by Bailey Porter
Staff Writer
Seated behind the reference desk at the Wilson Library, Marlin Heckman is in his element among volumes of history and everything the written word embodies.
With his retirement as University of La Verne chief librarian approaching in May, Heckman continues to have a fascination with research, a drive for uncovering the little details of the past that add up to such significance.
Since 1967, Heckman has been a reader at the Huntington Library in San Marino. He was accepted into the prestigious organization of scholars when writing his dissertation on a 19th Century American book collector at the University of Chicago Graduate Library School.
For almost 32 years since he moved to California, Heckman has been returning to the library for his various research projects. In the 12 books he has written, many have involved the Huntington, he said.
Also scholars with research privileges from ULV are Al Clark, associate vice president of academic affairs, Kenneth Marcus, assistant professor of history and Jeffrey Kahan, assistant professor of English.
“It’s a wonderful place to be,” Heckman said. “The reader privileges give you the right to go into the stacks and I just sort of go from level to level.”
Since its founding in 1919 by Henry and Arabella Huntington, the Huntington has been one of the largest and most complete research libraries in the United States, focusing on American and British history, literature, art and rare plants.
To become a reader at the Huntington Library, applicants must have their doctorates or have been advanced to candidacy after passing their Ph.D. qualifying exams. They must complete an application and have two references from people with scholarly standing.
Having access to the major resources in rare books, manuscripts and reference works that the Huntington has to offer has given Heckman opportunities to discover the missing links in his research and trace that information to avenues yet to be explored, he said.
His interest in the Overland Trail, the journey taken by Midwestern farm families in the mid-1800s, encouraged Heckman to edit and publish a collection of 403 diaries of families coming to California.
During his research, Heckman was impressed by one young man’s reflections in what was later discovered to be letters to his fiancé whom he had left behind on his move to California.
“I was struck by his language,” Heckman said of the young man’s poetry and biblical illusions in his letters.
His most recent accomplishments are six postcard books that highlight local towns such as Lordsburg La Verne, Pasadena, Santa Barbara and Long Beach between 1900 and 1930. The books are a collection of postcards, many of which were actually used.
“Postcards must have been the email of that day,” Heckman said.
As a child, Heckman’s interest in research and fascination with reading made him a regular at the public library. He can remember the librarian allowing him to check-out books from the “adult stacks.”
After graduating from ULV in history and sociology, and before attending the University of Chicago, Heckman attended seminary.
“So a lot of people were surprised when I went to library school and became a librarian, but my mother wasn’t surprised,” Heckman said.
While on sabbatical next year, Heckman plans to frequent the Huntington Library at least once every two weeks.
His future projects include possibly publishing the story of his aunt and uncle who were missionaries in China when World War II found many Americans imprisoned overseas. His aunt and uncle had kept records of their time in China before and after their four-year prison experience through regular letters to family at home.
“It’s the story of life on the mission field. I don’t know if I can publish a book, but I just think that story needs to be shared,” Heckman said.
Marcus, who has been a reader since 1994, is currently writing a book on the music culture of Los Angeles from 1880 to 1940 which focuses on the diversity and decentralization that characterized much of the music scene in that time period, Marcus said.
The Huntington is essential to his research as it provides him with archival material on a regular basis, Marcus said.
“I particularly enjoy coming across surprises, such as an entire set of theater programs in Los Angeles from the 1880s and 1890s,” Marcus said.
Kahan has been a reader for five years and one of the reasons he was drawn to accepting a position at ULV was its close proximity to the Huntington.
“It’s one of the great, untapped resources of La Verne,” Kahan said.
Interested in 18th Century Shakespearean forgery, Kahan will soon complete his book on the 18th Century Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean. Kahan obtained letters and poster bills of the actor from the Huntington.
His next project would not have been accepted by his publisher had Kahan not had access to the vast amounts of material on Shakespeare found in the Huntington collection, he said.
The book will be a collection of poetry by William Henry Ireland, a famous 18th Century Shakespearean fabricator.
Constantly researching for projects at the Huntington and remaining an active scholar allows Kahan to show his students that teaching can be more than just writing lectures, he said.
Clark was granted reader privileges in January and said he will use his access to the Huntington for his book, which looks at the history of the San Gabriel watershed.
“It’s really quite an impressive place,” Clark said, as he reflected on the personal tour he got of the library upon acceptance.
