Daughter helps preserve father’s legacy
Lynda S. White understands the highly specific needs of archival work and the care of collections. Retired from the University of Virginia, White was on faculty at UVa Libraries where she worked in the Fine Arts Library and in the main library (Alderman) as an assessment librarian.
Growing up in the Shenandoah Valley, White is the daughter of the late Dr. Eugene White (MCV/P ’50), a groundbreaking pharmacist who developed an innovative record-keeping process that transformed patient care and helped to prevent harmful drug interactions. Operating at a time when pharmacies were small, family operations, Dr. White found a strong partner in his wife, the former Laura LaFontaine (MCV/N ’48), who worked alongside him to change his small-town drugstore from a shop with a soda fountain that filled prescriptions to a patient-centered environment complete with a consultation room for privacy. Dr. White’s pharmacy is preserved as a museum exhibit and classroom at Shenandoah University.
In 2010, VCU Libraries was pleased to accept a donation of the papers of Dr. White into the collection of Special Collections and Archives at the Health Sciences Library. The family made a financial gift at the time to assist with processing costs for the collection and recently, Lynda White included the Endowment for Special Collections and Archives in her estate plans to assist with the care of the collection.
Because of the highly specialized nature of materials that are found in archives, financial support for processing and care of collections is a necessity and much appreciated. One could compare the processing and care of a collection to collecting art but having no frames, pedestals or proper lighting to display it. A collection is meant to be processed and to be used. Thanks to the generosity of Lynda S. White, VCU Libraries will be better positioned to meet such challenges moving forward.
Learn more about the Endowment for Special Collections and Archives here. If you would like to learn more about planned giving at VCU Libraries, please contact Kelly Gotschalk, Director of Development and Major Gifts at kjgotschalk@vcu.edu or (804) 827-1163.