The library lent the museum Collection of Drawings for Art and Industry, (Recueil des dessins pour l’art et l’industrie) a book published in France in 1859, for use in their exhibit “Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence,” which is at the museum until July 16. It will then move to Seattle.

Hokusai is perhaps best known for Under the Wave off Kanagawa, a woodblock print from 1831-1839 featuring a ship and Mount Fuji. Though Collection of Drawings for Art and Industry doesn’t include work by Hokusai, it features art that informed his work. In the book are a portfolio of plates that were created by the artists Adalbert Beaumont and Auguste Delâtre.

The two plates feature prints of birds and are cited in the exhibit as examples of Japonisme, a French term coined in the late nineteenth century to describe the craze for Japanese art and design in the West. The Japonisme phenomenon is important to understanding the environment in which Hokusai worked.

Linda Loschiavo, director of Fordham Libraries, said she fully supported loaning the book for the exhibit.

“I’m always thrilled to loan something from our collections,” she said.

Loschiavo noted that the library has loaned works to institutions in the past. Over the years, Yale University, St. Bonaventure University, and Versailles have all borrowed Revolutionary War artifacts, memorabilia, and Americana from Fordham Libraries’ Charles Allen Munn Collection.

“The wonderful aspect of loaning to another institution is the spotlight that it puts on Fordham’s collections. Participating in a show with a prestigious institution like the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston garners worldwide coverage,” she said.

“The exhibit will also be traveling to Seattle as well, so we’ll be allowing people across the country to view our treasures, and link the beauty and the importance of what they’re seeing to Fordham.”

“Jim was a dedicated University librarian and administrator whose can-do spirit served the University well during a period of expansion and growth,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “He brought Fordham from an era of card catalogs to the full splendor of the information age. Thanks to his efforts, our students and faculty may draw from a far deeper well of information in pursuit of learning and scholarship.” 

McCabe became the director of libraries on August 13, 1990. Until he retired in 2012, he helped Fordham libraries reach new heights—literally. He was an integral part of the design and construction process for the William D. Walsh Library, a five-floor modern Gothic style building that has housed more than 1,000,000 volumes since it was completed in 1997. The building was classified as the fourth largest library in New York in 2013 and featured in The New York Times. 

“Jim McCabe’s strong vision for the future combined with his deep knowledge and respect for traditional practices made him the perfect person to lead the Fordham libraries into the 21st century. But Jim was much more than that,” said Linda LoSchiavo, director of libraries at Fordham, who succeeded McCabe. “A gentle, gracious man, with a quick sense of humor, he was esteemed and admired by his staff, his colleagues at Fordham, and by the academic library community as a whole. The University has lost a quiet hero, and those of us fortunate enough to work closely with him have lost a friend.” 

Maryanne Kowaleski, Ph.D., retired Joseph Fitzpatrick, S.J. distinguished professor emerita of history and medieval studies, recalled McCabe’s leadership when Fordham moved its collections from Duane Library, which used to be the main library for the Rose Hill campus. 

“Jim McCabe came to Fordham at a crucial juncture, when he oversaw the complicated move to the new Walsh Library and facilitated the transition to electronic resources that we take for granted today,” Kowaleski said. “He was a kind and gentle man who led by example, taking his turn in the labor involved in moving the collection. He also went out of his way to meet and socialize with faculty, working to open up fruitful lines of communication between Fordham’s teachers and librarians.”

‘Let’s Do It’: A Librarian and Leader in the Digital Age

McCabe was a leader in the university library community during a time when technology began to dramatically change the ways libraries worked. At the beginning of the new millennium, he introduced the complete automation system to Fordham’s libraries, which included the electronic catalogue system and the library’s back-office operations. This helped librarians work more efficiently and gave students quicker access to resources. In addition, he helped promote one of the library’s most popular services, the electronic reserve room software. Similar to the BlackBoard Learn system currently used by faculty and staff, the electronic reserve room software was used to help faculty create course pages and upload resources for their students. 

“The immediate, enthusiastic acceptance of electronic reserves is proof that it is a program whose time had come. It is a fine example of how the Internet can make our lives and work a little easier, and save time and energy,” he wrote in a 2000 piece for Inside Fordham Libraries. 

