In Memoriam
By. Lina Britto

Seeing Frank at Latin American and Caribbean Studies’ events wearing a helmet, a reflective vest, and ankle straps after having locked his bike on a rack nearby, was a common sight. It did not matter if it was too windy, a little rainy, or almost dark out. His loyalty to one of the programs that he helped build at Northwestern University was lasting, enthusiastic, and resolute. That was Frank Safford in life and at work.

Author of some of the most influential scholarship on nineteenth-century Colombian and Latin American history, Frank passed on June 16, 2022, leaving behind an enduring legacy. Born in El Paso, Texas, on June 4, 1935, Frank soon became Pancho, after one of his caretakers, a Mexican woman, affectional christened him when he was a baby, and his family embraced the Spanish moniker. After finishing high school, Pancho began his studies at Harvard University, where he majored in U.S. History and Literature, graduating magna cum laude in 1957. At Harvard, he also met the love of his life, Joan Bainbridge, a brilliant student who was the daughter of a distinguished professor of physics, and married her in 1959, while working toward his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Columbia University … Read More.

Sponsored by / Patrocinado por: Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS), Department of History, Andean Cultures and Histories (ACH), Chabraja Center for Historical Studies (CCHS), Weinberg College Center for International and Area Studies (WCCIAS), and Weinberg College of Arts and Science (WCAS).