Two Extraordinary Collections Come to the
Logan Museum
| Logan Museum of Anthropology |
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| From the Gaples collection of tribal art: Yombe mask from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from the first half of the 20th century. |
The Logan Museum of Anthropology recently acquired two very different but equally significant collections for the museum in as many months. In December, a collection of 128 superb objects of tribal art arrived on campus, a gift from Harry Gaples of suburban Chicago, in memory of his wife, Rita Gaples. In January, the museum acquired a meticulously documented collection of more than 300 hand-woven textiles from Mexico and Guatemala, a remarkable gift of the collector, Frances Bristol of New Jersey.
Nicolette Meister, the Logan Museum’s curator of collections, worked closely with both families in acquiring the collections. “The Gaples collection was amassed as a collection of high-end tribal art from all over the world,” she says. “The Bristol collection was systematically collected from a single, highly focused subject and region.”
Director of the Logan Museum Bill Green says both collections are highly valuable to the museum—the Gaples collection primarily for its breadth and aesthetic qualities, and the Bristol collection principally for its depth and cultural detail.
The Gaples Collection
Consisting of African, Native American, pre-Columbian, and Oceanic works of great age, rarity, artistry, and historical importance, the Gaples collection is most notable for the unparalleled quality and condition of its objects. Green says it also fills a few gaps in the museum’s collection with objects from areas and cultural groups—such as sub-Saharan Africa—that were poorly represented before.
“The gift of the Gaples collection will have a profound and immediate effect on the Logan Museum and Beloit College,” says Green. “Students and faculty in anthropology, art history, African studies, and museum studies, among other fields, will use it for new research and exhibition projects.”
The collection was built by Rita Gaples, who died in 2006. Traveling extensively, she developed a sophisticated eye for unique and significant works and pursued an understanding of the tribal art she collected.
“Rita was an extraordinary woman,” says Meister. “She acquired every piece with great care, research, and consultation with experts. It’s an incredible honor to have such an amazing collection donated to the museum in her memory.”
The Gaples family learned about the Logan Museum and its work through John Buxton, a well-known antiques appraiser and consultant who regularly appears on the television program Antiques Roadshow. Buxton’s areas of specialty include African, Native American, and South Pacific art and artifacts.
Buxton became acquainted with Beloit College museum staff in 2001 during research on the museum’s Southwestern ceramic collection. Since then, he has presented guest lectures and participated in Appraise This!, an antiques and collectibles appraisal fair and museums fund-raiser held on campus. Buxton and several members of the museum staff have maintained warm friendships.
“When Rita saw Beloit College and the Logan Museum, she knew exactly where these objects would finally go and was delighted,” says Buxton.
The Bristol Collection
| Logan Museum of Anthropology |
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| From the Bristol collection of hand-woven textiles: Detail of hand-embroidery from a blouse collected in
1952 from San Vicente oatlán, Ejutla, Oaxaca, Mexico. |
Logan Museum staff first learned of the Bristol collection in 2005, when Meister received a handwritten letter from Frances Bristol of Clark, N.J., offering the museum her collection of 20th-century hand-woven textiles from Mexico and Guatemala.
For more than a year, through email correspondence and phone conversations with Bristol’s friend and neighbor, Meister pieced together the story behind the proposed gift. An artist and textile collector, Bristol had spent two months each winter between 1952 and 1994 in Oaxaca, Mexico. Over the years, she amassed more than 330 textiles and other objects produced there and in Guatemala.
Recognizing that textiles reflect the characteristics of the indigenous people who produce them, she traveled to remote Indian communities throughout Oaxaca in search of traditional styles.
Bristol developed a cataloging system and precisely documented each acquisition, identifying its type and the date, location, and purchase price. She photographed weavers in their communities and drew illustrations of how textiles were worn and used, along with maps of the routes she traveled to each village. Bristol also compiled approximately 3,000 slides and a wealth of background information from research she conducted using library resources.
Meister says she was astonished by the collection and its depth of documentation when she first saw it in Bristol’s home last summer. And because the artifacts were collected during a period of rapid regional change, Meister says they provide a record of the noteworthy variation in textile form, style, decoration, and function. “The extensive documentation allows for research points of access that would otherwise be unavailable,” says Meister.
