Outside his name

[Wilson Gray]

On Dec 6, 2007 1:40 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Outside his name
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>
> At 12/6/2007 10:20 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:
> >There's also a unit called the "Harvard University Library," but it's
> >only some kind of administrative office, to the best of my knowledge.
> >I've used the Harvard College Library since 1972 and worked in Widener
> >Library from 1980 to 2000, without ever having occasion to deal with
> >the Harvard University Library, beyond standing in front of the
> >building that houses it while waiting for the bus.
>
> Who paid you?  :-)

The Harvard College Library. Harvard's administrative motto is "Every
tub on its own bottom."

> Some Harvard libraries are not part of the Harvard College set, such
> as Law, Business, Medicine, Education.  (Borrowing privileges at
> Windener, at least for alumni of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, do
> not automatically extend to these.)  Although I don't know whether
> these make the "Harvard University Library" any more
> content-full.  Next time I'm at one of these, I'll look to see how
> the books are stamped.

No need. They'll be stamped "Law School Library Harvard University,"
etc., since every tub is on its own bottom. At the Design School
Library,, where I began my Harvard "career," books are stamped,
"Frances Loeb Library Graduate School of Design Harvard University."
(The Loebs, being Saint Louisans, should have given that money to
Saint Louis University or to Washington University, but you can't beat
Harvard for prestige, I guess.)

Down in East Texas, colored folk say, "Every tub on its own black
bottom" = "The responsibility is that of the individual concerned, not
anyone else's." I've long been struck by the similarity between this
and the Harvard internal motto, but not to the point of researching
it.

-Wilson

>
> Joel
>
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