In addition, he served as a link between Fordham and New York Libraries in his role as president of two local library organizations. He served on the Metropolitan New York Library Council’s Board of Trustees, where he helped foster conversations about important library and information issues, and on the Historical Preservation Commission for Westfield, New Jersey, where he helped to preserve the town’s historical sites and landmarks. 

McCabe was not only a librarian, but also an author. He wrote Critical Guide to Catholic Reference Books (Libraries Unlimited, 1971), a series of annotated entries on topics related to the Catholic Church, including liturgy, social sciences, and literature. 

“[He brought] digital resources of bewildering variety to library users within and without our library buildings. He has done this while substantially increasing the size and scope of our print collections, improving staff morale, increasing the hours and quality of library service to library users, and winning the respect, admiration, and affection of the Fordham community,” read a citation in a 2010 convocation booklet that recognized 20 years of his service to Fordham. “Whenever he encounters an opportunity to provide a new service or improve an old one, his reaction has been, ‘let’s do it.’” 

In the early 2000s, he named two hawks that once frequented the Rose Hill campus and the New York Botanical Garden. The first hawk was named Rose after the Rose Hill campus; the second hawk was named Hawkeye Pierce, in honor of the character played by Fordham alumnus Alan Alda on the M.A.S.H. television series. 

‘It Isn’t Raining in Our Hearts’ 

McCabe was born on May 24, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Felix and Josephine McCabe. His father was a lineman for a telephone company and his mother was a nurse. He graduated summa cum laude from Niagara University in 1963 and earned three graduate degrees at the University of Michigan: a master’s in English literature, a master’s in library science, and a doctorate. For more than two decades, he served as library director at Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales in Pennsylvania, now known as DeSales University, where he oversaw the conceptualization and construction of a new library facility. Right before his appointment to Fordham, he served as the acting library director for Muhlenberg-Cedar Crest Colleges Libraries in Pennsylvania. 

His friend for nearly 40 years, Romain Frugé, said McCabe was a beloved member of the theatre community at DeSales University, where he manned the lighting booths during shows and served as an academic mentor and confidant for students. McCabe was also a staunch supporter of students’ work. He flew to London and Japan to watch Frugé perform in several musicals, said Frugé. And no matter where he went, McCabe had a positive outlook on life. 

“Whenever it was raining, Jim would say, ‘Well, it isn’t raining in our hearts,’” said Frugé, who was a student at DeSales University, where McCabe worked as library director. “He was always a real positive force.”

McCabe never had children of his own, but he was close to his four siblings and their children. For many years, he spearheaded an annual family picnic in Manhattan, said his niece Jennifer Carlin. He loved everything about the city, especially cheap tickets to Broadway shows, and he walked like a classic New Yorker at 10 miles per hour, said his nephew Felix Carroll. And he always appreciated the little things. 

“He gave me a really great piece of advice when I was in my early 20s,” Carroll said. “I was moving all over the place, and I couldn’t settle on anything … He told me to stop and take delight in the world. We can be worried, but we’re supposed to find joy, too, and that’s found in everyday things.” 

McCabe is survived by two siblings, Aileen McClure and John McCabe, and numerous nieces and nephews; he is predeceased by two siblings, Francis McCabe and Ann Carroll. A funeral Mass will be held on Sept. 24 at 11 a.m. at St. Ephrem Catholic Church located at 5400 Hulmeville Road, Bensalem, Pennsylvania, 19020. The Mass begins at 11 a.m., but family and friends are invited to gather at the church an hour earlier. Interment will follow at Resurrection Cemetery. 

The funeral service will also be streamed, beginning at 10 a.m. on Sept. 24. To obtain the link to view the service, contact Jean Walsh, senior executive secretary at the Walsh Library, at [email protected] by Sept. 23 at 5 p.m., latest. You can view live or at your own convenience.

In lieu of flowers, donations in McCabe’s honor may be made to the book fund at Fordham University Library.

By check: Payable to Fordham University Library

Attn. Linda LoSchiavo
Director of Libraries
Walsh Library, Suite 219
441 East Fordham Road
Bronx, NY 10458

Online: www.fordham.edu/give. Several funds are listed. Click OTHER, then indicate “Fordham University Library, in honor of James McCabe.”

