Williamstown Directory - 1949
10/2/23 - We love history when we connect to history. On page 366 of this 1949 Williamstown directory one will find Whitney Stoddard, one of the fathers of the “Williams Art Mafia." In 1981, I was an econ major and completely uninterested in art history, but took Whitney's for class divisional requirements. I ended up being transfixed, entertained and inspired and I am deeply grateful to him. (See three cool maps at the end of this exhibit.)Stoddard prioritized his undergraduate teaching throughout his career at Williams. Alongside colleagues S. Lane Faison and William Pierson, Jr., he trained a new generation of art history students at Williams for careers as art historians and museum curators. Collectively known as the Williams Art Mafia, these included Earl A. Powell III of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, Glenn D. Lowry of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, James N. Wood of the Art Institute of Chicago and the J. Paul Getty Trustand Thomas Krens of the Guggenheim Museumin New York. Under his leadership, the Williams art history program developed into one of the finest undergraduate curricula in the country.Wikipedia https://artwirth.com/2015/06/24/williams-art-mafia/https://williams68.org/whitney-stoddard/
