William Boyd

William Boyd

William K. Boyd, 1932, Oil on canvas, 28" x 36," by Irene Price

Dr. Boyd (1879-1938), a 1897 graduate of Trinity college, was a professor of history and the first Director of the Libraries of Duke University. He also served as Head of the History Department and for a number of years as co-editor of the South Atlantic Quarterly.

The artist, Irene Price, was a member of the 1922 Trinity College class. After graduation, she studied art at the Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C. and with Charles W. Hawthorne of Provincetown, Massachusetts. Price wrote to Lillian Griggs, the first Head of the Woman’s College Library (now Lilly Library), proposing to paint a portrait of Dr. Boyd. Griggs was able to persuade Boyd to sit for the portrait, but she warned Price that "Dr. Boyd is restless – moves about a great deal." Boyd actually sat for the portrait in the Woman's College Library and when it was completed in 1932, Price donated the work to the library. The following January, it was a featured piece in an exhibition held at the Woman's College Library of Price’s works. Boyd's portrait is located in the corridor to the right of the main desk in the Lilly Library lobby.

Price, Irene