Bristol’s motivation for donating the collection to Beloit was based on a friendship she developed in the late 1950s and early ’60s with former Beloit College Professor of Anthropology William Simpson Godfrey. Bristol and Godfrey routinely stayed at the same Oaxacan hotel while visiting Mexico. Godfrey was there leading Beloit College field schools, and he spoke often and well of the Logan Museum. Nearly a half-century later, Bristol recalled that association and determined that the museum might be the right place for her collection.
“Who would have thought that her early relationship with Godfrey would yield such an important and beautiful collection of textiles?” says Meister.
The Logan Museum will develop an exhibition and catalog based on the collection so that scholars will be aware of its availability for research and teaching purposes. Both collections will be used by Beloit College students and faculty in a variety of exciting new educational projects. Sample pieces of the Gaples collection are on display now in the Logan, and part of the Bristol collection will be viewable online in the near future.
Rare, Vintage Beloit Online
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| Phi Kappa Psi house, circa 1950 |
The Beloit College Archives recently created an online exhibit of vintage color photographs dating from 1938 to the mid-1960s. The seldom-seen images depict a Beloit campus in rare and vivid color, all the more startling, since most photographs from those eras were in black and white. The photographs cover a variety of subjects, from student life and faculty portraits, to campus views, including many buildings since torn down or significantly changed. A link to the exhibit was featured in a recent email newsletter to alumni and has already received an overwhelming amount of interest. To view the photos, go to www.beloit.edu/library, click on College Archives, then select Archive Collections.
Anyone with information about particular photographs is invited to share it with College Archivist Fred Burwell’86: burwellf@beloit.edu.
New Way to Tap Into Alumni Community
Beloit’s Alumni Office recently launched My Beloit, an online social network exclusively for Beloiters. Access to the community is provided through a secure online environment similar in design to many of the popular, public social networks.
My Beloit allows alumni to meet new people, reconnect with old friends, or build networks around ideas, common interests, or mutual friends, but My Beloit is private and available only to Beloiters. Other features include unlimited photosharing, journaling, and messaging. The network is free to users.
George Lenard’80, an employment and labor attorney and author of George’s Employment Blawg (
www.employmentblawg.com), points out that online social networks can be as valuable as the kind of networking most people do in-person during job searches or when trying to expand a client base. “I’ve looked not only for classmates, but also for others with whom I share a common interest, such as geographic proximity or similar career,” he says of My Beloit.
“Online social networks have become a convenient way for groups to communicate,” says Jane Armitage, director of Alumni Affairs for Beloit College. She says the College is pleased to offer alumni the benefits of social and professional networking online, within the secure environment a private label network provides.
Launched in February, My Beloit is already off to a strong start. Within the first week, more than 600 alumni joined the community, creating 75 groups and posting numerous blog feeds.
To participate, visit
https://beloit.affinitycircles.com and register. Alumni will need their seven digit identification number, which can be found on
Beloit College Magazine address labels.
College Trustee Named ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ by Inc. Magazine
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Inc. magazine named Beloit College Trustee Ken Hendricks its 2006 entrepreneur of the year and made him the subject of its December 2006 cover story.
Hendricks, who has served on the Beloit College board of trustees since 1998, has a story that rivals anything on the bestseller list. As a young man, circumstances forced him to drop out of high school, and he went to work as a roofing contractor. He built a company from the ground up, applying his knowledge of roofing to find and fill gaps in the distribution and national supply of materials in the industry.
Today, he is CEO and chairman of the board of American Builders and Contractors Supply Co. Inc. (better known as ABC Supply Co.), the largest wholesale distributor of roofing, siding, and gutters in the United States. ABC is based in Beloit, where its red-white-and-blue corporate offices are perched along the Rock River, just north of campus.
Hendricks is ranked number 107 on the Forbes list of 400 richest Americans, passing even Oprah last year. But the numbers do not tell the whole story: Hendricks’ feet are squarely on the ground. According to the story in Inc., he personally answers his own phone, trains all of his regional managers, and believes in the wisdom of working men and women. He also never stops envisioning what might be.
