By Jennie Thomas, Archivist
Dr. Marcy Sacks
On Tuesday, October 7, Special Collections held its annual Marilyn Crandell Schleg Memorial Lecture, an
endowed lectureship that provides visiting archivists, conservators, curators, and historians the
opportunity to lecture on archival and library topics. This year was the tenth anniversary of the lecture, featuring Dr. Marcy Sacks, associate professor of history.
The evening began with a dinner at Bellemont Manor in honor of the family of deceased alumna Marilyn
Crandell Schleg and Dr. Sacks. In attendance were President Donna Randall; Provost Susan Conner;
Marilyn Schleg’s widower, Edward, their son David, and her twin sister and her husband, Marlene and Arthur Francis; members of the History Department and the Library, past Schleg lecturers, and others who
continue to assist with the lecture.
Following the dinner, college faculty, staff, students, the Schleg family, and members of the community all gathered in the Wendell Will Room for “Unmasking the ‘Deadpan’: The Search for the ‘Real’ Joe Louis.” Dr. Sacks’s lecture was based on her research for a forthcoming biography of Louis, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Sacks conducted several interviews with family members and friends of Louis, the iconic heavyweight boxing champion. “He had a tremendous impact on race relations,” she explained. Her lecture discussed the challenges of finding new information about Joe Louis and the research methodology that she employed to help answer the question of his historical significance. A number of insightful questions were asked in relation to current racial imagery and
ideology.
After the lecture, a reception was held to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the lecture. Marlene Francis, Marilyn Schleg’s twin sister, cut the first piece of cake.