ANNE LOUISE GIBSON (1851-????)

Very little is known about the life of Anne or (Ann) Gibson except for the nine years she worked as a librarian in New York City.

Anne Gibson was born in Virginia and came to New York to live with her sister.  Their father was a physician.

Gibson was the head librarian of the St. Agnes Free Library from 1893 until 1901 when it consolidated with NYPL.  She served as head of NYPL’s St. Agnes Branch until 1902 when she took a leave of absence and never returned.

Anne L. Gibson was the aunt of Edwin White Gaillard who headed the Webster Free Library and then worked for NYPL.

CASINDANIA PRATT EATON (1907-1996)

The annual reports of NYPL’s Branch Librarians are filled with descriptions of the latest ethnic change in their communities, and those observations were used to develop services and book collections for the new residents. 

Casindania Eaton used an earthquake-related metaphor to describe the librarians’ close scrutiny of new ethnic groups arriving in their neighborhoods, either through immigration or internal migration.  In her 1948 annual report for the Muhlenberg Branch in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, she wrote: “Chelsea does not change rapidly, but the Library, like a seismograph, is extremely sensitive, recording and responding to various undulations.” 

Eaton earned her BA in Library Science from Simmons College in 1929 and held three library positions in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania before joining NYPL in 1941.

Soon after her hiring, Eaton became an active officer of Local 111 of the United Public Workers Union, CIO.  Between 1943-1949 she served as chairman of the Union’s negotiating committee (bargaining on behalf of the maintenance workers and not librarians), President of the Professional and Clerical Council, Vice President of the Union, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, and Financial Secretary.

During this same time period, Eaton was promoted to be the Branch Librarian at the Muhlenberg Branch, one of NYPL’s busiest branches.  When Muhlenberg was closed for renovation in 1955, Eaton was transferred to head the Parkchester Branch.  In 1958 she was promoted to Coordinator of all Manhattan branches, a position she held until her retirement in 1972.

EDNA ADELIA DIXON (1881-1966)

Edna Dixon had no known work experience prior to entering NYPL in 1906 at the age of 25.  She got her first library training in 1907 at the Summer Course offered by the New York State Library School.  She was promoted to be a First Assistant in 1910 and later took a leave of absence to attend the NYPL Library School, earning her two-year degree in 1917.  In 1921 Dixon was promoted to be the Branch Librarian at the Kingsbridge Branch and in 1923 transferred to head the Fort Washington Branch.

Dixon was a keen observer of the impact of World War II on both the adults and children in the Fort Washington neighborhood.

Her 1941 annual report recorded a drop in circulation but an influx of Jewish refugees who wanted books in English and never wanted to hear German spoken again.  The attack on Pearl Harbor, she feared, found the Library,  “peering into an opaque future.”

As the nation mobilized for war, Dixon commented that both men and women were using the Library less.  Men were being mobilized for military service, while many women were working in defence industries.  Whether intended or not, in 1942 Dixon pointed out the Library’s role in developing future Rosie-the-Riveters when she wrote, “The number of women who borrow technical books for their own use steadily increases as more and more women enter the war trades.”

Dixon worried about the impact of the war on children.  In 1942 she argued that children’s rooms “need to grow up a bit”.  She did not think that imaginative literature should be dropped but felt that “books of reality” were more appropriate to help children through war time.  The following year she was more explicit about the transformation of children’s reading interests.  “The children have suddenly outgrown the children’s room. … Their tastes may have matured … [and they] are unhappy if they cannot get books that stretch their minds.”

Edna Dixon retired in 1946, almost exactly one year after the end of the war.

THERESA L. BLUMBERG (1876?-1927)

I have written several posts about the Library’s allowing aged and infirm librarians to continue working since they had no pensions to support themselves during retirement.  Theresa Blumberg was another example of this paternalistic approach when she became sick in her early forties, and the Library arranged to pay for her medical care and hospitalization.

Blumberg was born in Russia and came to the US in the mid-1880s.

She began working at the East Broadway Branch of the Aguilar Free Library Society (AFLS) in 1894.  She remained there when the AFLS consolidated with NYPL in March 1903.  Around the same time, Blumberg resigned to become the Librarian at the University Settlement House on the Lower East Side.  In January 1904 that library was also absorbed by NYPL, and Blumberg remained in charge until it was replaced by the new Rivington Street Branch in June 1905.  She also served as head of the Jackson Square and Tremont branches until 1917 when she was put on sick leave.