Inc.’s story, which chronicles Hendricks’ rise and rise on all measures of business success, gives insight into what drives this entrepreneur, whose wealth is estimated at $2.6 billion. Creating jobs is the strongest impetus, and the city of Beloit has been the fortunate beneficiary of many of his projects. Hendricks’ belief that nearly anything can make a turnaround has led to unprecedented renewal in Beloit College’s hometown. He has turned sluggish companies into profitable ones and empty factories into bustling enterprises, most notably the buildings that once formed the city’s largest employer, the Beloit Corporation. Now known again by its original name, Beloit Ironworks, the million-square-foot facility is home to 17 businesses and sits just across the river from campus where its large exterior photographic murals serve as a tribute to the diverse workforce that built Beloit.
At press time, Inc. magazine’s story on Hendricks was still available in the past issues section of the publication’s Web site: http://www.inc.com/magazine/archives.
| Ken and Diane Hendricks, business partners and dedicated citizens of Beloit, will be
honored by Beloit College at Commencement. The board of trustees and the faculty
recently voted to confer upon the two community leaders honorary Doctor of
Humane Letters degrees on Sunday, May 13. President John Burris said that "Ken and Diane
Hendricks have been creative leaders in Beloit for decades. In each of the
improvements they have brought to our community, they have made the extra effort
to enhance the lives of Beloiters and the beauty of this city." |
Filmmaker and Video Artist Leighton Pierce
Serves as Ferrall Artist
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Leighton Pierce, an experimental filmmaker and influential video artist, served as the Victor E. Ferrall, Jr., Artist-in-Residence at Beloit during the spring semester. In February and March, he worked with faculty and students in the College’s department of art and art history, showed his work in several venues, made a public presentation, and led a workshop for students.
With more than 60 awards from national and international festivals, Pierce divides his time between New York City and Iowa City, where he directs the film and video production program in the University of Iowa’s department of cinema and comparative literature. His work has been presented at the Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, and in major international film festivals at Sundance, New York, San Francisco, and Rotterdam.
Pierce creates video installations that are experiences in transformative time that strive to capture an active and immediate emotional state during shooting, often by photographing seemingly mundane activities. In editing, he distills the images around what he calls “emotionally charged nodes.” This process begins with recognition of the emotional and rhythmic potential of an image, continues as he sequences the images, and finishes with the rendering and juxtaposition of these images and sounds within an architectural space.
Pierce studied ceramics and music composition, focusing on jazz and electronic music before making films. His first foray into filmmaking came out of frustration with the lack of a visual component to taped music. A continuation of this early interest in music and the construction of emotional experiences in time continue to guide his work.
Inaugurated in 2001, the Ferrall residency was established by trustees, faculty, staff and friends of the ninth president of Beloit College at the time of his retirement. The program is designed to enrich the educational experience of Beloit students by allowing them to interact with distinguished artists and musicians and share in their creative processes. Previous Ferrall Artists-in-Residence include fabric artist Nicholas Cave, visual artist Stephanie Barber, musical ensembles Chanticleer and Present Music, and jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis.
Student Represents the U.S. in Sleddog World Championship
The lone musher for the United States in the 2007 Sleddog Sports World Championship in
Sweden had to miss a week of school and take her mid-term exams early. But for Beloit sophomore
Hilary Schwafel, the extra school work and exam crunch was more than worth it.
“It’s really exciting and anything can happen,” Schwafel says. “It’s just a really big adrenaline
rush.”
Schwafel, a biochemistry major from Fairbanks, Alaska, has been racing sled dogs in sprints
for 10 years. Her biggest challenge this year was working with a borrowed team of dogs.
“People don’t usually win on leased or borrowed teams, but I’ve done it before,” Schwafel says.
Another challenge was learning how to talk to her dogs.
“The dogs understand Swedish—last time I raced in Sweden I only had to turn left!” Schwafel says.
