July 18 Is ANS Members Appreciation Day
Members Appreciation Day will be celebrated on July 18 at the ANS. For the
first time since our 50 year members have been honored, we do not have a
current member upon whom to bestow this honor, although in 1999 we will have
quite a few. We look forward to being able to continue this very important
ceremony recognizing long-term members of the Society whose loyalty has brought
them to this important milestone.
We continue to be thankful for the hard work and continuing service of our
volunteers. Again this year we honor the work of David Jen, William Kable,
Kenneth McKenzie, Philip L. Mossman, Normand Pepin, Adam D. Philippidis,
Heidi Troxell, Frederic Withington, and Lili Wronker. We are pleased to add
Jyoti Rai to that list. This year we have a new and most hard-working member,
David Feinstein, who has been working in the Roman department. We are very
grateful to these people who do great service for the Society.
This year the Society's Distinguished Volunteer Award will be presented to
the Harry Bass Research Foundation, founded by Harry W. Bass Jr. in 1991
initially to further the study of U.S. numismatics based on his extensive
collections. Mr. Bass, who had served as ANS President, 1978-1984, died on
April 4 in Dallas.
Since its inception, the HBRF has taken a lead role in advancing the use
of the Internet for numismatic research, based primarily on the publications,
holdings, and services of the ANS. In 1995, the HBRF announced the inception
of the "Numismatic Indexes Project" (NIP) to provide searchable indexes of
a number of American books, journals, and magazines in the discipline, including
all ANS publications. A scant three years later, this valuable research tool
is regularly used by visitors to the HBRF, as well as at the Society's own
website. The value of NIP is being greatly enhanced by the addition of
searchable, full-text versions of the ANS journal, Numismatic
Literature, an ongoing project of the HBRF.
The ANS website, www.AmNumSoc2.Org, owes its existence, maintenance, and
ongoing development to the HBRF, without whose support, this highly regarded
means of disseminating Society information and research would not have been
possible. Among recent acclaimed innovations at the site has been the addition
of over 550,000 coin records from the ANS database, fully searchable via
a high-speed search engine resident at the HBRF site. A searchable listing
of ANS members is now also available and we are currently soliciting members'
permission to add hot-linked e-mail addresses to encourage direct communication
among members. In the offing is the addition of ANS Library catalogue records
derived from the computerization of the Society's card catalogue, a project
sponsored by the HBRF and its parent Harry Bass Foundation.
Mrs. Bass to Attend
T. R. Fehrenbach of San Antonio,
TX, will be our guest speaker for this day. T. R. Fehrenbach, who last year
celebrated his fiftieth anniversary as an ANS member, was recruited as a
member of the Society by Professor Louis C. West, then the President of the
ANS. A collector of ancient coins, Fehrenbach is a prolific writer of popular
history, including This Kind of War, published in 1963 and considered
a text book on U.S. ground forces in the Korean War, and his widely-read
history of Texas, Lone Star, published in 1968. Mr. Fehrenbach has
contributed fiction and non fiction to a broad range of periodicals and is
a Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association and a Knight of San Jacinto,
the highest order of the Society of the Republic of Texas. His talk will
be an enlightenment for everyone.
Members Appreciation Day takes place at 3:00 P.M. on Saturday, July 18, at
the ANS. Members and the public are invited to take part in this day of
celebration.
GRADUATE SEMINAR ALUMNI
GROUP FORMED
Have you ever wondered what happened to John Smith, an alumnus of the ANS
Graduate Seminar? Many people have, and for that reason a fledgling organization
was formed of alumni. Last winter we distributed surveys to alumni, to which
about 65 people responded. Almost all were in some way professional teachers
and researchers. The vast majority work on ancient coins, fewer work on
medieval/Islamic coins, and only one modernist responded. Almost all are
still heavily involved in numismatic research Almost all are willing to pay
$15 for annual dues.
