Photo by Robert Martin
In Memoriam
HBW as pictured in the Summer 1983 Alumnae Magazine
Harold Bartlett Whiteman, Jr.
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t is with tremendous sadness that we report the death of Dr. Harold B. Whiteman, Jr., sixth president of Sweet Briar College. He died May 6, 2002 in Nashville, Tennessee after a long illness. Dr. Whiteman, born April 22, 1920 in Nashville, served as Sweet Briar’s president from July 1971 to June 1983. In addition to his responsibilities as president, he served as professor of history at Sweet Briar beginning in 1973. He also served on the Board for the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) for many years, having held the office of treasurer in the early ’90s. Dr. Whiteman had an extensive educational background. He attended the Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville from 1930 to 1934; the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut from 1934 to 1937; Yale University, where 34 • Fall 2002
he received his B.A. in 1941, graduating magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa; Vanderbilt University from which he received a master’s degree in political science in 1948; and Yale University where he received his Ph.D in 1958 in international relations. Dr. Whiteman was in the U.S. Army as a special services officer of the Air Transport Command in Africa from 1942 to 1946, when he was discharged with the rank of major. Always the scholar/teacher, he taught mathematics at the Taft School in 1946-47 and served as a teaching fellow at Vanderbilt during 1947-48. From 1948-1964, he was dean of the freshman year and associate dean at Yale University. Named assistant to the president at New York University in 1964, he remained at NYU as vice chancellor for student affairs until his appointment to the Sweet Briar presidency in 1971.
Following the Sweet Briar years, Dr. Whiteman worked in development for the Yale Divinity School (1983-85) and in development for Montgomery Bell Academy (1985-89). A lifelong sports enthusiast, the 1940 captain of the Yale football team was especially fond of sailing and was an avid tennis player. Lasting tributes were made on the occasion of his retirement by a number of faculty, staff, and alumnae in an article entitled “The Whiteman Years…A Man for All Seasons” in the Summer 1983 Alumnae Magazine. He is greatly missed, but we give thanks for his life, for his leadership, and for his devotion to Sweet Briar College. He is survived by his wife, Edith “Deedie” Uhler Davis Whiteman; three children, Harold Bartlett Whiteman III, Maclin Davis Whiteman, and Priscilla Whiteman Kellert; three grandchildren; three stepgrandchildren; and one stepgreat-grandchild. A memorial service is planned, to be held during the Fall Alumnae Council meetings in the Sweet Briar Memorial Chapel. For anyone wishing to send a memorial gift, the family asks that gifts be made to The Harold B. Whiteman, Jr. Scholarship Fund at Sweet Briar.
Helen Hudson McMahon ’23 1902 - 2002
Huntington until 1938, then returned to Sweet Briar to serve as director of the Alumnae Association until 1947. During this time, she became interested in summer camping for girls, and for a number of summers worked at a girls’ camp owned by a Sweet Briar professor near White Sulphur Springs, WV. There she learned the basics of camp management. In 1947, Helen Mac took over management of the Sweet Briar Book Shop, holding this position until retirement in 1971. After World War II, she built a house on campus and purchased a girls’ camp near Little Switzerland, NC, which she and Jeanette “Dan” Boone ran for many years. They never had trouble finding camp counselors, as Sweet Briar students eagerly sought summer jobs there. In 1974, she received the Outstanding Alumna Award. Enumeration of her many contributions included praise for her Book Shop regime, building new quarters while continuing the Book Shop’s support of the scholarship program. As a pillar of the Amherst County Sweet Briar Club, she provided ideas and muscle for everything from bake sales to house tours to buffet lunches. She was called upon to decorate Sweet Briar House and Wailes Center, man booths on Amherst County Day and at the Christmas Bazaar, assist in fire
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elen McMahon, known fondly as “Helen Mac” by generations of Sweet Briar alumnae, faculty and staff, passed away on August 6th at the Briarwood Home in Amherst, VA. The eldest of five children, she was raised in Huntington, WV. Shortly after World War I, she entered Sweet Briar, graduating with a major in English. Helen Mac taught school in Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu