judicial District of Mississippi, as well as memorials from family and friends. First preference for the scholarship awards will be given to art majors.
A public ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Oct 5 will dedicate the scholarship at the Rose Garden, on University Avenue near the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts.
The late Susan Barksdale Howorth - here with a younger Stewart, left, and Marian Howorth - will be remembered as a dedicated and loving mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend. Her interests and talents in artistic pursuits will live on through an Ole Miss Women's Council Scholarship in her name created for art majors at the University of Mississippi.
“Susan had a thirst for knowledge,” Andrew Howorth said. “She would consume the written word without limitations. She attended law school for the academic enterprise, not for the profession. She loved to explore and experiment with art, but she was somewhat self-conscious about her artwork. She was naturally gifted with watercolors, moved on to other mediums and had made the decision to pursue a master’s in fine art.
“Susan came from a family with a very strong commitment to education. I think she would be pleased with this scholarship, and she would want to make art education more accessible.”
Susan Howorth, 44, a graduate of the Ole Miss School of Law, died in February. A self-taught artist, she worked in ceramics, pottery and painting. She was also a talented decorator and collector of art, photography and antiques. In the late 1990s, she restored and opened the Barksdale-Isom House, a historic antebellum bed and breakfast just off the Oxford Square.
As a voracious reader and bibliophile, she supported writers and book-lovers who frequently gather in Oxford. In addition to the OMWC, she was an avid supporter of the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, Center for the Study of Southern Culture and the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, named in honor of her late mother.
After her mother passed away, Howorth took her place on the OMWC and joined with her siblings, Betsy Barksdale Pokorny and David Barksdale, to fund an OMWC scholarship in memory of Sally McDonnell Barksdale.
When interviewed at the time of the scholarship’s creation, Susan Howorth said, “Both of my parents taught us at early ages that giving starts in small steps. If you learn early that philanthropy is really just the ability to give a part of your time, worth, energy and effort, then you realize how large or small your gift is doesn’t really matter – it’s the act of giving that is important.”
Howorth’s larger-than-life personality, irrepressible sense of humor and unmistakable laugh will be missed, along with her connections with people. Her untold number of small, anonymous kindnesses will never be forgotten by their beneficiaries, said family and friends.
OMWC Chair Mary Ann Frugé of Oxford said the scholarship is a tribute to Howorth’s life.
“Susan’s love for art was expressed in many ways from her magical sense of color, her combining different mediums to create stunning presentations and the ease with which she shared beauty,” she said. “Providing this scholarship carries forward in a concrete way Susan’s belief in the importance of the positive ways art contributes to life as well as to the values symbolized by the OMWC scholarship.”
The scholarship will provide financial assistance, leadership development and mentoring by professional staff and a person in the field of study of the recipients, Frugé said.
Susan Howorth was the daughter of Jim Barksdale and the late Sally Barksdale. She earned an undergraduate degree from George Washington University and worked for U.S. Sen. Al Gore in Washington, D.C. During law school, she decided to make her permanent home in Oxford, where she met and married her husband. She focused her energies on being a dedicated wife and mother to children Marian and Stewart Howorth of Oxford.
“Susan loved law school at Ole Miss and made a lot of friends,” Andrew Howorth said. “It was her parents’ university, and there is a lot of family history here.”
The Susan Barksdale Howorth Council Scholarship is open to receive gifts from individuals and organizations. To contribute, mail a check with the fund noted to the University of Mississippi Foundation, P.O. Box 249, University, MS 38677; contact Sarah Hollis, associate director of development, at 662-915-1584; or visit http://www.umfoundation.com/makeagift.