At an organizational meeting in December, I agreed to act as president pro-tem
in order to get started. I am pleased to say that I have had help from several
alumni in brainstorming, especially Lee Ann Riccardi and Jamie Uhlenbrock,
but also Stephen Scher and Ross Holloway. Lee Ann has offered to act as
secretary. She will be in charge of getting the newsletters out. Lee Ann,
Ross, Kenneth Harl, Jennifer Sheridan, Warren Schultz, and Jane Cody have
agreed to act as regional vice-presidents. Jane Cody is also our treasurer.
In the survey, many asked for a way to keep up with the work and interests
of fellow alumni. We think we can accomplish this by having a set of regional
vice-presidents whose duties will include keeping an address book of regional
members and collecting from those members news of publications or works of
interest to the entire body. We have received many suggestions some of which
I will mention here. We might create a web page containing certain
interest-related information that would be shared with the members. The
newsletter and web page might also have expanded versions of the condensed
summaries from the ANSNewsletter about current Graduate Seminar student
projects. Several members also suggested that they would be willing to lecture
to groups interested in numismatics. Regional vice presidents could be given
a list of those who have offered their services, and other regional alumni
could contact the vice presidents to find local experts to call upon.
Alumni could act as extra mentors for students enrolled in the Graduate Seminar.
Names of those students working in appropriate fields could be given to the
alumni, and alumni could offer expertise or advice by e-mail or telephone
during the summer or months following, when the students are preparing their
projects for articles.
We might establish an annual award or recognition of the article or book
about numismatics by an alumnus/a that provided the greatest contribution
to the discipline. We could even have a separate award for the ancient world,
the medieval world, the Renaissance/modern world, and the Islamic/Asian world,
recognition of the contribution being decided by an appropriately selected
committee.
What should you do now? Send your $15 annual fee to Professor Jane Cody,
made out to "ANS Graduate Seminar Alumni" at the University of Southern
California, ADM 304, MC 4012, Los Angles, CA 90089. While you have your pen
in hand, write to your regional vice president and tell him/her what project
you are working on or is just coming out, include further ideas and specifics
about a newsletter and web page; volunteer to give a lecture; volunteer to
work on developing the awards committee guidelines; volunteer to be mentor
of a Graduate Seminar student this summer. Make sure you inform the ANS that
we can release your address/e-mail address to interested members. And let
us know what you think this organization can or should be doing that we missed.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Jane DeRose Evans ('83), janeevan@vm.temple.edu; Art History,
8th
Floor Ritter Annex, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19119.