The endless selections on streaming services and beyond may be daunting, so Fordham News asked faculty members for a few of their favorite film and book suggestions to help narrow it down and avoid a night of infinite scroll. Hopefully, you’ll find an interesting new piece of media or rediscover an old favorite in the recommendations below.

Films

Mark Street, Associate Professor of Visual Arts

La Jetee (1963), directed by Chris Marker
This “cine novel,” which exists in book form too, is the movie upon which Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys is based. The time travel story is told entirely in stills, except for one shot which is moving. In the absence of movement, we can let our imagination roam and contemplate the conceptual richness and audacity of the conceit.
Available on Kanopy

Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), directed by Maya Deren
This brilliant filmmaker pierces the masculinist world of the American avant-garde. This film is about dreams within reveries within dreams; we’re not sure what’s happening, what’s dreamed, what’s imagined. Its fracturing of time reminds me a bit of our current state, where things have slowed down, and we are looking at time in a new way.
Available on Kanopy

Amy (2015), directed by Asif Kapadia
A wrenching examination of Amy Winehouse’s life, including home movie footage and interviews with friends and family. She’s a product of her time in that she was a mediated image from the beginning of her life (as a sonogram of her in her mother’s womb), right up until her death. This very imaging of her led to her struggles with eating disorders and alcoholism.
Available on Kanopy

What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015), directed by Liz Garbus
A good bonus double feature to pair with Amy. Also a product of her time, we see an uncompromising artist from a classically trained prodigy in North Carolina to explosive artist, to righteous, uncompromising activist. She battled mental health issues, racism, and domestic abuse along the way, and her voice is as current and powerful as it ever was.
Available on Netflix

James Jennewein, Senior Lecturer of Communication and Media Studies

The King’s Speech (2010), directed by Tom Hooper
Based on the true story of King George, who was crowned King of England after his older brother abdicated, The King’s Speech is a very moving and inspiring tale of his fight to overcome a serious speech impediment so as to become a more effective king to his people. But deep down it is also the story of one man’s battle with his own inner demons and how his friendship with his speech therapist helps him ultimately to grow as a man.
Available on Netflix

Tootsie (1982), directed by Sydney Pollack
A classic comedy about a driven New York City actor who becomes a soap opera star, dressed as a woman. A brilliant tale of how a sexist learns how to be a better man as he lives out the trials and tribulations of being a woman in society.
Available on Netflix

Television Shows

Lance Strate, Professor of Communication and Media Studies

The Strain
I recently discovered that The Strain, an FX series that originally aired from 2014 to 2017 is steaming, and even though I had watched it in its entirety as it came out, I decided to binge it a second time, something I almost never do. I highly recommend it, if and only if you are fine with the horror genre. Created by acclaimed film director Guillermo del Toro together with Chuck Hogan, the series is set almost entirely in New York City, and makes full use of neighborhood locations in all five boroughs, which makes it a real treat for New Yorkers. The story is an original take on the vampire genre, mixed together with a good amount of the contagion genre, and even a touch of the zombie motif included. At a time when we are experiencing a form of true horror in the real world, you might think it best to stay far away from that sort of storyline, but I found retreat into this fantasy version diverting and in some ways inoculating, and the plot is absolutely gripping.
Available on Hulu

Star Trek: Picard
As someone who often turns to science fiction, I find no shortage of series available on streaming services these days, but one that stands out that recently completed its first season is Star Trek: Picard. As someone who prefers the original Star Trek series to the Next Generation, I reserved judgment on this new series that debuted only a couple of months ago and just wrapped up its first season. I was very impressed with the first new Star Trek series on CBS All Access, Star Trek: Discovery, a prequel to the original series that has been exceptional in its first two seasons, and Star Trek: Picard rival Discovery in regard to overall quality and entertainment value. Star Trek: Picard is a welcome continuation of the Star Trek story, and with Patrick Stewart in the lead, how can you go wrong? Top that off with several new and interesting regular characters and guest appearances from a few old ones, and an intriguing plot line, and Picard stands out easily as my favorite new series of this strange new year. And on the topic of Star Trek, I strongly recommend Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the best of the earlier series, with marvelous characters and a dramatic, continuing story that emerged after the first couple of seasons.
Available on CBS All Access

