After forty years of exemplary service, Marjorie McNinch, Hagley’s extraordinary Reference Archivist, is retiring. It is often said that Marge delivers “the gold standard” of public services, and time and time again, scholars have written to us, celebrating her contribution to their success.
Marge was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and was raised on a farm near Bear, Delaware, before moving to Wilmington, Delaware, in 1957. She earned a B.A. from the University of Vermont in 1969 and her M.A. from the University of Delaware in 1984. Before coming to Hagley in 1971, Marge worked at the Vermont Public Library. For the last forty years, Marge has provided the extraordinary reference services described above. She is the author of several articles, and her books include Bridges (1995), The Church of Saint Joseph on the Brandywine, 1841-1994 (1995), Festivals (1996), Silver Screen (1997), Wilmington in Vintage Postcards (2000), and Yesterday on Delaware Avenue (2006). She will research and write a book on the DuPont Theatre in her retirement.
To honor Marge and honor her many years of service, we have established “The McNinch Endowment Fund for Reference and Outreach” which will be used to promote Hagley Library’s world-class collections and advance researchers’ access to those collections.
Our goal is to raise $100,000 in order to generate annual resources of approximately $5,000 per year to fund a range of outreach projects from subject guides, to finding aids, to web-based products, to History Day support, to summer internships that teach graduate students the fine art of reference work. The possibilities are endless!
Checks may be made payable to Hagley Museum and Library with “McNinch Endowment Fund” noted in the memo line and sent to the attention of Jill MacKenzie. Or you may make a contribution through our website: www.hagley.org/library/mcninchfund.
Please help us honor Marge’s legacy as she begins a new chapter in her life. This endowment fund will honor her fine work, her commitment to scholarship, and her strong public service for years to come.
Your help will be greatly appreciated!