In 1914, the Library’s doctor suspected that Theresa Blumberg had tuberculosis.  In 1915, the Library excused her for an excess of 459 hours sick leave, and two years later her illness forced her to enter a sanitarium.  Blumberg’s brother was able to give her $800, and the Library put her on half pay ($60/month) with the money coming from by the Draper Fund, which the Director could draw upon to aid employees in need of assistance.

Blumberg was well enough to return to NYPL in 1919.  A year later she was made Acting Branch Librarian of the Bloomingdale Branch and then headed the Fort Washington Branch, 1921-1923. 

In 1923 Blumberg again became ill with TB.  Her brother also had TB and no longer had financial resources to assist her.  She was placed in a sanitarium at Saranac Lake at a cost was $125/month.  This was initially paid by contributions from Trustees and others formerly associated with the AFLS.  In 1924 the Draper Fund was again tapped to pay her expenses.

Theresa Blumberg never returned to work and died in June 1927.

ANNA L. BURNS (1875-????)

After a rapid rise at NYPL, Anna Burns was appointed to one of the most prestigious assignments in the Circulation Department but resigned after only eight years at the Library.

Burns was born in New York and lived most of her life in Brooklyn.  She graduated from Packer Institute (a girls school in Brooklyn Heights) in 1894 and received a certificate from the Pratt Institute Library School in 1908.

Upon graduating from Pratt, Burns was appointed to a position at the Tompkins Square Branch.  Within months she was promoted to First Assistant at the branch.  In 1909 she took a leave of absence for unknown reasons, but she returned in February 1910 as head of the Hudson Park Branch.  In April 1911 Burns was tapped to head the Central Circulation Branch a month before it opened in the NYPL Central Building on Fifth Avenue.  This was regarded as the Library’s most important circulation unit, serving not only office workers and businessmen in midtown Manhattan but also authors and publishers.  It also was unusual in having a more male clientele than the neighborhood branches.  After registering 1,800 new users during the first two days of being open, Burns reported to the Director, Dr. John Shaw Billings, “The overwhelming predominance of men could not fail to be significant.”

In 1916 Burns resigned from NYPL, and the details of her employment history become less certain.  In 1918 she was named librarian at the Haskell & Sells accounting firm in NYC, and she worked there until at least 1927.  By 1934, Burns was heading a branch of the Queens Borough Public Library and retired from QBPL in 1941.

REBECCA BLUMBERG (dates unknown)

Very little is known about Rebecca Blumberg.  In December 1892, she began working as an assistant in the Aguilar Free Library Society.  In 1902 she was promoted to be in charge of Aguilar’s 110^th Street Branch and held that position until March 1903 when Aguilar was absorbed by NYPL.

After consolidation, Blumberg continued as head of NYPL’s Aguilar Branch, and she apparently resigned in December 1904.

The 1900 US Census has an entry for the family of Herman and Hanna Bloomberg, immigrants from Poland, who lived on East 82^nd Street in Manhattan.  The family includes two daughters working as librarians —Rebecca born in 1876 and Sadie born in 1878.  It is possible that Rebecca Bloomberg is the same person as Rebecca Blumberg who was working for the Aguilar Free Library Society.

ALISON J. BAIGRIE ALESSIOS (????-1965)

Alison (or Alice) Baigrie was born in New Jersey and lived there until at least 1907.

She received a certificate from the Pratt Institute Library School in 1907 and began working as assistant at the Children’s Museum in Brooklyn. 

In 1909 Baigrie joined NYPL as an assistant working with schools.  Two years later she was promoted to head the Chatham Square Branch, considered a very diverse slum district.  A newspaper reported that she courted the many immigrants in the branch’s neighborhood and was referred to as "my friend" in 27 different languages.  In 1916, Baigrie married Elias Alessios (1888-1970), a musician. 

