Hannah Frank 1908-2008 Posthumous awards and memorial service information June 2009
Fiona Frank
Hannah Frank 1908-2008
Posthumous awards and memorial service
information: June 2009
The story surrounding my late aunt’s life and her work - her legacy – continues.
POSTHUMOUS DOCTORATE AWARDED TO HANNAH
Last week (16-17 June) I attended a fantastic two days of glittering ceremony at Glasgow University’s Commemoration Day, at which my aunt was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt). Hannah Frank has become the first person in the university’s long history to be awarded an honorary posthumous degree (the letter offering her the award arrived was posted the day before she died: but, sadly, she never knew about it).
At the ceremony the university’s principal, Sir Muir Russell, read an oration about my aunt's life, and the Chancellor, Professor Sir Kenneth Calman, presented me with the certificate. The day included a service in the university chapel where the Hannah Frank centenary exhibition took place last year, and a lunch attended by members of the university Court, University graduates from 1959, and family and friends of the six honorary graduates. The lunch menu listed the names of the honorary graduates with 'Dr Hannah Frank' in pride of place. At an afternoon tea the previous day I had presented a copy of the Hannah Frank art book to Lady Russell, wife of the Principal – and the other guests were queuing up to read it.
Other honorary graduates recognised at the same occasion included Baroness Helena Kennedy, the human rights lawyer and Lifelong Learning, and Sir George Reid, the Scottish politician who has recently returned from representing Her Majesty the Queen as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Also honoured was Scottish folk singer Jean Redpath who needed little persuasion to entertain guests at the lunch with one of her trademark Burn’s poems – she has recorded seven CDs of Burns poems set to music by composer Serge Hoovey. It’s a Burns 250 year anniversary this year and Prof Ross Roy, another Burns scholar, also received an honorary doctorate.
The event was featured in the Glasgow Evening Times: see the article here: http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/search/display.var.2515059.0.artist_is_honoured_at_awards.php
GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL’S POSTHUMOUS AWARD
At the end of May I also collected a posthumous award for my aunt from Glasgow City Council; the ‘Lord Provost’s award’ for her special contribution to the visual arts through drawing and sculpture. Lord Provost Robert Winter presented me with this award at a civic dinner at the City Chambers. These annual awards recognise the achievements of Glaswegians who have dedicated their professional lives to public service or who have distinguished themselves in their respective fields. During my acceptance speech images of Hannah’s black and white drawings and her sculpture were projected on the screen behind me. I’m sure Auntie Hannah would have wondered what all the fuss was about; but I know she would have been pleased all the same.
GLASGOW COMMITTEE OF THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM HONOUR HANNAH AND LIONEL LEVY
My aunt and uncle were founder members of this very active committee, and my aunt donated several sculptures to be raffled as part of their fundraising operations. In April this year a beautiful evening was held to honour Hannah and Lionel’s lives and their contribution to the Hebrew University. Guests watched the DVD ‘Hannah Frank, The Spark Divine’ and heard a wonderful concert by the Illuminati Wind Quartet. Some of Hannah’s books were raffled, and the evening raised more than £3000 which will go towards a scholarship at the Hebrew University.
MEMORIAL SERVICE
My aunt’s memorial service and stone-setting will take place on Sunday 26 July, 10.30am, at Cathcart Hebrew Cemetery on Netherlee Road, Glasgow G44. Following the short ceremony we will go to Garnethill Synagogue, (not far from Sauchiehall Street on the corner of Garnet Street and Hill Street) for refreshments and a chance for us all to remember my aunt’s life. After this anyone who wants to can join us on the first Hannah Frank walk (further details below) run by Glasgow Women’s Library. All are welcome: men please cover your head at the burial ground and in the synagogue.
