STODDARD, Whitney Snow 1913-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born March 25, 1913, in Greenfield, MA; died April 2, 2003, in Williamstown, MA. Educator and author. Stoddard was an art historian who was often recognized for educating many of the United States' leading art scholars. Earning an undergraduate degree from Williams College in 1935 and a doctorate in art history from Harvard University in 1941, he had been teaching at Williams College for four years when America entered World War II in 1942. He served in the U.S. Navy, and when the war was over returned to Williams College, where he remained until his retirement in 1982. While at Williams Stoddard helped expand the small college's art department into a nationally known program whose graduates went on to jobs as directors of renowned art institutes and museums. As a scholar, Stoddard was particularly interested in medieval French architecture and he led several research studies of the Benedictine Monastery of Saints Peter and Paul at Psalmodi. His writings reflect this interest as well, and include such works as The West Portals of Saint Denis and Chartres (1952; revised edition, 1983); Monastery and Cathedral in France (1962), which was later published as Art and Architecture in Medieval France (1973); and The Sculptors of the West Portals of Chartres (1987). He was also the author of Adventure in Architecture (1958) and coeditor of The Macmillan Biography of Architects (1982).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Boston Globe, April 7, 2003, p. C14.

New York Times, April 14, 2003, p. A21.