Regional vice presidents: New England, R. Ross Holloway; NY, NJ, PA, DC,
Lee Ann Riccardi; South, Kenneth Harl; Rust Belt, Jennifer Sheridan; west
of the rust belt to the Rockies, Warren Schultz; CA and the Far West, Jane
Cody. Jan DeRose Evans
Ragtime, A Gala Success
The evening of April 17 was a huge success and the ANS thanks all the guests
who made the evening so special. We give particular thanks to ANS Councillor
Donald Partrick and his wife Virginia who served as hosts for the Partrick
party of ten and Mr. and Mrs. Eric Newman and their daughter Linda Schapiro,
Mrs. Cathy Bullowa-Moore and her daughter-in-law Joy Moore, Mr. Leslie Elam,
Dr. William E. Metcalf and his wife Jane, Ms. Arlene Jacobs, Dr. Phillip
Mossman and his wife Mary, Mr. Gary Trudgen and his wife Nancy, Dr. Arnold
Peter Weiss and his wife Dr. Yvonne Weiss, Mr. Clifford Mishler, Dr. David
Menchell and his wife Dianne, Mr. Anthony Terranova and his wife Maryann,
and Mr. Jack Kroll and his guest Dorothy Seigal. We also thank the members
who were unable to attend the benefit but made a contribution to the evening
including Kenneth and Mary Edlow, Roger A. Hornsby, Jonathan Kagan, Thomas
R. Martin, and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb, Jr.
The setting for dinner was spectacular! The ninth floor promenade of the
Hotel Marriott Marquis looks out on Broadway just above Times Square. Outside
the window, the stream of taxis looked like a yellow satin ribbon flowing
into Times Square surrounded by huge abstract art works rather than billboards
and advertisements. There were no sounds, just movement, and as twilight
turned to evening, the view was magical. Appetizers and cocktails on the
promenade highlighted New York at its best. The guests enjoyed excellent
food and wine and little chocolate pyramids for dessert. Even the April shower
disappeared as we left the hotel for the theater.
Ragtime is playing in the New Ford Center where there was indeed space,
comfort, and beauty. This new theater with its block long lobby was designed
with this play in mind. It is a theater complete with mosaics, red-velvet
seats with ample leg room, gold-leaf domes, rosettes, lyres, masks of comedy,
murals of frolicking maidens and cupids, all illuminated by beautiful
lighting.
The play itself was a fitting climax. It was beautifully staged and whether
you had read the book or not, the story line was clear. The singing voice
of Brian Stokes Mitchell was memorable. A new tone has been set for 42nd
Street with the opening of Ragtime.
The evening was a great success. We again thank all of our guests for attending
and ask our members to suggest other events that would be of interest to
them. Until next time!
Elam Elected Honorary Fellow
of RNS
ANS Executive Director Leslie A. Elam is one of three individuals elected
as Honorary Fellows of the Royal Numismatic Society, London, at its January
1998 meeting. The others accorded this singular honor were Dr. Pierre Bastien
of Cranbury, NJ, and Prof. Brita Malmer of Stockholm, Sweden, both of whom
are Corresponding Members of the ANS as well.
In acknowledging his election to RNS President D. M. Metcalf, Elam wrote
of his pride in the honor accorded him since "it puts me in the company of
two predecessors here at the American Numismatic Society whose memory I hold
in the highest regard—Sawyer Mosser, who interviewed and hired me for
a career rich in challenges and rewards, and George Miles, who tutored me
in the dignity of administering this unique research institution."
RNS Honorary Fellows are limited to 25 in number. Their names are listed
regularly in the Numismatic Chronicle.
Harry Wesley Bass, Jr.
Complications from lung disease claimed the life of Harry Wesley Bass, Jr.. on April 4, 1998. Mr. Bass, a past President of the American Numismatic Society, was at his death a member of the Society's governing Council and its Executive Committee. His deep commitment to the ANS manifested itself in many enduring ways. including the endowed Bass Library Fund, initiation and on-going support for the computerization of the Society's operations and collections beginning in 1979, funding of major purchases for the Library and Curatorial Departments, and, during the past several years, development of the Society's presence on the Internet through administration of the ANS website.
Well known in Dallas oil and business circles, Mr. Bass was born January 6, 1927, in Oklahoma City and grew up in Dallas where he graduated from Texas Country Day School (now St. Marks Academy) before pursuing a higher education at the University of Texas and Southern Methodist University.
He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, then became involved in family oil interests in Calgary, Canada, before continuing in the oil exploration business in Dallas where he served as President of H. W. Bass and Sons, Inc.
Active in Republican politics, Bass served as Dallas County Chairman in 1957 and later as Republican State Committeeman representing Dallas. His early efforts to computerize the party's constituency led to a lifetime fascination with computers. Instrumental in computerizing the membership records of his home church, Highland Park United Methodist, he was actively involved until the time of his death in the computerization of records and holdings for the American Numismatic Society in New York City, having recently developed their website on the Intemet.
An eclectic collector, Bass fostered a particular interest in numismatics, assembling in the past three decades one of the largest and finest collections of U.S. Gold coins in the world. A recognized authority on mintage of U.S. federal gold coinage (ca. 1795-1933), he built a comprehensive reference collection of U.S. gold by die varieties and die states.
