heraldry

The Howe Society
of the
University of Florida

The Howe Society was founded in 1980 to commemorate the acquisition by the University of Florida of the Parkman Dexter Howe Library of New England authors.

The Howe Society encourages and helps to support the development of the Department of Special & Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries. In addition to major collections of rare books and manuscripts in a number of subject fields, the department has major holdings in historical children's literature, Florida history, the performing arts, Latin Americana, Judaica, Africana, and the university archives. The society's various activities include the folowing:

  • Lectures and exhibition that celebrate, promote and expand awareness of these collections to the public and to scholars
  • Educational and cultural activities and presentations that highlight the special collections
  • Publication of catalogs, research guides and other appropriate documentation to expand intellectual access to the collections
  • An annual dinner featuring prominent scholars, librarians and cultural leaders

The Howe Society newsletter focuses on the collections and acquisitions within the department. It is published twice a year as a component of the Libraries' newsletter Chapter One.

Many prominent scholars, authors and cultural leaders have been featured at public lectures and the Howe Society annual dinner. During the past ten years, they have included the following:

Carl Hiaasen, author
John David Ridge, theatrical costume designer
Lola Haskins, poet
Emmanuel LeRoy Ladurie, historian and former director of the French National Library
Gillian Avery, noted British author and scholar of children's literature
Patrick D. Smith, author and three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee
John Lombardi, former University of Florida president
Nicholas Barker, editor and head of the preservation department at the British Library
William Maples, forensic anthropologist and author
Padgett Powell, author
David Vaisey, Bodley's Librarian, University of Oxford
Sheldon Hackney, Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities
Thomas Slaughter, scholar and author
David Hackett Fischer, scholar and author

HOWE SOCIETY ENROLLMENT FORM

I/We wish to enroll in the Howe Society.

___ $15 Student
___ $25 Library Staff
___ $50 Friend /Family
___ $100 Sponsor
___ $500 Sustainer
___ $1000 Corporate
___ $2000 President's Council

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Print name as it should appear in our gift records

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Mailing address

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City             State             Zip Code

Please make checks payable to U.F. Foundation, Inc.

Please mail with your contribution to:

The Howe Society
George A. Smathers Libraries
P.O. Box 117007
University of Florida
Gainesville. FL 32611-7007

Employees of the University of Florida may wish to take advantage of the payroll deduction process to provide their level of support.

___ Check here for payroll deduction.

Your support of the Howe Society is tax-deductible to the limits set by theInternal Revenue Serice.


For further information, call (352)273-2755

Thank you.

Return to Special Collections.