Frances Humphrey Howard, a special assistant to the associate director for extramural programs at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) from 1970 until her retirement in 1999, died of congestive heart failure in Washington, DC, on September 23, 2002.
The sister of the late Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Frances was a force in her own right. Energetic and passionately committed, she made countless contributions to NLM and to medical libraries in general. MLA named her an Honorary Member in 1990, a distinction reserved for those who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of the purposes of the association.
Frances's imprint is on many of NLM's programs and services, and her legacy will endure long after her remarkable life. During her tenure at NLM, she worked to improve communication programs for medical research. She organized groundbreaking meetings of voluntary health agency executives to expose them to the information programs and services of the library and to encourage greater use of these resources.
She was also a gifted liaison to members of Congress, informing them of the coming importance of biotechnology and encouraging the creation of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. That arm of NLM has grown from a staff of twelve in 1989 to 335 today, performing what I believe is likely the library's most important endeavor: collecting, organizing, and disseminating knowledge about molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics. She was also a prime mover in the creation of the Friends of the NLM.
Born on February 18, 1914, and raised in Huron, South Dakota, Frances displayed the Humphrey family gift for public speaking and a seemingly endless capacity to care for people. In more than six decades in Washington, her government service was intertwined with community service on behalf of many organizations. She is credited with helping the Museum of African Art become a component of the Smithsonian Institution and served as a trustee of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, the National Capital Children's Museum, and the Washington Opera, among many others.
In the early 1940s, she was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's assistant for employee activities in the National Civil Defense Office. In the 1950s, Roosevelt tapped her to become a director with the then newly organized United Nations. In that capacity, Frances traveled the world, promoting cultural understanding, health care, and other causes. She later became a Foreign Service officer for the State Department.
Especially in the last years of her life, she created strong bonds with people she met and mentored through the Hubert Humphrey Fellows, an international exchange program created by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, which enabled professionals from developing countries to study in the United States.
Frances Humphrey Howard was unfailingly generous with her time and talents, and I can think of no one who was a more effective, forward-thinking, enthusiastic ambassador for NLM than she. We will miss her as a friend, a colleague, and a one-of-a-kind force of nature.