Combining business interests with his love for skiing, Bass became actively involved with Vail ski resort and later Beaver Creek ski resort, leading his family's successful takeover bid against Twentieth Century Fox in 1978 for controlling interest in Vail Associates, Inc. He then served as Chairman of the Board during a significant phase of the corporation's planning and growth.
He administered two non-profit foundations. The Harry Bass Foundation, which his father created, has long supported Dallas museums, hospitals, religious and charitable institutions along with numismatic organizations nationwide. The Harry W. Bass Jr. Research Foundation will keep intact in perpetuity for research and scholarship his rare collections of U.S. numismatics, books and other groups of material.
A member of Dallas Country Club, Brook Hollow Golf Club, and Idlewild and Calyx social organizations, Harry Bass served as president of the American Numismatic Society in New York City from 1978-84, president of Sertoma Club, and was the first president of the Dallas Ski Club which he helped form in the 50s.
Predeceased by his parents, Wilma (Schuessler) and Harry Wesley Bass, and eldest son Harry Wesley Bass III, he is survived by his wife Doris and four grown children: John Harold Bass of Sandy, Utah; Carol Ann Bass of Fishtail, Montana; Robert Stephen Bass of Agoura, California; and Beverly Bass Haralson of Dallas, along with seven grandchildren, brother Richard D. Bass of Dallas. and stepsons Michael and David Calhoun.
Following private interment at Sparkman-Hillcrest Cemetery, memorial services were held Monday, April 6, 1998, at 2:00 p.m., at the Highland Park United Methodist Church.
The death of ANS Councillor and Past President
Harry W. Bass Jr., on April 4, 1998, ended an era in the history of the American
Numismatic Society largely defined by his ideas and influence. He knew the
ANS more intimately, more intensely, more personally than most career employees
of the ANS; but not unlike those few other individuals whose marks are indelibly
impressed upon the annals of this venerable organization.
From almost the moment he joined the ANS in 1966, Harry Bass adopted the
Society as an institution he respected for its heritage, the quality of its
holdings, and its people. From the earliest days, he was an avid learner
for whom answers begot further questions. Those who thought he asked the
obvious only betrayed their inability to understand the nuances of his thinking.
And when he decided on a course of action, those who would disagree found
a well-informed, perhaps even stubborn defender of a position based on a
rare combination of logic and humanity.
Early Interests
His first contact at the ANS was with Society Librarian Geoffrey North. Bass
was not yet the advanced collector in his chosen area of interest, the
specialized series of United States federal gold coinage, but he knew well
the challenging rigors required to gain expertise in a sophisticated field
of study. North exposed him to the broad spectrum of research tools available
in this extraordinary numismatic library; in turn Bass prowled the aisles,
then the nooks and crannies, in the course of which discovering a section
of the library devoted to lesser-used materials that were housed on wood
shelves. His recommendations for improving the appearance and safety of the
area, coupled with his offer to help finance the renovation, were accepted
with pleasure, and henceforth the converted east library workroom was
affectionately deemed the "Bass Room."
ANS Councillor
Elected a Fellow in 1971, the following year his interest and support of
the Society and its mission were certified by election to the governing Council,
and shortly thereafter by appointment to the Executive Committee. In 1974
he was elected First Vice-President of the ANS and was named to the Finance
Committee, which oversees the Society's investment portfolio as well as current
accounts. In 1978 he succeeded Samuel R. Milbank as the President of the
ANS, a position he was to hold until 1984.
In 1979 he joined the Library Committee, formalizing his deep interest in
this, the world's most developed numismatic research library. The previous
fall, he invited ANS Director Leslie A. Elam, Librarian Francis D. Campbell,
and then Deputy Chief Curator William E. Metcalf to join him at a computer
exposition in his home city of Dallas, thus inaugurating the serious, ongoing
dedication by the Society to the use of computer technology for all aspects
of our work. It was what Harry Bass characterized as "bringing the ANS into
the twentieth century."
