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- Milwaukee Journal, Wisconsin, Thursday, September 29, 1938
Scholarship Fund Will Be Aided by ?First Edition? Sale
What is believed will be the first public auction there of ?first edition books? will be held under the auspices of the Wisconsin Library association Oct. 7 at the Schroeder hotel.
Fifty-three books, valued at more than $500, have been donated by their authors or friends of the authors, according to E.E. Seebach of the Milwaukee public library, who is treasurer of the association. Many of the books are accompanied by letters written by the authors.
Norman Bassett, Madison, who collected the books, will be auctioneer. He will be assisted by Gilbert Doan, librarian at the University of Wisconsin, and Seebach.
Proceeds of the sale will go toward a scholarship fund for a Wisconsin boy or girl who is studying library technique. The books are on display at the library. Included in the collection is a copy of Hamlin Garland?s ?Daughter of the Middle Border.? Other authors represented are John Steinbeck, Kathleen Norris, James Hilton, John Galsworthy, Eugene O?Neill, Booth Tarkington, Thornton Wilder, Noel Coward and Ellen Glasgow.
The auction is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. Bids will be received by mail, Seebach said.
1900 Federal Census of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota (1 Jun 1900)
William Bassett - 40 - M - Feb 1860 - VT-VT-VT - Head - Mfg Lumber
Ella - 34 - F - Sep 1865 - MN-VT-VT - Wife
Jay - 13 - M - Apr 1887 - MN-VT-MN - Son - School
Norman - 12 - M - Feb 1888 - MN-VT-MN - Son - School
2 Boarders and 3 Domestics
(Living at 30 Grove St.) (Married 14 years, 2 children, 2 living)
1910 Federal Census of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota
Wm. L. Bassett - 55 - M - MN-MN-MN - Head - Lumberman Prospector
Ella - 50 - F - MN-ME-NY - Wife
Jay - 26 - M - MN-MN-MN - Son
Norman - 18 - M - MN-MN-MN - Son
(Living at 30 Grove St.) (Married 27 years, 2 children, 2 living)
1920 Federal Census of Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin (2 Jan 1920)
Norman D. Bassett - 28 - M - MN-MN-MI - Head - Manager Newspaper Office
Catherine B. - 25 - F - MN-OH-WI - Wife
(Living at 227 Langdon St.)
1930 Federal Census of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California (9 Apr 1930)
Norman D. Bassett - 38 - M - MN-MN-MI - Head - Salesman Library Supply
(Married at 26)
Mobile Register, September 12, 1980
$4.5 Million Bequested
Madison, Wis. (AP) - An estimated $4.5 million, the largest charitable gift in Madison history, has been left to 21 organizations by the late Norman D. Bassett, a Madison philanthropist and business leader.
Bassett, who died April 27 at age 89, was the founder and longtime president of Demco Library Supplies Inc., of Madison and DeForest.
The bequests, based on shares of Bassett's estate, include about $675,000 to the Lawrenceville (N.J.) School, a preparatory school Bassett attended in the early 1900's.
The gifts also include about $450,000 each to the United Way of Dane County, Inc., and to the Madison Art Center, Inc., and $315,000 each to the Boy Scouts of America and the Christ Presbyterian Church.
Demco Company History (Excerpt)
A Quiet Start: 1906-67
DEMCO's roots stretch back to 1905, when the company was a division of the Democrat Printing Co. At that time, its primary role was printing forms for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Library. However, Norman D. "Smiley" Bassett, who purchased DEMCO in 1931, has been credited as DEMCO's founding father.
Born in Minneapolis on Nicolet Island, Bassett graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1914 after attending the Jefferson School in Charlottesville, Virginia and New Jersey's Lawrenceville Preparatory School. He served in the U.S. Navy and Air Corps during World War I and then pursued a successful business career.
After buying the DEMCO division from Democrat Printing, Bassett established it as an independent enterprise, and the former parent company reorganized as Webcarters, Inc. As DEMCO's president and chairman, Bassett led the company for many years. The April 29, 1980 issue of the Wisconsin State Journal explained that Bassett "built the firm from a small mail order company in the early 1930's to one of the country's three leading national suppliers of materials to school, public, academic, private and professional libraries.
Norman D. Bassett (1891 - 1980)
By Larry Nix on October 11, 2011
Norman D. "Smiley" Bassett is one of seven individuals who will be inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame on November 3, 2011 at the Awards and Honors Banquet during the Wisconsin Library Association Conference in Milwaukee. Bassett became the owner and first president of Demco Library Supplies, Inc. (now DEMCO) in 1931 after the former Library Supplies Department separated from the Democrat Printing Company in Madison, Wisconsin. Bassett had been in charge of the Library Supplies Department at the Democrat Printing Company starting in 1925. A hallmark of Bassett's leadership of one of the nation's premier library supply companies was his close relationship with the library community and his commitment to helping libraries carry out their mission more effectively. Bassett was an active member of both the Wisconsin Library Association and the American Library Association. He was Chair of WLA's Scholarship Committee. In that capacity he instituted an auction of books autographed by prominent authors to raise funds for WLA's Scholarship Fund. At Demco, Bassett started a free magazine for librarians named "Demcourier" which existed from 1931 to 1943. Bassett stepped down from the presidency of Demco in 1959 but continued to play an important role in the company until 1968. He launched the Bassett Foundation in 1954 and left $4.5 million to charities when he died in 1980.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1891 - 1980 (89 years)
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