Recognizing James S. Scofield
Jim Scofield, right, veteran News Division leader was recipient
of the News Division's special Certificate of Recognition at the
annual conference in New York City in 2003.
Jim Scofield joined the St. Petersburg Times news department in 1962,
became chief librarian in 1963, and news research coordinator in 1985. His
retirement in 1992 came after 30 years with the St. Petersburg Times. Here
follows a testimonial at that time from one of his admiring colleagues.
"Those news librarians among us, those who worked on national committees with him, toured news libraries all over the country with him, shared meals, swapped stories, undertook research with him, recognize how truly extraordinary he is. Eloquent testimony to his professional contributions can be found in the highest honors and awards the News Division has gratefully bestowed upon him."Jim's talents and contributions to the News Division are legendary. He has held positions of leadership and responsibility. His diligence and innovations have served our profession well. He revised our bylaws, collaborated on our library automation guidelines, conducted seminars, responded graciously to our endless research queries, always prompted us to think carefully about our professional obligations. He is quoted and footnoted extensively, colorfully, and enthusiastically in news library literature. During his nearly 30 years as a member of our News Division he has enlightened and entertained us with a style demonstrating that while he takes his work very seriously, he does not take himself seriously. . . . In short, Jim is held in the highest esteem and affection of his colleagues."
In addition to serving on numerous committees and participating in many pre-conference seminars at annual conferences, he served as chairman of the Division in 1970-1971. He received the Henebry Roll of Honor Award in 1985 and the Joseph F. Kwapil Memorial Award for his many activities on behalf of the Division. He wrote a chapter for both editions of Guidelines for Newspaper Libraries, and was chairman of the Division's automation committee that published Basic Specifications for a Full-Text On-Line Automated Newspaper Library System in 1980. Perhaps one of his most significant contributions is his essay, "The Mission of Newspaper Libraries" published in the 60th Anniversary Edition of the Newspaper Division following its publication in Editor & Publisher magazine.
Not many of our colleagues know that Jim was, when the situation demanded it, a reporter. His bylined stories about the assassination of Robert Kennedy earned him special recognition from the St. Petersburg Times. He happened to be at the SLA conference when it was in Los Angeles that fateful night in June 1968. He filed his stories after hearing Kennedy's address in the Ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel. Thankfully Jim has provided copies of his articles for our News Division archives.
Throughout four decades, Jim has distinguished himself as a speaker, writer, news library consultant, and is much admired as a mentor and raconteur. Now retired, he looks forward to attending his 40th consecutive annual News Division conference in New York City. Jim's colleagues and friends join in saluting his past accomplishments and toasting those of the future
Scofield's Bio Brief
Jim Scofield, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, started his career in newspapers as a sports writer at age 16 for the Hammond (Indiana) Times. He later became assistant sports editor and then Sunday sports editor. An Honors graduate of the University of Illinois School of Journalism, he served as an editor with the Fleet Home Town News Center of the U.S. Navy during the Korean conflict. He joined the St. Petersburg Times in 1962 as a copy editor, and the following year was named chief librarian.
A former chairman of the Newspaper Division of the Special Libraries Association, he planned and designed the Times-Independent Library. He has also been a library consultant for the Congressional Quarterly in Washington, DC., the American Press Institute (API) in Reston, VA, and The Orthodox Observer in New York City. He has been an API discussion leader four times and has helped plan library seminars for API and the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association (SNPA) at the University of Texas in Austin where he was also a keynote speaker.
Jim has written special articles for his papers. He covered the Robert Kennedy assassination in Los Angeles, but he specializes in articles about Greece and Cyprus. Among the notables he has met, interviewed, and written about are Aristotle Onassis, Archbishop Makarios, Patriarch Athenagoras I., and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Further, Jim has been a White House guest of Presidents Lyndon Johnson and George H. W. Bush.
In 1974 and in 1977 he was named to special mercy missions which investigated refugee conditions in Cyprus with the cooperation of the U.S. State Department. He co-authored both mission reports which were used by Congress to determine Cyprus relief needs. Archbishop Iakovos appointed Jim chairman of a commission which restructured and reorganized the public relations department and activities of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America in New York City. In addition, Jim established a new communications curriculum at Hellenic College in Brookline, Mass., and was the co-founder of The Orthodox Observer, a national newspaper. As recognition of Jim's extraordinary contributions to his country he was one of six Americans of Hellenic heritage selected to receive the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1994. The Medals were established in 1986 by the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation and the New York Statue of Liberty Centennial Commission. They are sanctioned by the U.S. Congress and the names of the recipients are listed in the Congressional Record.
His acclaimed historic article documenting the Ku Klux Klan's oppression of American Hellenes was published in the U. S. Congressional Record in 1997 after appearing in major publications in the United States, Canada, Greece, and Cyprus. It was Scofield's fourth article to be entered in the U.S. Congressional Record.
Because of his prominence in national ethnic endeavors, Jim was selected by Nelson Poynter and the St. Petersburg Times' top management in 1963 to initiate departmental racial and ethnic integration for the Times and Evening Independent before the advent of equal opportunity legislation. He succeeded in his mission and later proudly observed the young people he hired advance to high positions in journalism, advertising, education, law, and librarianship.
In the Greek Orthodox Church, he received its highest layman award when Patriarch Athenagoras personally conferred the title of Archon Megas Ekdikos upon him on August 10, 1968 at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople (Istanbul). In 1990, he was elected International President of the Order of Ahepa, the largest fraternal organization of Hellenes in the world.
Since retiring, Scofield has remained active by serving as Chairman of the Hellenic Heritage Selection Committee of the Ellis Island Medals of Honor Awards, Chairman of the Ahepa Hellenic Cultural Commission, President of International Strategist, and Editor and President of the American Hellenic International Press Association. He has been listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in Media and Communications.
Jim Scofield, right, with his wife, Jessie.