CLINTON, Md. — Ralph E. Whittington reportedly passed away August 6, 2019, at the age of 74. The archivist dedicated much of his life to preserving erotic films, magazines and materials related to adult entertainment.
Following high school, Whittington began his 36-year career at the Library of Congress until his retirement in 2000 as a curator of the main reading room. He served as a consultant to the Museum of Sex in New York City, the Erotic History Museum in Las Vegas and the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, which granted him an honorary PhD.
Whittington’s work was featured in The Washington Post, Spin, Rolling Stone and other publications. He also appeared on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” “The Howard Stern Show,” and other radio and news shows, and was the subject of two documentary shorts by filmmaker Jeff Krulik, who dubbed him the “King of Porn.”
Ralph enjoyed a wide range of additional interests, from motor sports and automobile history to attending high school football games, following athletic careers, and was always in search of a good barbecue joint. A lifelong music fan, he built a prized collection of rare and historically important R&B records, which have been donated to the Library of Congress. He was included in 2008-2009’s Dictionary of International Biography and in multiple editions of Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World.
Whittington is survived by his daughter Amanda, her husband Mike and a grandson, Spencer. A celebration of Ralph’s remarkable life will be scheduled at a later date.
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