When Alessios transferred out of Chatham Square, Ruth Wyper (the children’s librarian) wrote that “Mrs. Alessios’ leaving was a great blow to the neighborhood.”  Her obituary noted that Alessios "was fired with a sense of a public library as a social agency" 

In 1942 Alessios was named head of NYPL’s Library for the Blind.  She made a name for herself there by recognizing that veterans blinded during World War II had different needs than the traditional blind users, and so Alessios started a program to record textbooks to help the veterans with occupational rehabilitation.

Alessios resigned from NYPL in 1948 for family reasons but the following year began to work at the Traphagen School in New York City.

During her career, Alessios published four children’s books between 1938-1957 and authored two articles and an ALA pamphlet on Greek books.

ALICE HARRIS BROWN (1869-1950)

In earlier posts on Lucie Bohmert, H. Estelle Olmsted, Ella Sauer, and Marie Saxer I described how NYPL kept aged and even infirm librarians on the payroll since they had no pension plan.   The case of Alice H. Brown is similar but also confusing.

Brown began working at the New York Free Circulating Library in 1890 and from 1896 until 1901 was head of the Harlem Branch.  She continued in the position at NYPL until 1911 when she was transferred to head the Kingsbridge Branch in a less busy neighborhood.  Brown retired from NYPL in 1913 and at the time was described as being deaf and nervous. 

Although Brown was only 44 years old, she had been in the system for 23 years and for most of that time was in charge of a branch library.   The Director recommended that Brown be given a small pension (paid out of private funds) for her many years of service.

The confusing aspect is that later in 1913, Alice Brown became a librarian at the Rochester (NY) Public Library.  In 1921 she became a reference librarian at the University of Rochester and in 1930 she retired for the second time in her career. 

We know that Brown’s pension was being paid in 1934 because she was one of several retirees whose pensions were reduced due to the financial problems of the Library during the Great Depression.  It is not clear whether NYPL kept paying Brown’s pension between 1913 and 1930. It is possible that NYPL suspended the payments but later reinstated them when Brown stopped working in Rochester. 

Alice Brown died in Delhi NY in 1950 and a contemporary document indicates that she was still receiving her small NYPL pension at the time of her death.

EVELYN ROGERS ANDREWS (1870-1944)

Evelyn R. Andrews was born in New York City.  Her educational background is unknown but the 1940 census indicates that she had two years of college.

Andrews was working in the New York Free Circulating Library in 1895.  Two years later she became the First Assistant at the Muhlenberg Branch of the NYFCL and was promoted to head that branch in 1899. 

After consolidation in 1901, Andrews continued to head NYPL’s Muhlenberg Branch until 1927 when she was forced to take a leave of absence due to a cataract operation.  When she returned to work in 1928 she was apparently used to fill short term vacancies--she headed six different branches over the next three years.  In 1931 she became Branch Librarian at the 125^th Street Branch and served there until her retirement in 1938 when she finally was able to collect a pension.

Evelyn Andrews was one of the many NYPL Branch Librarians who travelled to Europe during their summer vacations.  She obtained her passport in 1923 and visited Spain, Italy and Greece that summer.  After she recovered from her eye operation, she traveled to Europe in 1932, 1934, 1936, and 1938.

MARGARET TOLIVER GARNER--UPDATE

A recent comment on my original post on Margaret Toliver Garner  passed along the information that she had died in Lincolnville Maine an May 17^th at the age of 96.

Her obituary in the Republican Journal provides more information on her life.

ADELAIDE BOWLES MALTBY (1875-1919)

Adelaide Bowles was educated in a private school in Elmira, NY, and married Silas B. Maltby (1873-1898) around 1895.  She was the aunt of the writer Paul Bowles (1910-1999), her brother’s son.

Adelaide B. Maltby came to NYC in 1899 to attend the Pratt Institute library school.  After graduating from the one-year course in 1900, she worked in the Pratt Library for six months.  She then returned upstate to work as a Children’s Librarian at the Buffalo Public Library, 1901-1905.  She was forced to resign due to poor health.

Maltby returned to NYC and in November 1906 was hired by Anne Carroll Moore to organize children’s work at the Chatham Square Branch.  Moore had recently become NYPL’s first Supervisor of Work with Children and Maltby was one of her first new hires.  In 1907 Maltby was promoted to Branch Librarian at the Chatham Square Branch and later also headed the Tompkins Square (1908-1917) and St. George (1917-1919) branches.