Progress was rapid under Bass's watchful eye. He funded the acquisition and
development of the minicomputer system for creating the COINS database, the
eventual success of which is seen in the over 550,000 coin records now mounted
on the Society's Website. By 1984, he correctly deduced that the future lay
in personal computers networked to share information. He was also an early
advocate of relational databases and, for this reason, taught himself how
to program in Microrim's RBase software package; in turn he committed ANS
staff members, particularly Elam, to this regimen.
The advent of the Society's first major endowment campaign in 1985 provided
the impetus to develop a computerized database for the ANS, incorporating
files for membership, fund-raising, and finances. Bass worked closely with
Elam to define the database structures and relationships. Untutored in fund
accounting, Bass nevertheless made valuable contributions to the Society's
sophisticated chart of accounts and the related budget and financial reporting
systems under which the ANS has operated since 1990.
ANS President
Bass's tenure as President was marked by many significant events, not the
least of which was overseeing the planning for, and celebration of, the Society's
125th anniversary in 1983, a potpourri of events that culminated in a whirlwind
of activity in September of that year. The ANS opened a gala new exhibition,
"The World of Money" for which over $200,000 was raised; convened a two-day
conference in New York which attracted an international gathering of scholars
and serious students in all aspects of numismatics; and hosted, with his
wife Doris, a grand celebratory dinner dance at Windows on the World, high
atop New York's World Trade Center.
In his Presidential address marking the anniversary, Bass outlined a vision
of far-reaching proportions – an annual "Coinage of the Americas Conference"
to bring together at the ANS the full range of those interested in the
pre-announced theme, to hear talks, enjoy exhibitions of public and private
collections, and engage in the discourse that marks true information sharing
in our discipline. Lastly, the sum of this experience should be reported
in a Proceedings volume to guarantee that a lasting benefit would result.
Thus began the annual COAC, now deeply ingrained in the fabric of Society
life and a proven contribution to the vibrancy of Western Hemisphere numismatic
research.
ANS Internet Presence
Harry Bass's vision for the ANS sharpened considerably as he contemplated
"bringing the ANS into the twenty-first century." In late 1991, he established
the Harry Bass Research Foundation and set about to make his uniquely significant
collection of U.S. gold coins available on the Internet. He was soon sidetracked
to contemplate the needs of the ANS for a Website presence. The result is
a highly symbiotic relationship between the HBRF and the ANS; each of us
has an active, ongoing Website, both maintained by the HBRF, with transparent
links between the two and with additions and updates occurring regularly
to enhance the value of each site.
With Bass's death, the HBRF has inherited substantial collections and
responsibilities. The ANS is a happy partner in promoting the enhancement
of the HBRF site and in benefiting from the continuing cooperation of the
HBRF. Harry Bass characterized himself as a learner. Those who knew him add
innovator, pragmatist, challenger, mentor, humanist.
ANS Council Resolution
Perhaps the singular statement of Harry Bass's place in the Society's conscience
is that of the ANS Council, spread upon its Minutes of April 18, 1998, recording
his death:
"The Council of the American Numismatic Society expresses its profound sorrow
on the death of Harry W. Bass Jr. A Member of the Society's Council since
1972, he served as President of the ANS during the years 1978-1984; at his
death he remained a contributing member of the Council, and its Executive
and Governance Committees.
"He cared deeply about the Society, and its place in the world of numismatic
scholarship and education. His was the vision of an ANS that not only should
aspire to greatness, but also strive to share its resources over the spectrum
of numismatic studies through development of on-line capabilities.
"He was intimate with the affairs of the Society, provided thoughtful counsel
on its mission and direction, and gave generously of his talents and means
in support of all aspects of this organization. He will be sorely missed.
"To his widow. Doris, and his family, the Council and Membership express
their deep condolences and offer sincere sympathy. A man of singular stature
has gone from our midst."