The Plot Against America
I am currently enjoying The Plot Against America miniseries on HBO, based on the novel by Phillip Roth. Set circa 1940-1941, the story is an alternate history in which Charles Lindbergh, as a Nazi sympathizer running on an antiwar platform, defeats FDR and becomes president. While fascinating for its historical detail regarding life in Newark in this era, and thought provoking as a what-if scenario, the series resonates in many ways with contemporary American society and politics, making it all the more relevant.
Available on HBO

Books

Mary Bly, Professor of English

Mary Bly, professor and English department chair, Shakespeare scholar, and author of popular romance novels under the pen name Eloisa James, offered this list of 20 books from her to-be-read-during-quarantine pile, which has something for everyone:

Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl
Meg and Jo by Virginia Kantra
Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
Magpie Murders by Antony Horowitz
There There by Tommy Orange
The Best American Sci Fi & Fantasy 2019 edited by John Joseph Adams and Carmen Maria Machado
An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard
The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley
American Duchess by Karen Harper
Thicker Than Mud by Jason Morris
New Dramaturgies by Mark Bly
The Pier Falls: And Other Stories by Mark Haddon
The New Life of Hugo Gardner by Louis Begley
Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction by Derek Thompson
Moonglow by Michael Chabon
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain by Bill Bryson
All I Know About Animal Behavior I Learned In Loehmann’s Dressing Room by Erma Bombeck
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
The Lighthouse by P.D. James

Shonni Enelow, Associate Professor of English

Theodor Adorno
I’m actually reading a lot of philosophy (in the 15 minutes when my kid is occupied with something or napping), particularly Theodor Adorno. I’m finding it oddly soothing. 

Afro-Fabulations: The Queer Drama of Black Life by Tavia Nyong’o
I’m also reading Tavia Nyong’o’s new book Afro-Fabulations, which is fantastic. 

Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life by Maurice Sendak
And a lot of Maurice Sendak with my kid. We were just given his not-really-a-kid’s-book Higglety Pigglety Pop, which is like Lewis Carroll by way of Samuel Beckett.

Laura Childs, Emerging Technologies Librarian

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
First, a warning: these books will consume your life! I love this series because you get completely lost in it—you feel like you’re in the story alongside the characters. You’ll be reading for hours and look up, having no idea where (or when) you are. Great for readers who love historical fiction. It’s also been made into a fantastic show that you can binge watch on Netflix!

11/22/63 by Stephen King
This is probably my favorite Stephen King novel, but it’s not a typical horror story. If you like to get emotionally attached to a book, this is for you. It is thrilling and will also break your heart. Another book you will not be able to stop reading (but it’s over 1,000 pages, so you’ll be occupied for a long time).

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Any book by this author is an excellent choice if you enjoy drama, mystery, and some humor mixed in. This particular book is a lot of fun because you get to experience the story through the eyes of different characters, each with their own unique voice. This is a fast, entertaining read.

Additional Resources

Mary Bly, Professor of English

The English Department launched a Mighty Networks site when this happened. It’s a one-stop place for all our spring events, for student-run workshops, etc. Last week, for example, we had a creative writing/cooking demonstration by Sarah Gambito (head of Creative Writing), a yoga class, and a lecture by a disability activist.

Shonni Enelow, Associate Professor of English

The visionary downtown theater director Richard Maxwell and his company New York City Players have put up Vimeos of all their shows.

The Wooster Group is posting a new video every week of their shows, which transfer exceptionally well to video.

The playwright Jeremy O. Harris is doing a master class on Monday through New York Theatre Workshop.

Laura Childs, Emerging Technologies Librarian

As for library resources, I’d like to add that there are thousands of e-books available in our collection that students/faculty can access anywhere. They can be found by searching the catalog on our website. We also offer streaming video and movie platforms that students can watch from anywhere, including many new and popular films. Lastly, even though we’re not in the library, we are still here to help with research questions and can be contacted via email, text, and the 24/7 chat service!