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The Dartmouth
July 15, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

College dean of libraries dies at 82

Edward Connery Lathem, D. Phil (Oxon) Bezaleel Woodward Fellow and Counselor to the President, Dean of Libraries and Librarian of the College, Emeritus, Class of 1951
Edward Connery Lathem, D. Phil (Oxon) Bezaleel Woodward Fellow and Counselor to the President, Dean of Libraries and Librarian of the College, Emeritus, Class of 1951

Lathem, who came to Dartmouth in 1952 as an assistant to the librarian, served as head librarian from 1968 to 1978, according to a College obituary. He was given the title of dean in 1973. Five years later, after he was voted emeritus status, Lathem was appointed the Bezaleel Woodward Fellow, working to address a variety of College issues. College President John Kemeny appointed him Dartmouth's first counselor to the president in 1982, and he continued to serve in that position under Presidents David McLaughlin, James Freedman and James Wright.

"Edward Lathem served Dartmouth in various capacities for nearly sixty years. And he made a profound difference as librarian, as a leader in establishing and stewarding the Montgomery Endowment and as a true man of letters," Wright said in a statement. "He was a wise counselor and warm friend to Dartmouth presidents and their families for more than half a century. Susan and I cherished him as a generous friend who cared deeply about the College and who was always there quietly to provide us encouragement and advice. We miss him."

Lathem and Frost were close -- the poet served as Lathem's best man at his wedding, according to David Shribman '76, Lathem's friend and executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Shribman is an emeritus member of the College's Board of Trustees.

Lathem's 1969 volume, "The Poetry of Robert Frost," is considered the seminal edition of Frost's poems and is owned by "anyone between the ages of 40 and 90 who likes to read," Shribman said in an interview with The Dartmouth.

Lathem was a meticulous writer, contributing to his success as an author and editor, Shribman said.

"He cared very much about the written word and about getting things right, and you almost had the sense that you were never finished," Shribman said. "He would edit and re-edit written prose. As a result, the books he produced were nearly flawless in their grammar and syntax and beautifully printed."

Lathem published more than 30 books and 116 literary projects, according to the College obituary. His recent works include "The Beginnings of Dr. Seuss -- An Informal Reminiscence," which was published in 2004, and "Miraculously Builded in Our Hearts," a 20th century history of Dartmouth co-authored with Shribman and published in 1999.

Lathem was "traditional, courteous, generous ... and very shy," Shribman said.

"In some ways, a 19th century man in the 20th and 21st centuries," Latham used a fountain pen to write letters instead of typing e-mails and always wore a suit and tie, according to Shribman.

"He was a courtly gentleman," Wallin said. "[He] never called anyone by their first name, but that doesn't mean that he wasn't a personable man."

Shribman said that Lathem sent him 15 books about Daniel Webster when the late librarian learned about Shribman's interest in the statesman.

"I asked him, 'Ed, these are nicely bound. Who bound them?'" Shribman said. "And he said, 'I did.'"

Lathem was born in Littleton, N.H., on Dec. 15, 1926. After serving in the U.S. Army at the end of World War II, Lathem matriculated at Dartmouth and graduated with the Class of 1951.

He pursued his master's degree in library service at Columbia University from 1951 to 1952 and earned a doctorate of philosophy at Oxford University in 1961.

He married E. Elizabeth French, a physician who worked at Dartmouth Medical School and in the Hanover community, in 1957. She passed away in 1992.

Lathem was literary editor of the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine from 1953 to 1963 and the executive director of the Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Endowment from 1953 to 1963.

"He was an older person, but he was so full of life," Wallin, who had "exchanged pleasantries" with Lathem a half hour prior to his collapse, said. "That's why anything like this is shocking and surprising."

Lathem was meeting with a visitor from the President's Office when he began to not "feel well," Wallin said.

The visitor then left the office to ask the College archivist in Rauner to call an ambulance, Wallin said.

"She didn't realize that the door locked when she closed it, [and] we do not have a key to his office," she said.

By the time Safety and Security officers unlocked the door and emergency personnel arrived, Lathem was slumped in his chair, she said. He died at his desk.