At press time, the championship in Åsele, Sweden, was still ahead in mid-March. This year,
teams of mushers and dogs from 25 countries are participating. Schwafel is the only musher
from the United States; the other American in the races is in the skijoring class (dogs pulling a
skier). Schwafel was racing in the four-dog speed class, which involves 10 kilometers over three
days. Her cumulative performance will determine her final position.
The International Federation of Sleddog Sports (IFSS) World Championship is held every two
years. In the sled dog racing world, the championship is as close to the Olympics as dog mushing
gets.
In the Aftermath of Violence
| Photo by: Greg Anderson |
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| During a conversation with Carol Wickersham,
adjunct instructor of sociology, Justice Richard
Goldstone refers to the South African Constitution,
which he carries with him at all times. Goldstone was
a leader in South Africa’s transition from apartheid to
democracy. |
A major conference at Beloit focuses on transitional justice
How societies recover from the horrors of genocide, war, dictatorships, and mass violence was the topic of a major conference and workshop at Beloit College in January.
Centered on the visit of Justice Richard Goldstone of South Africa, Beloit’s 2006-07 Weissberg Professor of International Studies, the conference brought together a lineup of scholars and practitioners who have played integral roles in establishing transitional justice mechanisms all over the world—from South Africa to Rwanda to the former Yugoslavia to Cambodia, Iraq, and Sierra Leone. The distinguished panel explored the issue of transitional justice and the politics of accountability in post-conflict societies.
The panel took place in the larger context of the Weissberg Chair in International Studies program events, which were organized around the theme of transitional justice. Goldstone, who spent much of his time on campus with students, holds an impressive record of service in international justice and played a key role in dismantling apartheid and managing South Africa’s transition to democracy. He served on the Constitutional Court of South Africa from 1994-2003, chaired the International Independent Inquiry Commission on Kosovo, and was first chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
“For too long, the perpetrators of mass violence have not been held accountable. This conference highlights the ongoing efforts to end impunity and achieve a measure of justice for the victims,” says Beloit College Associate Professor of Political Science Beth Dougherty, who leads the Weissberg Chair committee and played a central role in orchestrating the event.
The conference featured David Scheffer as keynote speaker. Scheffer directs the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University School of Law and was former U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes issues. He led the U.S. delegation in United Nations talks that established the International Criminal Court.
| Photo by: Jeff Woods |
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| One of the panels on transitional justice takes a question from the audience. Beth Dougherty, associate professor of political science, is seated at the far right. |
The panel included an array of experts in the field, including Crane, who as former chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, was the first American to be the chief prosecutor of an international war crimes tribunal since the Nuremberg Trials. Also participating were Gerald Gahima, former prosecutor general in Rwanda and now a judge on the Bosnian war crimes panels; Gregory Stanton, president of Genocide Watch, founder of the Cambodian Genocide Project at Yale Law School, and author of the U.N. Security Council resolutions that created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; Michael Newton, who was senior advisor to the U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues and helped draft the Statute of the Iraq High Tribunal; Susana SaCouto, director of the War Crimes Research Office at American University College of Law and former director of legal services for Women Empowered Against Violence; and Robin Vincent, a veteran of court service in England and Wales, registrar of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and advisor on the Saddam Hussein and Khmer Rouge trial processes.
Teaching Peace and Justice
The conference featured a special workshop on teaching peace, justice, and human rights, held for Beloit College faculty members, select alumni and students, and faculty from the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM). Twenty-one ACM members from 10 colleges throughout the Midwest attended the panel and participated in the workshop, which was funded in part by the ACM.
One of Beloit’s premier residencies, the Weissberg program brings to campus major players on the world stage of international relations. Past chairholders include Palestinian leader Hanan Ashrawi and retired U.S. General Anthony Zinni. Justice Goldstone is the eighth distinguished visitor to hold the Weissberg post.
“In establishing the Weissberg Chair in International Studies, our benefactor, Marvin Weissberg, has made a tremendous contribution to the internationalization of this College,” says Dougherty.
More about the Weissberg program and the conference can be found on the “campus internationalization” Web pages of the Office of International Education at Beloit (www.beloit.edu/oie).
