LASTING LEGACY: Man's family continues contributing to scholarship of Woodrow Wilson

By Lisa O'Donnell
Winston-Salem Journal

Mary Margaret Link had heard that the man who would become her father-in-law had spent most of his time editing the papers of Woodrow Wilson.

But she didn't realize the extent of his devotion to Wilson or his intellect until she met him for the first time at his home near the campus of Princeton University in the early 1970s.

"I walked into the living room and there was this portrait of Wilson in a rather prominent place, and I thought, 'Wow. This is how smart people live,'" she said.

Arthur Link was one of the most prominent historians of his time, known throughout the world as the pre-eminent scholar on Wilson. Link dined with presidents and won awards for his contributions to American history. He died in 1998 at the age of 77 in Bermuda Village.

His son, Stanley Link, is an infectious-disease specialist in private practice at Piedmont Medical Specialists and lives in Winston-Salem with Mary Margaret. Their son, Arthur Link III, is making his own contribution to Wilson scholarship.

I used to work with his grandson, Arthur Link III, here in Winston-Salem...He was a good guy. I didn't realize his grandfather was such a noted historian.