Press Release:
MEDIA
CONTACT:
Carol
Lewis
561-297-0245,
clewis36@fau.edu
FAU Libraries Receive Gift to Establish the Harold L. Glasser Collection
BOCA
RATON, FL
(May
3, 2011)
–
Florida Atlantic University Libraries
recently received a gift in honor of the late Harold L. Glasser, a
World War II bombardier who became internationally known during his
27-year career as president of Miss Universe, Inc. The gift, which
consists of a wide variety of memorabilia, was made by
Glasser’s widow, Marny, who also has underwritten costs to
process, display and digitize the items, in order to showcase
the accomplishments of her late husband.
FAU special collections librarian and archivist, Victoria Thur,
worked with three students for several months to process the
memorabilia, now known as the
Harold L. Glasser Collection.
According to Thur, the collection tells the story of
Glasser’s life from birth to death at the age of 91.
“His life was so full,” said Thur. “It is pretty
interesting to think that one person was able to accomplish all
that he did.”
Glasser received degrees from New York University, Columbia Law
School and
Harvard Law School, and gave up a
career as an attorney to serve in the U.S. Air Force during the
war. The collection features memorabilia from his alma maters, as
well as highlights from his remarkable military career, including
combat decorations such as the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air
Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters,
World War II dog tags, military
orders, flight records, photos and certificates.
In 1959,
Glasser became president of the
Miss Universe organization and by the time his tenure ended in
1986, Miss Universe was an internationally recognized brand.
Through his worldwide travels, he met
statesmen, politicians and celebrities, many of whose letters and
photos are included in the collection.
“Mr. Glasser’s life is a true American odyssey and
success story, and there are items of interest here for almost
every taste, from a WWII leather bomber jacket to the Miss Universe
crown, which he designed,” said William Miller, Ph.D., dean
of libraries at FAU. “It is a true privilege for us to
establish the Harold L. Glasser Collection of papers and
memorabilia, and make it available to students and scholars for
research.”
The Harold L. Glasser Collection is housed in the Special
Collections and Archives Department
at
FAU’s Wimberly Library. It is open for
public viewing Monday through
Thursday, 1 to 5 p.m. or by appointment. An exhibition featuring
Glasser’s war memorabilia is scheduled for October through
December, to coincide with the 70
th anniversary of the U.S. entering World War II.
To see an inventory of the collection, visit
http://fauarchon.fcla.edu/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=57&q.
For more information, call 561-297-3787.
-FAU-
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. In commemoration of its origin, FAU is celebrating its 50th anniversary throughout 2011. Today, the University serves more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students on seven campuses and sites. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering & Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