Beloit College Sophomore Dies in Car Accident
Jordan Horn’09, a Beloit College sophomore from
Woodstock, Ill., died in a weather-related
automobile accident near Hebron, Ill., on Feb. 4,
2007, as she was returning to campus from her
family’s home.
During her short time on campus, Jordan had
become a well-liked and highly respected
member of the campus community, who was
planning to major in religious studies and history.
She was devoted to making the world a better
place and was especially passionate about the
environment. She was a member of Alpha Sigma
Tau sorority at Beloit and a 2005 graduate of
Marian (Ill.) Central High School.
A bus took Beloit College students to Jordan’s
funeral in Woodstock, Ill., on Feb. 9, and a
special memorial service was held on campus on
Feb. 25.
Students also wrote messages and recorded
their memories of Jordan on paper leaves, which
they used to decorate a tree in Moore Lounge.
Survivors include Jordan’s parents, Laureen
Barnes and David Horn, and a sister, Adrienne,
all of Woodstock, Ill., and grandparents Larry and
Maureen Barnes and William and Ruth Horn,
aunts, uncles, cousins, and many friends.
Gifts may be made to a memorial fund being
created in Jordan’s name by Alpha Sigma Tau
sorority. Contact AST advisor Karla Wheeler at
608-363-2678 for more information, or write to:
AST-Jordan Horn Memorial Fund, c/o Karla
Wheeler, 700 College St., Beloit, WI 53511. Gifts
may also be made in Jordan’s memory to her
favorite charity, Heifer International (
http://www.heifer.org/myregistry/jordanhorn).
Classic, Daring, Life-Changing Campaign Hits
$49 Million in First Year of Five-Year Program
Classic. Daring. Life-Changing.
One year ago, College trustees and good friends gathered at the University Club in Chicago to launch the Classic. Daring. Life-Changing. comprehensive campaign for Beloit College. It marked the first time in nearly a decade that the College had turned to its volunteer leadership, its graduates, and its faculty, staff, and friends with the case for the future of the College. Prior to the public launch, years of planning resulted in many leadership gifts and a major commitment to the College from approximately 90 percent of its staff and faculty.
As the College marks the completion of the first year of the public phase of the campaign, Frank McGovern, vice president for external affairs, has announced that it is just short of its halfway point, with four years still to go.
“This is a huge achievement for the young campaign,” says McGovern. “The future is very promising too, as we have many major donors and dedicated friends with an intense love for the College who have expressed their dreams and expectations for Beloit to the president, to me, and to the trustees—who are taking a leadership role in this effort.”
Near the end of March, the $100 million Classic. Daring. Life-Changing. campaign stands at $49.4 million. At the same time, annual giving to the Beloit Fund is up significantly, particularly in size of gift. “This will be the best year in fund raising in the College’s history,” says McGovern. “And while that is a benchmark, it also offers us a platform from which to build the future.”
“This is a time of exciting and dramatic change on campus,” says President John Burris. “Strategic planning, campus master planning, and the Science Center planning are all coming together. Reaching the halfway point in the campaign is a critically important milestone. It indicates the dedication and commitment of our constituencies and their willingness to rise to this challenge.”
The major focus of the new campaign is the Center for the Sciences, but it will also enhance the learning and living environment on campus with funds for endowed professorships and academic programs, endowed scholarships and enhanced international experiences, and the addition of several crucial facilities. The campaign will also improve the College’s ability to respond to current needs through the Beloit Fund.
Celebrating 50 Years of Great Performances
| Beloit College Archives |
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Current and former students and friends of Professor Emerita of Music Eudora Shepherd will come together on Saturday, April 21, 2007, to celebrate her 50th year of teaching at Beloit. Many of those whose lives she has touched will perform in a gala concert in Shepherd’s honor at 3 p.m., in Eaton Chapel. A reception will follow the performance. Congratulatory wishes and remembrances from former students may be sent to pevents@beloit.edu. To register to attend the reception (the gala concert is open to all without a reservation), go to www.alumni.beloit.edu and click on “register for an event.” For more information, contact the Beloit College Office of External Affairs, 608-363-2533.
