HolmeWork Assignment: The BSI Trust Benefactor’s Medal

“… I should have had a medal the size of a soup plate.”

– The Adventure of The Three Garridebs (3GAR)

In the Spring 2012 issue of For the Sake of the Trust – The Baker Street Irregulars Trust Newsletter was the following announcement: 

BSI Trust Benefactor’s Medal Awarded to Glen Miranker

At the BSI Dinner on Friday, January 13, 2012, Mike Whelan presented the inaugural BSI Trust Benefactor’s Medal To Glen Miranker. The text of Mike’s remarks follow below:

“There are some simply wonderful letters in the BSI Archive at Harvard University. For example, this June 24, 1942 letter from Christopher Morley to Edgar Smith which actually portends the establishment of the BSI Trust Archive: “. . . as supreme archivist you might like to file the enclosed. D. Pearson’s letter is amusing. . . “

Fortuitously, Smith did take this role seriously, retaining his correspondence with Morley, his own meeting minutes, and other important BSI memorabilia. But years after his death, Smith’s files were in serious danger of ending up in the same trash fodder in which most of the first generation of valuable Irregulars’ material ended up. Marvin Epstein, BSI, rescued the Smith files for posterity, and Glen Miranker rescued them (from the standpoint of the BSI Trust) for the Baker Street Irregular Archives at Harvard’s Houghton Library. Along with Costa Rossakis, Glen was the BSI Trust’s founding co-chair. It would be impossible to measure his contributions to the Trust and to the BSI in establishing the foundation of all that has followed.

Tonight we salute Glen, and bestow upon him the BSI Trust’s first Benefactor’s Medal for both his leadership and his gifts, which have been the twin cornerstones of our societal collection. Glen also coined the name of our newsletter, “For the Sake of the Trust,” which remains the “catch phrase” for all of the Trust’s activities and objectives. This award is crowned with a small scroll containing those words, and from which hangs the new logo of the BSI, which you will also find on the spine of all BSI books. The inscription reads: “Glen S. Miranker, first recipient of the BSI Trust Benefactor’s Medal. With appreciation for your leadership and gratitude for your generosity.”

Two years later, in the Spring 2014 edition of For the Sake of the Trust, we have these two related items:

Izban Receives Benefactor Medal

In appreciation for his long-standing generosity and activism on behalf of the BSI Trust, Andy Solberg presented Don Izban with the BSI Trust’s Benefactor Medal at the BSI Dinner on January 17.

Elsewhere, in the same issue, it was noted that the text of Andy Solberg’s presentation of the BSI Trust’s
Benefactor Medal to Don Izban was added to the BSI Trust archives.

THE HOLMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

We have a brief description of the first medal awarded in 2012. Is the 2014 medal similar in appearance, save for the recipient’s name?

Can we get a photograph of one or both of the medals?

For those interested in making a donation or learning more about the BSI Trust, click HERE.

UPDATE August 28, 2018: See our post The 2014 BSI Trust Benefactor Medal for more information about the 2014 medal.