The Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy Society

Organized in 1904 and incorporated in 1927, the Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is the oldest scholarly society in North America dedicated to the study of books and manuscripts as physical objects. Member gifts have played an important role in advancing BSA’s scholarly mission over the past century. Contributions and legacy gifts from BSA members have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote the study of books and manuscripts as textual artifacts and have furnished important financial support to early-career bibliographers and scholars.

 

In 2020 Bibliographical Society of America established a Legacy Society named after distinguished bibliographer Margaret Bingham Stillwell (1887-1984). Our intent in founding the Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy Society was to recognize the long tradition of giving at BSA and to ensure a vibrant future for tomorrow’s bibliographic scholars.

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments,
but what is woven into the lives of others.”    — Pericles

How do I join the Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy Society?

There are no minimum financial requirements for joining—you may pledge any amount that inspires your philanthropy and brings you personal reward. All gifts help to further our mission.

Please let us know by letter or email that you have remembered the Bibliographical Society of America in your estate plan and we will be honored to recognize you as a member of the Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy Society.

How do I include a gift to BSA in my Estate Plan?

Becoming a Stillwell Legacy Society member is easy—simply list the Bibliographical Society of America as a beneficiary the next time you update the beneficiaries of your retirement plan(s) and/or life insurance policy. Learn more about donating retirement assets here.

Or, please consider including the Bibliographical Society of America-Stillwell Legacy Fund in your estate plan when you are drafting or updating your will or living trust.

How Will My Gift be Acknoweldged?

Members of the Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy Society will be acknowledged in the PBSA Journal and on the BSA website, with their permission. Legacy Society members are also invited to gather together annually for special lectures, exhibition tours, and other bookish events.

Your membership can be acknowledged in your name.  You can also join the Stillwell Legacy Society in honor of—or in memory of—someone close to you. Should you wish, you may choose that your membership remain anonymous.

Stillwell Society Members

Founding Members of the Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy Society

In the Fall of 2019, BSA appealed to our membership to become Founding Members of the newly-formed Stillwell Legacy Society. As a result, more than twenty individuals proffered promised future gifts from their estates. Founding members are:

Anonymous (1)
Martin Antonetti
R. Dyke Benjamin in honor of Dr. Barbara A. Shailor
John Bidwell
G. Scott Clemons
Bruce & Mary Crawford
Elizabeth Denlinger in honor of Erin McGuirl
Joan M. Friedman
John Neal Hoover
Wallace Kirsop
Erin McGuirl in memory of Joan Cullen Palattella
Jennifer Lowe & Gregory Pass
Andrew & Eleanore Ramsey Nadell
Justin G. Schiller
Caroline Schimmel in honor of Miss Stillwell
Barbara A. Shailor in memory of Marjorie G. Wynne
Daniel J. Slive
Kenneth Soehner
William P. Stoneman
David J. Supino
Jacqueline M. Vossler

The Stillwell Society is growing beyond the founding group. New members are:

Anonymous (1)
Thomas A. Goldwasser
Mark Samuels Lasner
John T. McQuillen
Alice Schreyer
Peter Stallybrass in honor of James N. Green

We celebrate our Stillwell Society Members for their generosity and hope their leadership inspires you to join them in making a similar legacy gift to BSA. These unrestricted gifts fortify the long-term stability and financial security of BSA and will allow us to promote bibliographical study and to expand our scholarly community in the years to come.