Richard H. F. Lindemann (1949–2025)
To the Bowdoin community,
I am writing with sadness to share the news that Richard H. F. Lindemann, director emeritus of the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, died on November 9, 2025, at his home in Brunswick, only days after receiving a diagnosis of multiple myeloma.
During his tenure as director of special collections and archives at the College, from 1999 until his retirement in 2015, Richard worked to change the perception of the department from a simple repository of historical documents to an important component of the curriculum and an endless source of insight and inspiration for students, faculty, and outside researchers. Richard was always a mentor and an educator.
Richard was born in Nicollet, Minnesota, on March 3, 1949, to John and Charlotte Lindemann. He graduated with an AB degree from the University of Georgia in 1971 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to earn an MA in 1975, followed by a PhD in 1981 from the University of Virginia, with a primary focus on medieval European history. His love of research and his work as an archivist at the University of Virginia led him to earn a master of librarianship degree from Emory University in 1988.
From 1991 to 1999, Richard served as a special collections librarian, associate director, and head of technical services at the Mandeville Special Collections Library at the University of California, San Diego. In 1999, he was hired as the director of the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives at Bowdoin.
Richard’s background as an academic and educator was evident in his impeccable scholarship, the exhibits he curated, and his encouragement of students and faculty to utilize the resources of special collections and archives to enrich the curriculum. A sample of his own published works shows the breadth and depth of his interests. The Dr. Seuss Catalog: An Annotated Guide to Works by Theodor Geisel in All Media, Writings About Him, and Appearances of Characters and Places in the Books, Stories and Films (2007) is a standard reference. He edited a manuscript autobiography by Joshua Chamberlain, “Blessed Boyhood!”: The ‘Early Memoir’ of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (2013). Working with Rowman & Littlefield publishing company, Richard undertook the editing of the two-volume Plants and Flowers of Maine: Kate Furbish’s Watercolors (2016), which reproduced all of Furbish’s botanical illustrations from Bowdoin’s department of special collections and archives. The diverse exhibits he curated demonstrate the range of his expertise: “ABC: Abecedariums and Early Writing Books”; “Pop Ups, They’re Not Just for Kids: The Harold M. Goralnick Pop-up Book Collection”; “A New Vitality: Celebrating 40 Years of Coeducation at Bowdoin”; “Bowdoin Boys in Blue and Gray: An Exhibit Commemorating the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War”; and “BookART: Artists’ Books at Bowdoin.”
Richard arrived at Bowdoin at a time of expanding technological possibilities in library science. He received grants for the digitization of the Oliver Otis Howard Papers and those of his brothers, Bowdoin graduates who served in the Civil War, and planned and organized the George J. Mitchell Oral History Project, which won the Oral History Association’s Major Project Award in 2012. He developed procedures for archiving the College’s administrative records in a digital age and trained and mentored colleagues, relying, as a colleague put it, on his “high standards, clear goals, good humor, and great baking.” He was voted emeritus status by the Board of Trustees upon his retirement in 2015 and returned in 2017 to work as a rare book cataloger in the department he built and cherished, a position he held until his death.
Richard is survived by his wife, Harriet, and by his daughter, Kate. We extend our sympathies to them, to Richard’s colleagues in the Library and among the faculty, staff, and alumni, and all others who were inspired by his example as a scholar, an educator, and a friend.
Sincerely,
Safa
I am writing with sadness to share the news that Richard H. F. Lindemann, director emeritus of the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, died on November 9, 2025, at his home in Brunswick, only days after receiving a diagnosis of multiple myeloma.
During his tenure as director of special collections and archives at the College, from 1999 until his retirement in 2015, Richard worked to change the perception of the department from a simple repository of historical documents to an important component of the curriculum and an endless source of insight and inspiration for students, faculty, and outside researchers. Richard was always a mentor and an educator.
Richard was born in Nicollet, Minnesota, on March 3, 1949, to John and Charlotte Lindemann. He graduated with an AB degree from the University of Georgia in 1971 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to earn an MA in 1975, followed by a PhD in 1981 from the University of Virginia, with a primary focus on medieval European history. His love of research and his work as an archivist at the University of Virginia led him to earn a master of librarianship degree from Emory University in 1988.
From 1991 to 1999, Richard served as a special collections librarian, associate director, and head of technical services at the Mandeville Special Collections Library at the University of California, San Diego. In 1999, he was hired as the director of the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives at Bowdoin.
Richard’s background as an academic and educator was evident in his impeccable scholarship, the exhibits he curated, and his encouragement of students and faculty to utilize the resources of special collections and archives to enrich the curriculum. A sample of his own published works shows the breadth and depth of his interests. The Dr. Seuss Catalog: An Annotated Guide to Works by Theodor Geisel in All Media, Writings About Him, and Appearances of Characters and Places in the Books, Stories and Films (2007) is a standard reference. He edited a manuscript autobiography by Joshua Chamberlain, “Blessed Boyhood!”: The ‘Early Memoir’ of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (2013). Working with Rowman & Littlefield publishing company, Richard undertook the editing of the two-volume Plants and Flowers of Maine: Kate Furbish’s Watercolors (2016), which reproduced all of Furbish’s botanical illustrations from Bowdoin’s department of special collections and archives. The diverse exhibits he curated demonstrate the range of his expertise: “ABC: Abecedariums and Early Writing Books”; “Pop Ups, They’re Not Just for Kids: The Harold M. Goralnick Pop-up Book Collection”; “A New Vitality: Celebrating 40 Years of Coeducation at Bowdoin”; “Bowdoin Boys in Blue and Gray: An Exhibit Commemorating the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War”; and “BookART: Artists’ Books at Bowdoin.”
Richard arrived at Bowdoin at a time of expanding technological possibilities in library science. He received grants for the digitization of the Oliver Otis Howard Papers and those of his brothers, Bowdoin graduates who served in the Civil War, and planned and organized the George J. Mitchell Oral History Project, which won the Oral History Association’s Major Project Award in 2012. He developed procedures for archiving the College’s administrative records in a digital age and trained and mentored colleagues, relying, as a colleague put it, on his “high standards, clear goals, good humor, and great baking.” He was voted emeritus status by the Board of Trustees upon his retirement in 2015 and returned in 2017 to work as a rare book cataloger in the department he built and cherished, a position he held until his death.
Richard is survived by his wife, Harriet, and by his daughter, Kate. We extend our sympathies to them, to Richard’s colleagues in the Library and among the faculty, staff, and alumni, and all others who were inspired by his example as a scholar, an educator, and a friend.
Sincerely,
Safa