HBRF Honored at Members Appreciation Day
July 18 marked Members Appreciation Day at the ANS with recognition paid to long term staff members, to the volunteers who regularly assist in a variety of ANS functions during the year, and with presentation of the Society's Distinguished Volunteer Award for 1998 to the Harry Bass Research Foundation. Mrs. Harry W. Bass Jr. was present to receive the citation and silver medal during ceremonies that focused on the many and generous contributions Harry Bass and the HBRF have made to the ANS and the study of numismatics. Mr. Bass died on April 4, 1998.
Welcome by President Houghton
ANS President Arthur A. Houghton welcomed the overflow audience gathered to honor their fellow members. Noted Houghton, "this joyous occasion is devoted to celebrating the members whose loyalty and unselfish devotion to the work of the Society is so deeply appreciated by all of us. Our special thanks and appreciation goes to Doris Bass for honoring us with her presence on behalf of the Harry Bass Research Foundation, this year's recipient of the Society's Distinguished Volunteer Award."
For the first time since the Society began honoring 50-year members, there was not have a current member celebrating this anniversary during 1998. Houghton reported that, "happily we have several in the wings for 1999 and so we can look forward to continuing this important ceremony recognizing long-term members of the Society whose loyalty brings them to this important milestone. Among the 50-year honorees of past years in our audience today is T.R. Fehrenbach of San Antonio, Texas, recognized in absentia last year at this time and now, I am delighted to say, joining us as our guest speaker later this afternoon." Mr. Fehrenbach, whose books on a variety of historical subjects have achieved an enviable measure of popular success, was the featured speaker for the afternoon.
Staff Members Honored
In a pleasant surprise for the recipients, Mr. Houghton presented three long-term staff members with engraved silver medals marking their twenty-fifth anniversaries of employment. He noted, "This institution is blessed with employees for whom the ANS is their lifelong career. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize three members of our staff who have recently completed 25 years with the ANS by presenting to them suitably engraved silver medals. In order of longevity: our Building Superintendent, Ed Owens, who began here in 1969; Dr. Michael Bates, Curator of Islamic Coins, who came to us from the University of Chicago in 1970; and Dr. William Metcalf, who is celebrating his 25th anniversary this year." Two other employees, ANS Executive Director Leslie A. Elam and Librarian Francis D. Campbell, had been similarly honored in 1988.
Recognition of Volunteers
Houghton then turned the program over to Elam to recognize the Society's devoted cadre of volunteers – those who contribute of their time, their skills, and their knowledge in the furtherance of the Society's objectives.
In introductory remarks, Elam noted, "From its earliest days, the Society has benefited from the volunteer efforts of its members, a practice that happily continues unabated today. In fact, now more than ever, we rely on the good nature of our volunteers to carry out many and varied tasks, particularly those related to the organization and cataloguing of our collections, both in the coin rooms and in the library, and the dissemination of this information to a wider public. It is only fitting that we pause in our daily work to give proper recognition and thanks to those who contribute their services for the benefit of all who use the Society's facilities and research products, both now and in the future."
Six "seasoned" and two new volunteers were recognized by the relevant ANS staff persons. Elam began the description of contributed services during the past year by recording the Society's ongoing appreciation to Dr. Philip Mossman of Hamden, Maine, who is now in his second year as the volunteer Editor of the Colonial Newsletter, published by the ANS since it was donated to us by the Colonial Newsletter Foundation in 1997.
Carmen Arnold-Biucchi, ANS Margaret Thompson Curator of Greek Coins discussed two volunteers in her department: Hyla A.Troxell and Ted Withington.
"The Greek Department has the privilege and the honor of dedicated services by two very special people and today I would like to pay tribute to them and recognize them in public. The first is Hyla A. Troxell who has been working in the Greek Department since she took a Columbia Seminar in Numismatics with Margaret Thompson in the sixties, I believe. She has done so much work, from the more menial tasks of rearranging trays and writing labels to cataloguing and attributing coins and she has produced so many important publications that I have always considered her more as a mentor and a colleague than as a volunteer aide. Over the years she has also donated very interesting coins to the Society and I would like to express my gratitude to her with the wish that she will continue to come in regularly, though she keeps threatening to "retire" from coins. Those of you who know Heidi personally also know what a delightful person she is to have around.
