Art for Memory: The Sansone Gift to Morrill Library
How One Family’s Tribute Enriched Norwood’s Cultural Landscape
In the quiet reading rooms of Morrill Memorial Library, where the scent of old paper mingles with the hush of study, a small but meaningful tribute rests on the shelves—an art book collection donated in memory of Margaret Sansone, a beloved daughter, sister, and student of Norwood. The gift, made in September 1944 by the Sansone family, was more than a gesture of grief. It was a civic offering: a way to turn personal loss into public enrichment, and to ensure that beauty, learning, and memory would endure.
📚 A Gift of Books, A Gift of Vision
The donation included several volumes on classical and modern art, each selected to reflect Margaret’s interests and aspirations. She had studied art history and design before her untimely passing, and her family hoped that others might find inspiration in the same pages she once turned.
Among the titles were:
- The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich
- Masters of the Renaissance
- Modern European Painting: 1850–1940
- A folio of architectural sketches from the École des Beaux-Arts
Each book was inscribed with a custom bookplate bearing Margaret’s name, a floral motif, and the phrase:
“In memory of a life devoted to beauty and understanding.”
🖼️ Margaret Sansone: A Life in Color
Margaret Sansone was known in Norwood for her gentle spirit and artistic eye. She sketched local storefronts, painted watercolors of the Neponset River, and volunteered to help decorate school bulletin boards and church programs. Her teachers described her as “quietly brilliant,” and her friends remembered her as someone who “saw the world in brushstrokes.”
She had planned to attend the Massachusetts College of Art but fell ill in early 1944. Her passing at age 19 left a void in the community—and a determination in her family to honor her legacy.
🏛️ The Library’s Role in Civic Memory
Morrill Memorial Library, founded in 1899, has long served as Norwood’s intellectual and cultural heart. The Sansone donation was one of several wartime memorial gifts received in the 1940s, as families sought ways to commemorate loved ones lost to war, illness, or accident.
Library Director Helen M. O’Connell accepted the gift with gratitude, noting that “such donations remind us that libraries are not just repositories of knowledge—they are vessels of memory.”
The books were placed in the art reference section, and a small framed notice was hung nearby, sharing Margaret’s story with future generations.
🎨 A Legacy That Endures
Today, the Sansone collection remains part of the library’s holdings. Though some volumes have aged and others have been digitized, the spirit of the gift endures. Local students still browse the art shelves for inspiration, and the bookplates continue to spark curiosity about the young woman behind them.
In 2019, the Norwood Historical Society included Margaret Sansone in its “Women of Norwood” exhibit, featuring a reproduction of one of her watercolors and a copy of her favorite art book. Visitors were moved by the simplicity of her story—and the power of a family’s decision to turn sorrow into civic generosity.