Wilfred Byron Shaw

{{Short description|American author and sketch artist (1881–1959)}}

Wilfred Byron Shaw (1881–1959) was an American writer and sketch artist.

Early life

He was born in 1881 in Adrian, Michigan,{{Cite web|last=Shaw|first=Wilfred Byron|title=Wilfred B. Shaw pamphlets and reprints|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?cc=bhlead;c=bhlead;idno=umich-bhl-746;didno=umich-bhl-746;view=text|access-date=2020-08-28|website=quod.lib.umich.edu}} to Byron L. Shaw (1843–1933) and Olive Stockwell (1842–1919).{{Cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/wilfred-byron-shaw-24-1slcty?geo_a=r&geo_s=uk&geo_t=us&geo_v=2.0.0&o_iid=62817&o_lid=62817&o_sch=Web+Property|access-date=2020-08-28|website=www.ancestry.com|title=Wilfred Byron Shaw 1881-1959 - Ancestry® }}

His father's brother was the farmer and artist Horatio Shaw.{{Cite web|title=Horatio Shaw: The Farmer-artist Of Michigan {{!}} AMERICAN HERITAGE|url=https://www.americanheritage.com/horatio-shaw-farmer-artist-michigan|access-date=2020-08-28|website=www.americanheritage.com}}

Education

Shaw graduated from the University of Michigan in 1904. He also attended art school in Chicago.{{Cite web|title=Exchange: Notre Dame|url=https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/resources/14377|access-date=2020-08-28|website=exchange.umma.umich.edu}}

Career

= University administration =

Soon after graduation, he was named the general secretary of the Alumni Association (a job he held until 1929){{Cite web|title=Ann Arbor/Univ History|url=http://um2017.org/Ann_Arbor_Univ_History.html|access-date=2020-08-28|website=um2017.org}} and editor of the Michigan Alumnus. In 1909, he accompanied President Harry Burns Hutchins (and other UM employees) on a trip to Chicago, Des Moines, and Omaha, to meet with UM alumni.

In 1912, he was part of the committee who approved maize and blue as official University of Michigan colors.{{Cite web|title=Maize and Azure Blue|url=http://um2017.org/Maize_and_Azure_Blue.html|access-date=2020-08-28|website=um2017.org}}

In 1913, he helped to organize the Association of Alumni Secretaries.

In 1929, he was appointed director of alumni relations, a position that the Regents established for continuing education and other services to graduates. He retired from this position in 1951.

= Art =

Shaw was a sketch artist, often drawing university buildings for inclusion in The Ann Arbor News.{{Cite web|title=First U-M Building |url=https://aadl.org/node/391808|access-date=2020-08-28|website=Ann Arbor District Library}}{{Cite web|title=M. L. Burton Tower Visioned In Its Future Setting |url=https://aadl.org/node/221298|access-date=2020-08-28|website=Ann Arbor District Library}} Sixteen of his drawings are owned by the University of Michigan Museum of Art.{{Cite web|title=Exchange{{!}}Search: artist:"Wilfred Byron Shaw"|url=https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/quick_search/query?utf8=true&q=artist:%22Wilfred%20Byron%20Shaw%22|access-date=2020-08-28|website=exchange.umma.umich.edu}} His portrait of Fred Newton Scott is owned by the National Portrait Gallery.{{Cite web|title=Fred Newton Scott|url=https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_MI060187|access-date=2021-02-12|website=npg.si.edu|language=en}}

He was also known for drawing caricatures of his colleagues. These are currently in storage at the Bentley Historical Library.{{Cite web|title=Slide Over Here |website=Bentley Historical Library|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/news-events/magazine/silde-over-here/|access-date=2020-08-28|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Prof. Clarence Johnston by W. B. Shaw|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhl/x-hs13055/hs13055|access-date=2020-08-28|website=Bentley Image Bank, Bentley Historical Library|language=en}}

He also designed the logo for the University of Michigan's "atomic research center," the "Phoenix Project," in 1948.{{Cite web|title=Atomic Research Symbol |url=https://aadl.org/node/394822|access-date=2020-08-28|website=Ann Arbor District Library}}{{Cite web|title=Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project |url=https://arts.umich.edu/museums-cultural-attractions/michigan-memorial-phoenix-project/ |website=University of Michigan Arts & Culture|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615165743/https://arts.umich.edu/museums-cultural-attractions/michigan-memorial-phoenix-project/ |archive-date=June 15, 2018}}{{Cite web |date= November 22, 2017|first1=Brad |last1=Whitehouse |title=Peacetime promise: The Phoenix Project|url=https://news.engin.umich.edu/2017/11/peacetime-promise-the-phoenix-project/ |website=Michigan Engineering|language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616060757/https://news.engin.umich.edu/2017/11/peacetime-promise-the-phoenix-project/ |archive-date=June 16, 2018}}{{Cite web|title=Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project|url=http://um2017.org/Michigan_Memorial_Phoenix_Project.html|access-date=2020-08-28|website=um2017.org}}

= Writing =

In 1918, Shaw published James Burrill Angell and the University of Michigan.{{Cite book|last=Shaw|first=Wilfred Byron|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NWThAAAAMAAJ&q=james+burrill+angell+and+the+university|title=James Burrill Angell and the University of Michigan|date=1918|language=en}}

In 1920, Harcourt, Brace, and Howe published his book The University of Michigan, about the history of the university.{{Cite book|last=Shaw|first=Wilfred Byron|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LtKeAAAAMAAJ|title=The University of Michigan|date=1920|publisher=Harcourt, Brace, and Howe|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=The University of Michigan, Wilfred Shaw|url=http://www.hellenicaworld.com/USA/Literature/WilfredShaw/en/TheUniversityOfMichigan.html|access-date=2020-08-28|website=www.hellenicaworld.com}}

In 1934, Shaw founded and served as the first editor of the Michigan Alumnus Quarterly Review.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOEXAQAAIAAJ&q=editions:UOM39015027365728|title=Michigan Alumnus Quarterly Review|date=1936|publisher=Alumni Association of the University of Michigan|language=en}}{{Cite journal|last1=Shaw|first1=Wilfred Byron|last2=University of Michigan.|date=1934|title=Quarterly review. A journal of university perspectives.|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000679376|journal=Michigan Alumnus: Quarterly Number|pages=v}}

In 1936, he published "A Bibliography of the University of Michigan."{{Cite web|title=A Bibliography 200 Years in the Making {{!}} Bentley Historical Library|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/features/a-bibliography-200-years-in-the-making/|access-date=2020-08-28|language=en}}