"The second Greek volunteer is just as charming and faithful; Ted Withington has been coming to the Greek Department since 1990. He usually comes twice a week and helps to enter coins in our database. This involves a detailed description of the objects with references to current publications. To give you an idea of the numbers, the Seleucid holdings consist of 3,957 coins and Ted personally entered more than two thirds of them. We have more than 2,000 coins from the Ptolemies and Ted entered most of them as well. Now he is working on the coins of Lysimachos and I am sure he will continue at a steady pace. Thank you to both of you!"
Michael Bates next cited two volunteers in the departments under his supervision: Kenneth L. MacKenzie and David Jen.
"Kenneth MacKenzie has continued to be helpful to the Islamic department in many little ways. This year he has undertaken a major new project, as co-director of the upcoming "Turkish Treasures" exhibit which will be shown at the December New York International Numismatic Convention and then at the Society. Kenneth has already sketched out the cases and has begun to pull together materials for the exhibit.
"David Jen, our volunteer for East Asian coins, finished this year his re-organization of the Society's entire pre-twentieth century Chinese coin cabinet, some 40,000 coins, which for the first time in our history are completely arranged in a single sequence with all coins boxed and labeled and the trays in correct order. Since then, he has virtually completed the identification and arrangement of our Japanese collection. David also helped organize the Society's highly successful Chinese Cash Coinage Colloquium in February and gave one of the highlight presentations, on the detection of cash forgeries. In collaboration with Ted Withington, David created an exhibit of six cases of Chinese coins and books which opened for the Colloquium and remained on view for another two months."
Last, speaking of the work of the "seasoned" volunteers, was ANS Librarian Frank Campbell who discussed Normand Pepin.
"For some years now, Normand Pepin has been making regular visits to the Library in order to assist the library staff in tracking new gift acquisitions, especially auction catalogues and periodicals. Normand has kept our 'house in order' by integrating these acquisitions into our existing holdings. In addition, during the past year Normand almost single-handedly packed the Herman Miller library into cartons and arranged for the transportation of this significant donation to the ANS library. The Librarian is most grateful to Normand and hopeful that he will continue to keep our 'house in order'."
New Volunteers Cited
For those who had not previously received their diploma recognition, ANS curators presented framed Certificates of Appreciation to David Feinstein and Jyoti Rai.
William Metcalf noted, "David Feinstein is the best sort of volunteer. After an initial approach at one of our public meetings, he began coming regularly in January of this year and has been a regular figure once or twice a week ever since. His work has made it possible to respond to those who use the ANS website and are quick to find and note inadequacies (including errors!), and to upgrade our recording of our own holdings, mainly by adding modern references to existing records. His work is painstaking and accurate, and in less than half a year over 3,000 Roman records have been improved. We expect his rate will be even faster as he moves on to his one of his true loves, the Julio-Claudians. (Another is Yankee baseball, and he also volunteered for the Seminar excursion to Yankee Stadium.) The Roman department is most grateful for the help of this loyal and congenial volunteer."
Bates followed to cite Ms. Rai. "Jyoti Rai, a rather elegant soft-spoken Indian lady, became a member of the ANS in 1992, and, having seen the need for help in the South Asian department on her first visit, began working as a volunteer shortly afterward. She has organized, arranged, labeled and catalogued our collection of eighteenth and nineteenth century Sikh coins and has helped build it up to one of the world's most complete through gifts of her own and by facilitating gifts from others, notably William F. Spengler. Two original articles on the Sikh coinage, using British documents to illuminate the location and output of obscure mints, have issued from her work on the ANS collection. She has now sorting, organizing and counting the 8,000-odd Indian coins in the Lincoln gift of January 1997. Jyoti, the wife of a corporation executive, alternates residence between India and Long Island; when she is in the U.S., her presence at the ANS has been regular and constant, one or two days per week nearly every week."
Distinguished Volunteer Award
President Houghton returned to the podium to report, "The Society's Distinguished Volunteer Award, in the form of a suitably engraved silver medal, conveys our recognition to an individual or organization that has provided long-standing, dedicated service to the Society in a voluntary capacity. This year we are pleased and honored to name as our recipient, The Harry Bass Research Foundation of Dallas, Texas."
On behalf of the Society, Elam read the following citation:
"The Harry Bass Research Foundation was 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, 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 adding, where permitted, hot-linked e-mail addresses to encourage direct communication between and among our 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.
It is a small token, indeed, of our great indebtedness and profound gratitude, to present the Society's Distinguished Volunteer Award for 1998 to The Harry Bass Research Foundation."
