The University of Delaware has received a gift of $100,000 from alumnus Ronald M. Finch, AS '56. Finch worked with John M. Clayton Jr., assistant director of planned giving, on the details of his gift and the subsequent provisions to increase the fund provided to the University in his estate plan to at least $1 million.

Upon his death, two things will happen. Finch's unique Delmarva history collection of books, manuscripts, brochures, maps, etchings, prints and paintings, which he has amassed during his lifetime, will be given to the Special Collections Department of the University Library. And, the fund, previously described, will be divided into two equal portions.

The first portion will create an endowed professorship memorializing his mother, Elizabeth Dorothy Carlisle Finch. This endowed professorship, in the Department of History, will provide for teaching, study, research and publication on the history of the Delmarva Peninsula.

The second portion will create the Ronald Milton Finch Delmarva History Collection Fund, one-third of which will establish a monetary stipend for an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in the University who will assist in curatorial and maintenance responsibilities for the Collection; one-third will provide for the future acquisition of additional material to enhance the Collection; and one-third will be reserved for research and publication of studies that utilize the Delmarva History Collection.

"Dr. Finch's generous gift will greatly strengthen the Library's ability to support research and teaching in the history, culture and heritage of the Delmarva Peninsula. His collection is of national significance, and the University of Delaware Library is honored to be its future base," said Susan Brynteson, director of libraries.

As a result of his thorough estate planning, Finch will be assured that his primary interests and objectives will be perpetuated--that the history, culture and heritage of the Delmarva Peninsula, with a particular emphasis and focus on the legacy and heritage of the common man, will be studied and researched.

His wish is, simply, that in-depth demographic studies will be conducted to learn who settled the Delmarva Peninsula, where did they come from, what did they do and how did they succeed. His ultimate goal was ably stated many years ago by Alexis de Tocqueville in 1835 in his classic Democracy in America: "America is the only country in which it has been possible to witness the natural and tranquil growth of society, and where the influence exercised on the future conditions of states by their origin is clearly distinguishable."

Since his graduation from the University of Delaware in 1956, Finch has had varied and interesting experiences. Beginning with his graduate studies, which include a master's degree in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in administration from Columbia University, he continued in the public arena as teacher, administrator, board of education president and, subsequently, director of the state of Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs.

An avid birder, this Delaware alumnus has personally observed 752 species in North America, a feat that places him in the "top 100" of more than 22,000 birders/listers. He began his birding interest during his early years as an Eagle Scout and camp director at Rodney Scout Reservation on the Chesapeake Bay, and he continued as an undergraduate at UD where he was encouraged and often accompanied by Dr. Quaesita C. Drake, professor of chemistry. He was a charter member of the Lattoniken Club, the parent organization of the current Delaware Ornithological Society.

In addition, Finch's love and knowledge of 18th- and early 19th-century architecture provided the impetus to restore his Cloud's Row home in historic New Castle as well as his present home, Strand Millas, in Montchanin, which he describes as "the oldest rock house in Delaware," having been built before 1700 on a 1683 William Penn land grant.

His lifelong interest in Delaware history began with his mother, Elizabeth Dorothy Carlisle Finch, who, herself, represented the eighth generation on the Peninsula. She related many stories of her ancestors as a way to occupy the family's long hours during the air raid "blackouts" of World War II. To further encourage her son's interest when he was 13 years old, his mother wrote the Archeological Society of Delaware in 1948 requesting he be accepted as a full member. The Society granted her request, and Finch spent many hours on four of the Society's significant excavations in the 1940s: the Lewes Townsend site, the Beaver Valley Rock Shelter, Crane Hook Church burial ground and the "Black Cat" Log Cabin (now restored and relocated at the Delaware State Museum in Dover), all under the guidance of Archibald Crozier, C. A. Weslager, H. Geiger Omwake and Arthur Volkman.

During his University years, Finch worked in the Rare Books Room in the Memorial Library under the supervision of William Ditto Lewis, University librarian from 1930-1958, thus enabling him to continue his interest in Delaware history.

All of this provided the desire to build his Delmarva Collection, which contains many unique items not held by the Library of Congress nor any other historical repository in the state or region. His collection consists of more than 2,000 books, imprints, manuscripts and newspapers, most of which were printed in Delaware and some in Maryland. Many items were printed prior to 1800. The rare 1784 copy of John Filson's The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucky is especially noteworthy. Other rarities are two 1796 copies of Address to the People of the United States by George Washington--one printed by James Wilson in Wilmington, Del., and another by John Adams in New Castle, Del. He also has the 1788 Act of Incorporation of the Library Company of Wilmington, which includes a list of the company's catalogued books, and a 1747 Children's Bible printed by Peter Brynberg of Wilmington.

Newspapers of note include a nearly complete set (63 volumes) of Niles Weekly Register (1811-1849) and an entire year (1804) of The Mirror of the Times and General Advertiser, which was printed by James Wilson in Wilmington. Manuscripts include a 1678 will drawn in New Castle and several personal letters of Thomas Rodney.

Finch owns the only known copies of the 1758 and 1759 Maryland Almanac by Jonas Green. In 1977, he gave the Maryland Hall of Records at Annapolis 1,500 Caroline County court papers and early public records and 11 volumes of a blacksmith's business records covering the years 1825-1860. This latter collection was unique in that blacksmiths normally could not write and, subsequently, did not keep accounts. Moreover, among the public records was the only surviving County Record of Assessment in the State of Maryland (Caroline County) passed by the Maryland Assembly in 1781.

"Ronald Finch has dedicated much of his life to building a comprehensive collection on the history of the Delmarva Peninsula. Once this collection becomes part of the University of Delaware Library's Special Collections Department, Dr. Finch's goal of perpetuating the history, culture and heritage of the Delmarva Peninsula will be ensured. In addition, as the premier collection of its kind, it will serve as an invaluable resource for the faculty and students of the University and for all scholars engaged in Delmarva historical research," said Tim Murray, head of the Special Collections Department.

Ron Finch's unique and creative gift and estate planning for the benefit of the University of Delaware certainly exhibits his personal interests and philanthropic spirit. Hopefully, as a result, the University of Delaware Library will one day hold the premiere collection on Delmarva history. His collection, along with the endowment, will provide a very positive contribution to the history education of future generations of Delaware students.

--John M. Clayton, Jr.