Professors Hodge and Straffin to Retire
This year, Beloit College bids farewell to two faculty members whose distinguished careers combine to span 78 years. Professor Robert Hodge (history) will wrap up his Beloit teaching career after the fall 2007 semester, and Philip Straffin (mathematics) officially retires from full-time teaching in May.
Hodge says he liked being a Beloit College professor too much to really consider it a job. “I always felt I could give my best because I enjoyed it so much,” he says.
“Beloit has been a wonderful place to have a career,” seconds Straffin. “Most of all, I’ve enjoyed getting to work with many of Beloit’s wonderful, creative, interested students.”
| Photo by: Thomas Guschl |
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| Bob Hodge (history) was surrounded by former students at a retirement party last fall. |
Professor of History Bob Hodge
Hodge held the George Russell Corlis Chair in history and was hired in 1966 by Robert Irrmann ’39, one of Beloit’s legendary professors. “My career at Beloit was set by Irrmann, and I patterned my teaching techniques after him,” Hodge says. “He was a true mentor and a terrific man.”
Hodge came to Beloit with a doctorate from Michigan State University and specialties in U.S. and Latin American history. After leading semesters abroad in Australia and England seven times for Beloit, he expanded his research to include a course on the history of Australia.
Hodge’s clear love for his work with students has led to many lifelong friendships among Beloit alumni. He considers one of the highlights of his career to be a successful, 22-year stint at coaching women’s tennis. As head coach, Hodge led teams to win five championships, the record for women’s athletic teams at Beloit.
For now, tennis will continue to be a part of Hodge’s life. This fall, he returns to Beloit to teach a half-semester and coach for at least one more season. After that, he’s landed his retirement dream job. This year, he and his wife, Diane, will travel aboard two different cruise ships, where Hodge will deliver guest lectures related to itineraries along the Chilean coast and the Black and Mediterranean seas. When not cruising, the Hodges will reside in California and plan to spend time with their family, including eight grandchildren. Hodge will also teach occasionally at the University of San Diego.
| Photo by: Flynn Larsen |
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| Phil Straffin (mathematics) will retire from Beloit this May after an award-winning career that started in 1970. |
Professor of Mathematics Phil Straffin
This spring, Philip Straffin will also put the finishing touches on nearly four decades of teaching. A talented mathematician who held Beloit’s Thomas F. White Professorship of Mathematics and Computer Science, he has been inspiring students in Beloit’s classrooms since 1970—above all showing them that math is exciting and applicable to so many aspects of life. At the same time, his books, articles and research have contributed to national reforms in teaching math and to a broader understanding of how math applies to diverse topics ranging from economics to politics.
Straffin says he came to realize that mathematics could be “joyful and creative” while studying for his doctorate at the University of California-Berkeley. Later at Beloit, he says he discovered that teaching math made it infinitely more interesting.
As a young Beloit faculty member, Straffin was encouraged to pursue connections between mathematics and other academic areas that interested him. Just one example is his 20-year research interest in game theory, a branch of applied mathematics and economics, which Straffin developed into an interdisciplinary course on the subject that culminated with Game Theory and Strategy (1993), a book published by the Mathematical Association of America.
Straffin was named Teacher of the Year twice at Beloit, in 1975 and 1994. The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) recognized him with several awards over the years, including its prestigious Haimo Award for Excellence in Teaching College Mathematics in 1993.
For several years, he and his wife, Judy, have split their time between Beloit and the mountains of Colorado. In retirement, they will be full-time Coloradans, giving Straffin a chance to indulge his passion for hiking and mountain climbing.
As a good mathematician would, Straffin knows exactly how many mountains of various heights exist in his adopted state, noting that he has already climbed 40 of 54 measuring 14,000 feet. “As long as I’m able to, I want to enjoy climbing, hiking, and exploring Colorado,” Straffin says. “Right now the mountains have a real pull for me.”
| To make a gift in honor of a faculty retirement, complete the online giving form at www.alumni.beloit.edu, or send a check to the College's Development Office, noting the faculty member's name in the memo section. |
