From the summer of 1955, when he was asked to organize "a little collection of family memorabilia" by Miss Katherine Seymour Day, until he retired as director of the Stowe Day Foundation in 1992, Van Why devoted his life to chronicling the Beecher family, the restoration of the Harriet Beecher Stowe house, and his first love , the Stowe, Beecher, Hooker, Seymour, Day Memorial Library and Historical Foundation. Van Why was the author of many books and articles relating to the Beecher family and Nook Farm. Much of his research is chronicled on this Web site. He died on June 6th, 1997.