JAMES R. BLACKABY
Jim Blackaby, Director of Internet Strategies and Information Services at
Mystic Seaport, in Mystic, CT, died of cancer on August 9, 2003. He was 58
years old.
Blackaby came to Mystic Seaport in 1999 following a distinguished career in
the museum field developing information systems for a wide range of cultural
institutions. He served as Senior Systems Analyst at the Walker Art Center
in Minneapolis where he worked on several projects, but primarily Arts
ConnectEd, an award-winning integrated access system for the intellectual
and educational resources of the Walker and the Minneapolis Institute of
Arts. He also served as Senior Systems Developer at the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum working on the Student Outreach Project, the
reinstallation of the Learning Center, and related projects. From 1990 to
1996, Mr. Blackaby worked as an independent consultant in museum information
systems, web applications for museums, and multi-media projects. His special
areas of interest included the integration of all the resources museums
manage -- collection information, educational material, library and archives
materials, and digital assets. He worked with the Guggenheim, the L.A.
County Museum of Art, the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, the National
Museum of African Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the
Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, and the National
Trust. From 1980 to 1989, Mr. Blackaby was Curator of the Mercer and
Fonthill Museums in Doylestown, PA, and he began his work in the museum
field as a researcher at Old Sturbridge Village. Prior to that, he taught at
the secondary level and in university, including the University of Oregon,
Temple University and Northfield-Mt. Hermon School. In later years he taught
both distance and on-site courses and workshops at the University of
Victoria in Victoria, BC. Among his many publications, Nomenclature for
Museum Cataloging, which he co-edited for AASLH Press in 1988, is considered
a landmark in the field of museum cataloging.
Born in Seattle, Blackaby grew up in Palo Alto and was a graduate of the
University of Oregon, where he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees
and was a member
of Chi Phi fraternity. He was an accomplished woodworker, master printer,
avid gardener and enthusiastic sailor.
Survivors include wife Rachel Thomas of Pawcatuck, Connecticut; son James of
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania; father James; and sister Susan of Portland,
Oregon.
The family requests that remembrances be sent to the Jim Blackaby Memorial
Fund at Mystic Seaport or the Henry Bendix Music Scholarship at Whitman
College in Walla Walla, Washington.
A memorial service will be held at Mystic Seaport on Sunday, August 24, 2003
at 5 pm.
Patricia L. Miller, Executive Director
Illinois Heritage Association
602 1/2 E. Green St., Champaign, IL 61820
(217)359-5600 [log in to unmask]
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