"Merged in a Joint Stock Company": 75 Years of Melville Society Officers and Committee Members

Abstract

"Merged in a Joint Stock Company":75 Years of Melville Society Officers and Committee Members Mary K. Bercaw Edwards Tyrus Hillway founded the Melville Society in 1945, and it has since grown to one of the largest international single-author societies. The Society's earliest papers reside in the Melville Society Archive housed within the New Bedford Whaling Museum Library. The initial membership lists read like an author bibliography of seminal Melville studies. The first woman president was Elizabeth Foster, who was elected five years after the Society was founded. Most presidents served only one term, but with fewer members in the early days of the Society, individuals were often re-elected. Harrison Hayford served four terms as president. The Executive Committee presently includes the president, executive secretary, associate secretary, treasurer, editor, member-at-large, and Melville Society Cultural Project representative, but the composition of the executive committee has evolved over time. The roles of historian and director of development have both been discontinued and new roles added. Tyrus Hillway served as the secretary-treasurer for the first 15 years, from the founding of the Melville Society in 1945 until 1959. Hillway was not the only long-serving officer. Donald Yannella was acting secretary-treasurer for Hennig Cohen 1973–1974, then became secretary-treasurer in 1975, a role he filled until 1989. Cohen was the first editor of the Melville Society, a role he held jointly with that of secretary-treasurer until 1972. He continued as editor until 1975, when Yannella succeeded him. Yannella combined all three roles—secretary, treasurer, and editor—for fourteen years. His long service was eclipsed by John Bryant, who served as editor for 24 years, from 1990 until 2013. Bryant oversaw the transformation of the newsletter, first called Extracts and later Melville Society Extracts, into the award-winning journal Leviathan: A Journal of Melville Studies, now published by Johns Hopkins University Press. The following history of Melville Society officers and committee members has been compiled with the assistance of Christopher Sten and other Society members. [End Page 138] President (elected, one-year term, serves on Executive Committee) Timothy Marr, 2021 Samuel Otter, 2020 Branka Arsić, 2019 Giorgio Mariani, 2018 Arimichi Makino, 2017 John Bryant, 2016 Hester Blum, 2015 Geoffrey Sanborn, 2014 Steven Olsen-Smith, 2013 Dennis Berthold, 2012 Wyn Kelley, 2011 T. Walter Herbert, 2010 Robert Milder, 2009 Carolyn Karcher, 2008 Andrew Delbanco, 2007 Gail Coffler, 2006 Edgar Dryden, 2005 Mary K. Bercaw Edwards, 2004 Christopher Sten, 2003 Robert K. Wallace, 2002 Douglas Robillard, 2001 Thomas Farel Heffernan, 2000 Harrison Hayford, 1999 Sanford E. Marovitz, 1998 Elizabeth Schultz, 1997 Lea Bertani Vozar Newman, 1996 Stanton Garner, 1995 Marvin Fisher, 1994 H. Bruce Franklin, 1993 Harrison Hayford, 1992 Hershel Parker, 1991 Donald Yannella, 1990 Walter Bezanson, 1989 Joyce Sparer Adler, 1988 Jay Leyda, 1987 William B. Dillingham, 1986 John Seelye, 1985 Milton R. Stern, 1984 Warner Berthoff, 1983 G. Thomas Tanselle, 1982 Edward Rosenberry, 1981 Henry A. Murray, 1980 Walter D. Kring, 1979 Robert G. Newman, 1978 Lewis Mumford, 1977 Jay Leyda, 1976 Hennig Cohen, 1975 Robert Penn Warren, 1974 [none], 1973 Nathalia Wright, 1972 Leon Howard, 1971 Harrison Hayford, 1970 Howard P. Vincent, 1969 [no record], 1968 Walter Bezanson, 1967 Henry A. Murray, 1966 Merlin Bowen, 1965 Merlin Bowen (in absentia), 1964 William B. Stein, 1963 Merrill Davis (deceased), 1962 Richard H. Fogle (served 2 years), 1961 Tyrus Hillway, 1960 Lawrence Barrett, 1959 Wilson L. Heflin, 1958 Howard C. Horsford, 1957 Nathalia Wright, 1956 Harrison Hayford, 1955 Walter Bezanson, 1954 Merton M. Sealts, Jr., 1953 Willard Thorp, 1952 Howard P. Vincent, 1951 Elizabeth Foster, 1950 F. Barron Freeman, 1949 William Braswell, 1948 Luther S. Mansfield, 1947 Charles R. Anderson, 1946 [none], 1945 [End Page 139] Executive Secretary (elected, three-year term, serves as Chair of the Executive Committee) Matthew Rebhorn, 2020–present Colin Dewey, 2017–2019 Tony McGowan, 2014–2016 Mary K. Bercaw Edwards, 2007–2013 Jill Barnum, 2003–2006 Christopher Sten, 1997–2002 Sanford E. Marovitz, 1994–1996 Stanton Garner, 1990–1993 Donald Yannella, (secretarytreasurer), 1975–1989 Donald Yannella (acting secretarytreasurer for Hennig Cohen), 1973–1974 Hennig Cohen (secretary-treasurer), 1969–1972 Howard P. Vincent (secretarytreasurer), 1964–1968 Richard Stavig (secretary-treasurer), 1960–1963...