Eleanor M. Garvey '40

Alumnae Achievement Awards 1988

Curator, Author, Editor, Teacher

Eleanor Garvey, a noted print curator and bibliophile, graduated from Wellesley with a degree in art history in 1940. She received her M.A. from Clark University in 1942. She taught at the Worcester Art Museum from 1942 to 1947 and then served as the art librarian and museum curator at Wellesley for five years. Garvey also worked at the Newark Museum and the Fogg Art Museum, before beginning her 37-year career at the Houghton Library at Harvard University.

From 1974 until 1990, Garvey served as the Curator of the Houghton Library, and she developed her interest in the book as an art form and preserving fine art and illustrations. She specialized in 18th century Italian illustrated books and has served on a number of committees dedicated to preserving Italian art, such as the Boston Chapter of Save Venice, Inc. and the Committee to Rescue Italian Art. Garvey represented Harvard at the Congress of the International Association of Bibliophiles in Venice.

Eleanor Garvey’s work contributed to the preservation and knowledge of fine art and illustration. In 1991, she received the Laureate Award from the American Printing History Association. She also served as a faculty member of the Rare Book School at Columbia University and as a faculty member of the Radcliffe Seminars.

Eleanor Garvey passed away at the age of 94 in February 2013 due to stroke complications.