Boston University’s President-elect Daniel S. Goldin spoke during a special reception held Tuesday night to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Mugar Archival Research Special Collections, a collection of artifacts from contemporary figures.
Goldin also announced the collections would be renamed the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center. The event marked the opening of a year-long exhibit featuring some of the collection’s most valuable pieces.
A few highlights of the collection include BU alumnus Martin Luther King Jr.’s papers, Fred Astaire’s dance shoes, David Halberstam’s letters and Etta James’ sheet music. A glass case holds trophies, most of them Oscars or Emmys. Both Gene Kelly’s Oscar for ‘Singing in the Rain’ and Rex Harrison’s Oscar for ‘My Fair Lady’ are featured prominently.
The reception also commemorated achievements in contemporary archiving by Gotlieb, the founder and chief curator of the Special Collections.
Notable author and journalist David Halberstam officially opened the exhibit called ‘Capturing the Century: Forty Years of Collecting’ and was invested as the collection’s first fellow.
‘It’s a superb collection,’ said Chancellor John Silber, who introduced his successor Goldin, the main speaker of the night.
‘It is not just about history but cultural literacy,’ Goldin said. ‘That is so essential to defining humankind.’
Goldin continued by congratulating Gotlieb on the uniqueness and quality of the collection and unveiling the plaque bearing the official name change.
About 400 guests, including donors, notable figures and professors, gathered on Mugar Memorial Library’s first floor for the catered reception. Celebrities such as Angela Lansbury and Claire Bloom also attended the event.
‘This is the biggest event the library has had all year,’ said Clementine Brown, director of media relations for the collections.
The first floor of Mugar will display the highlights of Gotlieb’s collection, which features 100,000 volumes and documents of well-known actors, journalists, politicians, artists, dancers and opera singers.
A former historical curator at Yale University, Gotlieb accepted a position at Boston University in 1963. As founder and chief curator, he planned to develop Special Collections, yet he was given no endowment or budget to purchase historical memorabilia, according to a press release.
By choosing to specialize in the 20th century and collect artifacts from notable living people at a time in which no other institution was competing for them, Gotlieb amassed an impressive collection.
‘I came to Boston University from my position at Yale University as an archivist and a curator of historical manuscripts of notable dead people, including Abraham Lincoln and Napoleon,’ Gotlieb said in a press release. ‘But within years, I was hot on the heels of the likes of Bette Davis, Dan Rather, Sam Shepard, Alistair Cooke, Martin Luther King Jr. and David Halberstam, beseeching them to give me their letters, notebooks and journals for safekeeping and study.’
College of Communication junior Diana Winters said she thought more students should take time to look at the collection.
‘I think it’s a shame that a lot of students don’t even know about this,’ said Winters, who is an assistant to Brown. ‘We have so much here and it’s all on constant display people shouldn’t take it for granted.’
One of the first to tour the display, College of Fine Arts junior Mike Wells, said the collection demonstrates BU’s many connections.
‘The collection makes me feel like we have a good rapport with the people who continue to shape America’s arts and culture,’ Wells said. ‘As a student, it provides a tidbit of hope for my future and makes me feel good about the people my university is connected to, inspired by and dealing with.’