The award was received in person by Doris Bass, President of the HBRF, who expressed her gratitude to the ANS for this singular honor and assured the audience that the foundation intends to carry forward her late husband's aspirations for facilitating the study and enjoyment of numismatics.
Houghton then introduced ANS Councillor Margo Russell who presented to Doris Bass a specially bound edition of Harry W. Bass Jr., Memories of His Life. This book, edited by Russell and Elam, was published by the ANS in respect and admiration for the Society's late President and Benefactor. Russell remarked,
"Doris, this Harry Bass book of memories is not only the Society's tribute to Harry; it's a celebration of his life! And not even Harry – with all his imagination and vision – could know his lasting impact on numismatics. This book tells that story. Not only did he fulfill his personal collecting passion, he discovered wonderful ways to share it with others. The Society is so grateful he chose this institution as one of his most important avenues.
"This book is a collection of memories, letters and essays from Harry's friends and colleagues. It gives some insight into his contributions to our wonderful world of numismatics. Leslie and I, as co-editors, had no illusions that we could ever, ever contain Harry Bass – or capture his essence – between the pages of a mere book! But I speak for both of us – it was a labor of great respect and deep regard. We thank all who contributed to these pages; they made the book!
"Knowing Harry, Doris, he would be pleased to know this specially bound presentation copy with his favorite ANS medal encased in the cover is one of a kind, a rare issue, a Mint State specimen. On behalf of the American Numismatic Society, I give you this book with love."
Mrs. Bass thanked all who had made possible this extraordinary gift which, she assured the gathering, will have a place of honor in the offices of the Harry Bass Research Foundation.
A limited, paperback edition of the book has been published by the ANS. Single copies are available on request while they last. Those interested in having a copy should contact Tarnisha Smart in the Business Office (smart@amnumsoc.org).
Talk by T.R. Fehrenbach
Houghton then called on Dr. John Kleeberg, ANS Curator of Modern Coins and Currency, to introduce T.R. Fehrenbach, the featured speaker for the meeting.
"Although this occasion marks the first time that our guest speaker has visited the ANS, we hold him a kindred spirit. As an undergraduate at Princeton University, T.R. Fehrenbach collected Roman bronze coins, an activity that drew the attention of Professor Louis C. West. In his other guise as President of the American Numismatic Society, West recruited Fehrenbach as a member in 1947 and last year at this time we had the distinct pleasure of honoring him as a Fifty-Year Member of the Society.
"T.R. Fehrenbach's collecting activities have broadened over the years to include, modestly as he describes it, Spanish-American gold and Austrian talers. However there is nothing modest about his many and varied contributions to American history. A prolific writer, he has published 18 nonfiction books thus far, mainly on historical subjects, printed in ten languages. To name but a few, This Kind of War, originally issued in 1963 and coming out in a new paperback edition this year, is considered the classic military history of the Korean War. One might note that Fehrenbach served both in World War II and the Korean War, retiring with the rank of Lt. Colonel. 1986 saw publication of Lone Star, the most widely read history of Texas and the basis for a PBS miniseries in 1986. Currently out of print, this work will appear in a new edition next year. Two other important works are included in our Fehrenbach "Sampler" display in the West Hall: Fire and Blood, a history of Mexico first published in 1973, and Comanches, The Destruction of a People, dating from 1974. Interestingly, a good number of his books have either been club selections or used at colleges and universities, an unusual combination.
"T.R. Fehrenbach also regularly contributes fiction and articles to a wide range of periodicals including Atlantic Monthly, New Republic, and Texas Monthly. He writes for leading international newspapers and magazines and is an award-winning Sunday editorial columnist for the San Antonio Express-News.
"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, T.R. Fehrenbach is a most welcome guest in our midst today to speak to us on 'Unmoneyed Texas'."
Mr. Fehrenbach delighted the audience with a succinct yet extremely knowledgeable history of Texas, with emphasis on the Republican period. He pointed out that Texas initially sought to establish itself as an independent nation, including issuance of currency, before joining the Union in 1846.
Following Fehrenbach's stimulating talk, Houghton concluded the program and invited all in attendance to attend the reception and to take the opportunity to meet our honored guests. He also took note of the special exhibits arranged for the occasion that were on display in the West Hall. These included a sampling of the works of T.R. Fehrenbach and a selection from the Society's holdings of the Republic of Texas.