In Memoriam: Dr. Pellom McDaniels, III

 

Dear Colleagues and Friends, 

It is with endless sorrow that we share the news that Pellom McDaniels III, Curator of African American Collections, passed away suddenly, at home, on Sunday April 19, 2020. The depth of our grief at Pellom’s passing is matched only by our appreciation and admiration for the tremendous gifts and contributions Pellom brought to his life’s work to celebrate and document African American lives and history.  

Pellom started his work with the Rose Library when he was a Ph.D. student in American Studies at Emory’s Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts and returned to us in 2012 after five years on the faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.  In his time at the Rose, Pellom brought boundless energy and creative insight to building our African American collections, developing programs and events celebrating African American history, and curating exhibitions that shared both our collections and his tremendous knowledge and expertise with a broader audience. 

We share our deepest condolences with Pellom’s with his family and friends. As we gather ourselves to celebrate Pellom’s life, we acknowledge that the world has lost a giant of a scholar and friend, but we take solace in knowing that Pellom’s vision is well established in the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, and it will continue to inspire our future. 

Jennifer King, Director of the Rose Library, on behalf of all of us in the Rose Library.