History of Special Collections @ Colby

Ricard Cary: Brief Biography

by

by Meghan Kelly, Class of 2017

Richard Cary was born on November 18, 1909 in New York City, which he later described as “where I was born and grew up and will never forget but like most of the tourists wouldn’t live there now!” (1, 2). While growing up, he showed talent as a boxer (3). Before becoming an academic, he worked with inner city patients as a social worker (4). During World War II, Cary served in the Military Police on prisoner of war detail (5). In 1948, he received his Bachelor of Arts from New York University (6), graduating Phi Beta Kappa (1). He received a Master of Arts from NYU in 1949 and went on to earn a Ph.D. in American literature from Cornell University (7, 8). During his tenure at Colby, Cary resided in Waterville with his wife, Frances Perkins (1, 5). He enjoyed life in Maine, though he was often dissatisfied with the weather: “Summer, which didn’t come this summer, is still lurking around these parts. But then, anything above absolute zero is summer in Maine” (9).

Cary joined the Colby faculty in September 1952, and taught in the English department for twenty-three years (6, 7). He was a devoted and exacting teacher. Colleague Professor Eileen Curran described his popularity: “Some advisees whom I signed into Dick’s classes with some fear and trembling—not my most disciplined advisees, and Dick honors discipline—returned with their lowest grades and highest praise of any instructor” (4). When he began teaching, English students chose to major in either English or American literature. Cary, as an authority on the study of American literature, “looked out for the interests of his majors (woe betide the comprehensive examination committee that brought in an exam unfairly weighted towards the English lit major) and at the same time insisted that American and English must be parts of one department, with no student neglecting either side” (4).

In 1958, after his predecessor Professor Carl Weber retired, Cary began editing the Colby Library Quarterly and the Colby College Press and serving as curator of rare books and manuscripts, all of which he did for seventeen years (4). As curator, Cary worked to develop Special Collections in depth, breadth, and reputation. He traveled throughout Maine and the eastern United States, making contacts with potential donors and examining valuable items in their libraries (10). Cary also corresponded with donors to express gratitude and encourage further donations, as in this letter to Waldo Pierce: “…I appreciate that the monetary estimate is secondary to you, as it is with us. These documents and association materials are worth infinitely more to us in the sense of (a) friendship, and (b) preservation of significant literary materials” (11). These kinds of letters assured donors that the Colby Library would value and care for their gifts. Exacting attention to detail represented a hallmark of his work in Special Collections, which Professor Curran noted teasingly in her speech: “Dick’s meticulousness can be counted on. He was chagrined to discover this year that (through no fault of his) Special Collections has overspent its allocation by seventeen cents” (4). During his time as curator, the holdings of letters and manuscripts in Special Collections quadrupled. Cary focused on materials by and about Maine writers. His philosophy towards Special Collections focused on highlighting it relevance for scholarship at Colby (4).

Colleagues also praised Cary’s editorship of the Quarterly. Professor Curran commented that during his years as editor, the journal grew in size and circulation, and focused on the materials in Special Collections (4). Reading the Quarterly, one notes this shift in content; within a year or two of Cary’s beginnings as editor, the journal devoted far less space to the reporting of acquisitions that had once been central to its content. Instead, Cary printed many more articles of literary criticism, particularly relating to authors who were prominent in Special Collections. Beginning in June 1959, Cary wrote at least one article for each issue, with Colby’s president Robert Strider describing him as “the mainstay in just about every issue for seventeen years” (4, 10).

Cary was well-known in academic circles of his time, especially for scholarship on Maine authors such as Edwin Arlington Robinson and Sarah Orne Jewett (6, 8). He wrote or edited thirteen books and more than one hundred articles (6). Nine of his books were about Robinson or Jewett; the other four included editions of Hardy’s work and one book each on Bayard Taylor and Mary Murfree. His published articles covered “every major literary figure represented in the Special Collections at Colby,” including Robinson, Jewett, Ben Ames Williams, and Violet Paget (10). Professor Curran noted that Professor Cary’s focus on Robinson and Jewett came from a conscious choice to base his studies on the holdings in Special Collections: “…so long as he was curator, editor, and manager of things entitled ‘Colby’ he conscientiously made the interests of the collections his interests…When we advertised this past year for a Special Collections librarian, it was clear that many applicants wanted nothing better than to come, somehow hide or avoid our present collections, and introduce their hobby horses. We could have had an emphasis on everything from comic books to medieval Italian philosophy. Dick’s way was so different that most of the time we didn’t realize how different it was” (4).

Cary retired from Colby in June 1975 (10). Although his academic career focused on Robinson and Jewett, his greatest interest was in the poetry of Walt Whitman (4). Cary once wrote the following about the poet: “Since I was kneehigh to a leaf of grass I have been under the spell of his resonance and comprehensive vision. As a critic, I consider him the finest poet America has yet produced” (12). Cary planned to return to his research on Whitman during retirement, though he continued studying Jewett (6). Apparently he enjoyed this work, for Reverend Mark Benbow said in Cary’s funeral service that “When I last saw Dick he was quietly excited by his continuing work on Jewett which he thought would lead to an entirely new approach” (3). He passed away in Waterville on June 27, 1990, at the age of 80 (8). His colleagues at Colby remembered him “for his perceptive editorship of the CLQ, for his management of the Press, and for his teaching and scholarship” (10).

Works Cited

  1. “Richard Cary dies; author, Colby prof.” Richard Cary Collection, Colbiana Collection, Colby College Special Collections. Waterville, Maine.
  1. Cary, Richard. Letter to Waldo Pierce. 9 January 1968. Richard Cary Collection, Colbiana Collection, Colby College Special Collections.
  1. Benbow, Mark R. “Memorial Service for Richard Cary.” 5 July 1990. Richard Cary Collection, Colbiana Collection, Colby College Special Collections. Waterville, Maine.
  1. Curran, Eileen. “Remarks made at Faculty-Trustee Dinner, 31 May 1975, on the occasion of Professor Richard Cary’s retirement.” Richard Cary Collection, Colbiana Collection, Colby College Special Collections. Waterville, Maine.
  1. Colby College—Faculty Data, Richard Cary. Richard Cary Collection, Colbiana Collection, Colby College Special Collections. Waterville, Maine.
  2. “Professor Cary Retires.” Colby Alumnus Summer 1975. Richard Cary Collection, Colbiana Collection, Colby College Special Collections. Waterville, Maine.
  1. “Richard Cary: A Checklist.” Colby Library Quarterly Vol. 11, Iss. 2 (1975). Richard Cary Collection, Colbiana Collection, Colby College Special Collections. Waterville, Maine.
  1. “Faculty and Staff: English Professor.” January 1991. Richard Cary Collection, Colbiana Collection, Colby College Special Collections. Waterville, Maine.
  1. Cary, Richard. Letter to Waldo Pierce. 31 October 1967. Richard Cary Collection, Colbiana Collection, Colby College Special Collections.
  1. Strider, Robert E. L., II. “Richard Cary.” Colby Library Quarterly Vol. 11, Iss. 2 (1975). Richard Cary Collection, Colbiana Collection, Colby College Special Collections. Waterville, Maine.
  1. Cary, Richard. Letter to Waldo Pierce. 19 March 1968. Richard Cary Collection, Colbiana Collection, Colby College Special Collections.
  1. Cary, Richard. Letter to Waldo Pierce. 6 May 1966. Richard Cary Collection,Colbiana Collection, Colby College Special Collections.