Introduction
By Greg Colati, University Archivist
Welcome. John Holmes devoted his career both to writing poetry and teaching his students about poetry. In creating this web site, we have tried to follow his example, by not only presenting his poetry, but embedding it into the context of the poet's world, life, and words. Enjoy exploring this site, there is much to see and do, it comes to us through the generosity, hard work and creativity of many individuals.

I would like to especially thank Winslow H. Duke (A'53) for his generous financial support for this project. If, as Holmes said, a poet "delights and swaggers and swims in words," then we thank Win Duke for giving everyone an opportunity to test the waters.

Acknowledgments
By Anne Sauer, Project Archivist
A project such as this cannot be accomplished without a great deal of support, both from institutions and individuals. I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who participated in the project as it progressed from conception to completion.

Doris Holmes Eyges provided valuable materials and background information on Holmes, his work, and family life. Her unique perspective was essential to bringing the project to successful completion.

Library directors Jo-Ann Michalak and Paul Stanton deserve special recognition for providing the environment in which this project could develop and flourish. Thanks also to the staff of the Administration Office for their logistical support.

This web-based project could be completed only with the support of Tufts University's information technology staff. Charlotte Keys, Rick Heckbert, and Mark Humphrey of Tisch Library Systems provided essential technical support for the systems used in creating this project. Special thanks also to Mark Humphrey for assistance with JavaScript programming used on the site. Bonnie Postlethwaite and Lee Cornelison of University Library Technology Services managed the server-side aspects of the project, and for ensuring that our ever-expanding space needs were accommodated.

Richard Fleischer of the Tisch Library Media Center provided valuable assistance with the transfer of audio data from reel-to-reel tape into the digital realm.

Eun Ho Lee J'02 and Jennifer Turnbull J'02 undertook the bulk of the work of cataloging the poetry manuscripts as well as refoldering the collection and data entry into the collection database.

Whitney Rae Wilson scanned and used optical character recognition to bring the full text of the poems into the database. This was a lengthy and extremely detail-oriented task.

Morgan Packard developed the graphic design elements that are used throughout this web site. His talented work was essential to giving the site a polished, professional appearance.

Many individuals volunteered to read poems aloud to bring Holmes' poems to life on the web. Their generosity of time and talent is greatly appreciated. The readers were:

Aimee T. Alcarez - "Along the Row" "In the Dean's Office" "Maybe for Love"
Gregory Colati - "The Old Professor"
Edward J. Hutchinson - "Old Men and Young Men"
Charlotte Keys - "I Can Hardly Wait" "Silence" "The Spring Sun" "The Symbols"
Faith MacDonald - "Hearing Music" "Poetry Defined" "Reading Aloud"
James T. McCrea - "First Day" "Goodbye to the Campus" "I Can Manage Multiplicity"
Ed Oberholtzer - "Chair in the Field" "To My Sisters and My Brother" "Tomorrow You"
Elizabeth Perlman - "The Bookworm Turns" "Old Cheese and Cold Beer" "A Wish"
George Piggford - "The Somerset Dam for Supper"
Regina Raboin - "Incredible Greeting" "On the St. Paul Window" "Our Street"
Laurie Sabol - "Cool" "The Fence" "The Mirror"
Whitney Rae Wilson - "In a College Coffee House" "Mornings at Eleven" "Three P's Presents..."
Kellie Donovan Wixson - "Class Poem, 1929" "The New View"

To celebrate the opening of the John Holmes collection, an event was held in September 1999. Our thanks to Celeste Mahoney and Rosalie Hunt, and the staff at Development, especially Jeanice McKay, for their outstanding efforts in coordinating the details of the event. Gary Lowe and Pat Layman of the Development Office played an essential role in coordinating Archives, Tisch Library, and Development Office efforts related to the Holmes Collection.