The 2020 Class of the Board of Trustees are:

Elizabeth H. Dow, PhD, is returning to fill out Doug Rohrman’s term as he takes on the Vice Presidency. Dr. Dow created and directed the archives track at Louisiana State University. Today she is the Franklin Bayhi Professor Emeritus in its School of Library and Information Science. Much of her work focused on aiding archivists in small institutions, where the bulk of historical records and papers reside. Her third book, Archivists, Collectors, Dealers, and Replevin, drew upon her experience with the Manuscript Society. The widow of longtime Manuscripts editor David R. Chesnutt, she has been involved with the society since 2001.

Stuart Embury, MD, is a family doctor who graduated from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the university’s medical school. He still lives Nebraska, but his work has taken him halfway around the world. Since stepping back from his practice in Holdrege, he has done clinical work as far away as Alaska. And for 40 years, he has gone on medical missions in Haiti.

As a newly minted MD, Dr. Embury began collecting books on artists. His collection grew to 11,000 arts books and catalogs. In 2010, he donated it to form the Stuart P. Embury, MD Library of American Art at his alma mater. By then, he was collecting Haitian material, both art and manuscripts. Currently, his collecting interests include material on New Hampshire landscape painter Charles Franklin Pierce (1844–1920) and, in something of a departure, antique cars. Dr. Embury chairs the Manuscript Society’s Honors Committee. He and his wife, Lynn, are familiar faces at the society’s annual meetings.

Ellen McCallister Clark has graciously reupped for a new term on the board. A Manuscript Society member since 1977, she served on the board from 1983 to 1985. After a break, she returned in 2014.

Throughout her career, Clark has been steeped in the world of manuscripts, rare books—and George Washington. She was the librarian at Mount Vernon from 1975 to 1988. Now she is the library director for the Society of the Cincinnati in Washington. The library’s collection targets the era of the American Revolution, especially the art of war in the 18th century. Clark was a member of the local arrangements committee for the annual meetings held in Washington in 1987 and 2003. She sees the society as the best way to connect the collectors, dealers, librarians, and archivists who share a love of historical manuscripts.

Vernon R. Morris Jr., MD, is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon. After graduating from Temple University Medical School, he practiced in Philadelphia, suburban New York, and Tampa, Florida, before retiring to part-time medical-legal consulting. Many children of the 1950s collected postage stamps. But few put their stamp on the philatelic field as Dr. Morris did.

Twice, the United States Philatelic Classics Society gave him its Susan McDonald Award for his publications in the Chronicle. He also received several Editor’s Awards for best article of the year. An exhibit he produced in 2007 received the Champion of Champions award from the American Philatelic Society. He later won five gold medals in inter­national competition. Dr. Morris brings to the Manuscript Society his experience as a board member of the Philatelic Foundation, president of the Locals & Carriers Society, and vice president of the Florida Postal History Society. He and his wife, Pam, have become regulars at the Manuscript Society’s annual meetings. They make their home in Sebring, Florida, where they collect palms.

L. Dennis Shapiro is an electronics engineer retired from a career as a researcher, inventor, project engineer, and entrepreneur. During the International Geophysical Year of 1957–58, he served as a research officer in the US Air Force, measuring the ionosphere in Greenland, Johnston Island, and the Azores. Today he lives in Chestnut Hill, a stone’s throw from his alma mater, MIT.

With his ties to the Boston area, small wonder he collects American historical autograph letters, mostly of early presidents. Some have been featured in articles he has written for Manuscripts. Shapiro is a fellow of the Manuscript Society and Massachusetts Historical Society as well as a member of the James Madison Council of the Library of Congress. The Explorers Club and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers have also named him a fellow. Beyond his collecting and professional pursuits, he has served on nonprofit boards for hospitals and elderly housing.