GLASGOW UNIVERSITY ARCHIVE PARTNERSHIP
At Garnethill after the memorial service we will also have the official handover of the ‘Hannah Frank and Lionel Levy archive’. My aunt never threw anything away, and she has left her cuttings books, diaries, photographs and letters to the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, whose early newsletters she illustrated. I’ve been helping to co-ordinate an exciting partnership project between Glasgow University History of Art department, the University’s Archiving department, and the Scottish Jewish Archive Centre. Masters students from these two University departments will catalogue my aunt and uncle’s papers and carry out contextual research to create an archive which will be accessible in the future for researchers wanting to find out more about the life of this prolific artist – or, for example, for historians wanting to access a rich record of correspondence between young women friends in Glasgow in the 1920s.
GLASGOW WOMENS’ LIBRARY TO
HAVE PERMANENT EXHIBITION OF HANNAH’S SIGNED PRINTS
This wonderful library, which provides information and
lots of opportunities for women, will soon have a full set of signed Hannah
Frank prints to add to some of Hannah’s extensive collection of books,
which have been deposited in its collection. What’s more, when the GWL
moves from its current location on Parnie Street to The Mitchell in its North
Street site (the Mitchell Library is often mentioned in Hannah’s diaries
as one of her favourite haunts) the collection of Hannah Frank prints will be on
show in that prestigious location for all to see.
THE HANNAH
FRANK WALK
Glasgow Women's Library is honouring Hannah with one of its Women's Walks. Instrumental to setting up the walk has been Glasgow University student Joanna Crawford, who’s been on placement at the library for the last year, working with a group of women who attend the GWL for literacy support. Joanna said: “It was quickly agreed that Hannah Frank was a woman who we wanted to celebrate.”
The team spent months researching and planning the Hannah Frank walk, which lasts 30 minutes. It begins at Garnethill Synagogue. “Here, walkers will hear about Hannah’s family life and the role of Judaism in her life, and in the future, will have a chance to look through some of the Hannah Frank and Lionel Levy archive material. Then we’ll go to the Glasgow School of Art and onto The Mitchell, which is soon to be the GWL’s new home, and where we’ll see Hannah’s prints at the permanent exhibition. The walk ends with a stroll through Kelvingrove to the gates of Glasgow University where we’ll discuss Hannah's education and her contributions to Glasgow’s cultural life.”
The women attending the lifelong learning classes chose their favourite Hannah Frank drawings. Two chose images of women holding books; one said “I too like to enjoy a quiet moment reading a book and being at one with nature”. The other, choosing a Hans Anderson illustration, loved the way that “Hannah Frank transforms the world of magic into an acceptable form of art for all ages to enjoy.”
UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW LIBRARY LAUNCHES ONLINE EXHIBITION
News just in is that the university’s library has put up an online exhibition of Hannah’s work. You can read about it on the library’s blog at http://universityofglasgowlibrary.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/hannah-frank-online-exhibition/
Click on where it says ‘online exhibition’. To see the gallery, which includes images taken directly from issues of the Glasgow University Magazine which are in the collection of the archives, click ‘Photo Gallery’
HANNAH AND FIONA FEATURED IN THE TIMES
The Times newspaper ran a feature on Hannah Frank’s posthumous awards and the mission to secure her legacy. Journalist Charlene Sweeney came to interview me and the feature appeared on 23 May. See it at
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6346312.ece
ONLINE HANNAH FRANK GALLERY and shop
You can now see a near-complete Hannah Frank gallery of black and white images on the revamped website http://www.hannahfrank.org.uk ; we plan to add images of all the sculpture in due course. As well as from the gallery, you can also purchase Hannah Frank books and prints from Damselfly and the Queen Bee on Kelvinbridge on the Great Western Road and at Boxwood on Byres Road, both in Glasgow's West End – and in the US from Hannah’s Boston-based nephew Jonathan Frank, email jfra...@gmail.com.
‘FACES’ ON NEW CD
The band ‘Member of the Wedding’ contacted us prior to my aunt’s death to ask if they could use the 1932 drawing ‘faces’ on their latest CD. You can hear their music and see the CD cover on http://www.myspace.com/memberofthewedding
The family and I hope to meet many of you in July; thank you so much for your support over the years and kind words from so many of you on the occasion of my aunt’s death in December.
Best wishes
Fiona Frank
Niece of the late Hannah Frank
3 Dalton Road, Lancaster LA1 3PR
07778 737681