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Prof. William L. "Pak Bill" Williamson and His Family e-mail address: wlwillia@facstaff.wisc.edu |
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6 February 2012 MEMORIAL RESOLUTION OF THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ON THE DEATH OF PROFESSOR EMERITUS WILLIAM LANDRAM WILLIAMSON William Landram (Bill) Williamson died on Saturday, November 19, 2011 at Agrace HospiceCare Center at the age of 91. Professor Williamson was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He received degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Emory University, Columbia University and the University of Chicago. After service in the U.S. Army as troopship transport commander in World War II, Bill worked as a librarian at Baylor University, Montclair (NJ) State College and at Columbia University, where he served as Nicholas Murray Butler Librarian from 1954-1964. He joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin Library School (now the School of Library and Information Studies) in 1966 and taught until his retirement in 1987. During his career, Bill traveled extensively, conducting research and meeting with librarians in New Zealand, Australia, England and Nigeria. In addition, he was a library consultant in Indonesia on three occasions, from 1960-1962, in 1970 and in 1986. He was in correspondence with many of these international colleagues for decades afterwards. Author of the highly regarded biography of William Frederick Poole, Bill was a scholar of American library history and wrote also about international library relations and comparative studies. He was frequently asked to comment critically on publications in these fields, and his reviews were themselves useful contributions to the literature. He served for four years as editor of International Leads, a publication of the International Relations Round Table of the American Library Association. Bill taught and advised in the fields of library resources and collection development, library history, research methods, and the role of the library in society. His former students remember especially his challenging them to appreciate the importance of the librarian's role in fostering intellectual freedom. Students, especially advanced graduate students, benefited from his use of historical and comparative perspectives to investigate and understand the development of libraries and librarianship. He maintained a close and active interest in the school and its graduates until shortly before his death. Bill was a warm and supportive colleague. Faculty actions, whether in committee or in the faculty as a whole, benefited from his careful reflection, articulate argument, and facility for good writing. A man of words as a scholar, Bill Williamson was also a man of action; he was an early civil rights activist, marching in Selma, Alabama in the 1960s. He participated in meetings and demonstrations in support of a wide variety of causes, and identified himself as a proud liberal. Music was another passion, and at a late stage of life, he studied violin. He was an ardent supporter of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Madison Symphony Orchestra, as well as a long-time subscriber to the Memorial Union Concert series; and he would travel anywhere to hear a performance of Hector Berlioz's music. Bill was married for 40 years to Daisy Levy, who preceded him in death. He is survived by his devoted wife of five years, Gertrude Wright, and an extended circle of family and friends. MEMORIAL COMMITTEE Charles Bunge James Krikelas Louise Robbins, chair |
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My last e-mail conversation with pak Bill: Subject: Happy Birthday ! Re: Another Picture in Bogor On Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:40:43 -0500, Pak Bill william l williamson wrote: > > > Harap teman saja dengan 'printer' baik2 akan memberi > foto itu atas Hari Lahir ke-91 saya besok. > > Wassalam atas Rhamadan jg. baru. > Bill > Happy Birthday my dear Pak Bill ! 91 years of a wonderful life and colorful life of yours ....... ! Many happy returns, ....... Selamat Ulang Tahun ke 91, semoga selalu bahagia, sehat wal afiat dan tetap bersemangat ! Best Wishes, Rhiza and family Subject: A Small Question Re: Happy Birthday ! On Sun, 14 Aug 2011 11:10:01 -0500, pak Bill william l williamson wrote: > > Dear Rhiza. > A small question. What does "al" mean > when it is used in a name? -- it seems to signify "of" or > "from" a place or perhaps a family. You mean in Arabic names? I think some Hispanic (or even French???) names also use the preposition "al", don't they? To the best of my (limited) knowledge on Arabic, the preposition "al" always means "the", even in a name (or a title). For example, our prophet Muhammad'scfull name is Muhammad al-Amin, which means Muhammad The Trustworthy. In bahasa Indonesia it would be translated as Muhammad Yang Terpercaya. O, ya, the Indonesian Independence Day is on August 17, and this year will be the 66th birthday of my country, it is a quarter of a century younger than you......! Wassalam, Rhiza |
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Some memorabilia with Pak Bill: From UNHAS-ML MAILING-LIST Salam dari Makassar ! Pak Bill, teman saya di Madison WI, memberitakan: Delivered-To: rhiza@unhas.ac.id Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 11:07:08 -0600 From: WILLIAM L WILLIAMSON wlwillia@facstaff.wisc.edu Dear Rhiza, (deleted)................................... Recently I found a new book on Indonesia that I am enjoying very much. It is written by Jean Gelman Taylor who was here at Wisconsin but has been at the University of New South Wales for twenty years. Actually she comes back to Madison from time to time and had a year's sabbatical here two or three years ago. She was a student of John Smail who advocated "autonomous history" -- that is, a history of Indonesia written on a new basis. Smail said that Indonesian history had always been written from the point of view of colonialists -- that is, the Dutch time was dominant and histories were written from that point of view -- the time before Dutch colonialism, the time of Dutch colonialish, and the time after colonialism. Smail said that point of view misunderstood the history of the country that histories should be written "autonomously" -- that is with the country itself being the focus and the colonisl time as simply one period of the country's history. Taylor's book, "Indonesia", seems to be written that way, starting with the land masses that formed the area and the people who settled in that land. I am reading the book very slowly in order to understand it, but it seems to me to be very excellent. I'[ll be interested to know whether it becomes available to you there. Best regards, Bill Kami sekeluarga sangat mengenal Jean Taylor, dulu pernah bekerja di kantor MUCIA di Madison yang di-kontrak World Bank untuk mengurus beasiswa PAU. Putra-nya Jean, Harry, yang masih kecil waktu itu, di-baby-sit oleh mamanya anak-anak. Terakhir saya mendapat kontak dengan Jean ketika sedang pulang ke Madison WI. Dia bilang waktu itu sedang menulis buku sejarah Indonesia, tapi berbeda dengan buku sejarah Indonesia yang biasa, kali ini ia mencoba menulis tanpa menggunakan kacamata kolonial Belanda...... Setelah saya check, ternyata memang buku-nya Jean Taylor yang berjudul "Indonesia" ini sudah terbit: Indonesia Author: Taylor, Jean Gelman Description Indonesia is the fourth largest country in the world. It comprises more than 17,000 islands inhabited by 230 million people who speak over 300 different languages. Now the world's largest Muslim nation, Indonesia remains extraordinarily heterogeneous due to the waves of immigration--Buddhist, Hindu, Arab, and European--that have defined the region's history. Fifty years after the collapse of Dutch colonial rule, Indonesia is a nation in the midst of dramatic upheaval. In this broad survey, Jean Gelman Taylor explores the connections between the nation's many communities, and the differences that propel contemporary breakaway movements. Drawing on a broad range of sources, including art, archaeology, and literature, Taylor provides a historical overview from the prehistoric period to the present day. The text is enlivened by brief "capsule" histories on topics ranging from pepper to Maharajas to smallpox. This ambitious book--the first new history of Indonesia written in over twenty years--will be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of Southeast Asia and the future stability of the region. Waktu itu sih, Jean janji akan mengirimi saya satu copy-nya kalo' buku-nya sudah terbit...... Ada teman-teman yang sudah membaca buku ini? Wassalam, Rhiza |