UW Gazette, December 17, 1997
     
     A mysterious antique desk from the Seagram Museum
could provide a link to at least one of UW's illustrious
founders.
     Susan Bellingham, head of special collections at the
UW library, was at the museum in downtown Waterloo last
spring, supervising the packing of the rare book collection
donated to the university along with early archival
collections when the museum closed.
     Remarking on the unusual desk, Bellingham was informed
that it had probably been made by a Cambridge company
during the late 1880s. Preliminary research conducted at
the museum suggested the desk was similar to those
manufactured by W. Stahlschmidt and Co. of Preston - now
part of Cambridge - a forerunner of the Canadian Office and
School Furniture Company. Percy Hilborn, later one of UW's
founding board members, purchased Stahlschmidt's factory in
1928.
     Although no one seems to know how the desk came to the
Seagram Company, Bellingham finds it interesting that the
Bronfman family purchased Joseph E. Seagram and Sons, Ltd.
in 1928. Charles Bronfman was to join Hilborn on UW's first
board of governors.
     Museum staff were intrigued by the possible
connections between the desk and UW, and offered to include
it in their package of donations. While some pieces of the
puzzle are still missing, Bellingham is thrilled to have
the piece of furniture at UW, where it resides in her
office in the Dana Porter Library beside a chair used by
Ira Needles, chairman of UW's founding board.
     "The Seagram Museum was really thoughtful in the way
it dispersed its collection," she said. "Staff worked hard
to find the appropriate homes.
     "As part of the UW archives and special collections,
it seemed fitting for (the desk) to be in this department,"
she added.
     An official opening of the Seagram collection at UW is
planned for next June, by which time "everything should be
catalogued and ready for research."
     In the meantime, Bellingham is trying to track down
more clues about the desk, which she finds an antidote to
her high-tech work station. "It's a nice change in mental
pace to sit with wood," she said. "It's a tranquil space
where I can think better."