Dr. Helen Fagin Named to New College Library Association Board

Dr. Helen N. Fagin, a prominent Holocaust educator and survivor and a key player in the establishment of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, as well as the nation’s World War II Memorial, has been appointed to the board of the New College Library Association.

“When NLCA’s executive director, Margaret Boyd, asked me to join the New College Library board, I accepted the invitation so that I may continue in my commitment to New College and its high educational goals,” said Fagin, who lives in Sarasota and has on several occasions been invited by New College faculty to teach special classes on the lessons of the Holocaust.  “I would be especially pleased to promote the needs of one of its prime components, the Cook Library, which honored me by receiving the Helen Fagin Holocaust Collection and for which I’m personally very grateful.”

The Dr. Helen N. Fagin Holocaust and Genocide Collection at the Jane Bancroft Cook Library was dedicated on January 20, 2008 at a public ceremony featuring a keynote address by William Parsons, Chief of Staff of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Since that time, the prized collection has become an asset not only for the College’s students and faculty, but for the State’s scholars and residents.  In the future, the College hopes to house the growing collection in its planned Center for International and Area Studies.

The Helen N. Fagin Student Research Fund at New College, established by an anonymous donor, has been designated to facilitate research into the meaning of all forms of genocide and violations of human rights.

Helen Fagin was born in Poland.  In 1939, World War II interrupted her studies at the Jagiellon University in Krakow, and she endured over five years of Nazi persecution. After arriving in the United States in 1946, she concentrated on learning English and pursuing her education, eventually earning her Ph.D.  She enjoyed a distinguished career as professor of English and Director of Judaic Studies at the University of Miami.

In 1979, Fagin was invited to serve as an education advisor to Elie Wiesel and later was appointed chair of the United States Holocaust Council’s Education Committee, in charge of developing an educational track for the future Holocaust museum.  In 1993, President Clinton appointed Dr. Fagin to join the World War II Memorial Committee, charged with building a national memorial in the nation’s capital.  In her post-retirement years, Fagin has continued her commitment to Holocaust education by training teachers, lecturing about the lessons of the Holocaust for our times.

The New College Library Association was founded in 1964 to gather 16,000 volumes to open the Jane Bancroft Cook Library at New College of Florida.  Its mission since has been to provide direct financial support to ensure that the library has the intellectual resources to serve the Honors College of the State of Florida.  Over the years, the Library Association has provided more than $3 million in support for the purchase of books and other education materials.

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