Through supplementary research on the history of the University Gallery, my tired eyes have scanned download after download from the PDF Archive collection of the MN Daily, the University’s student newspaper. The Daily’s PDF Archives provide access to PDFs of the paper dating back to 1900.

I came across the published MN Daily PDF for June 17, 1957, which contained an edition of the “Ivory Tower.” On page 11, continued on page 20, the feature story titled, “The Artist in The Gallery,” highlights Ruth Lawrence, the “quick-moving little woman with a ready smile,” at her retirement. The article includes an accompanying photograph, a candid of the artist in her gallery… a print of which resides in Box 3 of the WAM Archives.

The article, which contains personal memories and career accomplishments, also reveals Lawrence’s thoughts on retirement and her prophecy for the future of the Gallery:

“It’s high time someone else took over. Saying goodbye to things you’ve loved is always hard. But I think you have to look ahead – and I’m sure everything will be as interesting as my earlier years have been.“

The MN Daily recently featured the University Archives in a March 9, 2011 article and mentioned the Weisman Art Museum’s WAM Files archives project. Elisabeth Kaplan, University Archivist, gives a wonderful overview of the resources available in the Archives in “Following the U’s paper trail”.