Adelaide Maltby and Anne Carroll Moore were listed as boarders at the same address in the 1910 census.  Paul Bowles’ biographers note that his aunt and Moore were roommates in a Greenwich Village apartment, circa 1917 or 1918.  Paul Bowles credited Anne Carroll Moore with suggesting that he attend the University of Virginia.

Adelaide Maltby died suddenly of pneumonia during the 1919 influenza pandemic.

FRANCES WESTOVER—UPDATE

In researching my post on Ella Wagar, I wrote the Chatham Public Library for information.   The library generously sent me a copy of its recently published history by Dominick C. Lizzi.  That publication also provided new information on Frances Westover’s career.

In my earlier post on Frances L. Westover, I noted that she worked in Chatham in 1909-1910.  It’s now clear that Westover was hired to be the Assistant Librarian by Ella Wagar, perhaps as early as 1903.  When Wagar left Chatham to accept a position at NYPL in 1907, Westover took over as the head librarian.  Westover resigned in 1910 and accepted a position at NYPL. 

ELLA ELIZABETH WAGAR (1860-1953)

Ella E. Wagar grew up in upstate NY, where she was educated in private schools.

Wagar began teaching at the age of 16 and in 1881 became an English teacher and later also served as the librarian at the Union Free School District of Chatham NY where she opened the school library to use by the public.  In 1901, Andrew Carnegie donated the money required for the town to build a library.  Wagar became the librarian of the Chatham Public Library in 1903 and held that position until she resigned in 1907.

Ella Wagar became a children’s librarian at NYPL in 1907.  She later took a leave of absence to attend the NYPL Library School and received her diploma in 1916.  In 1923 she became the Acting Branch Librarian at the Kingsbridge Branch.  The following year, Wagar became the Branch Librarian at the Tottenville Branch on Staten Island. 

Once pensions for librarians were enacted in 1937, those over 70 years old required special permission to continue working.  In 1938, the library determined that Wagar “cannot, of course, be retained” after her 78th  birthday and so she retired from Tottenville later that year.

ELLEN HOWARD TOBEY (1874-????)

Ellen H. Tobey was the younger sister of Lillian Q. Tobey who was also an NYPL Branch Librarian.  Their sister Grace worked at the Brooklyn Public Library.

Ellen Tobey began working at the New York Free Circulating Library in 1897 and became First Assistant at the Bloomingdale Branch in 1900.  She continued in that position after consolidation until she was promoted to Branch Librarian at the branch in 1905.  In 1907 she transferred to head the Tremont Branch. 

In 1911 Ellen Tobey resigned from NYPL to be married to Donald Banks Tobey (1879-1967) who was the treasurer of an oil company.  She seems to have left librarianship at that point.  They are listed together in the Ridgewood NJ directories 1928-1935.

In the late 1930s Ellen Tobey is listed as living in Ridgewood NJ with her son, Wendell B. Tobey.  In 1941, the three sisters—Ellen, Lillian and Grace—were living together in Ridgewood and apparently no longer working.  The 1946 city directory indicates that three sisters had moved from Ridgewood to Asbury Park NJ.

MARION HELEN LARBEY STOCK (1911-2003)

As a child, Marion H. Larbey lived in both New York and Illinois.  Her father, who was a painter and night watchman, often took her to libraries.  She recalled being enthralled and admiring the woman charging out her books—“what a wonderful thing to be doing.” 

Marion Larbey earned a BS in Library Science from the New York State College for Teachers in 1933.  After graduation she worked in a bookstore and then as a teacher on Long Island.  In 1941 she took her first job as a librarian at the Pierson High School in Sag Harbor, NY.

Later in 1941 she began substituting at NYPL, where she specialized in working with young adults.

In 1947 Larbey was promoted to be the Branch Librarian at Hunt’s Point, one of NYPL’s busiest branches, and she later headed both the Epiphany and St. George branches.  In 1956 she was promoted to be the Coordinator for all the Staten Island Branches. 

In 1948, Larbey married David M. Stock, a Staten Island journalist.

Marion Larbey Stock retired in 1961, and she and her husband moved to Falls Village CT.  For the next 40 years she was a volunteer at the Falls Village Historical Society.  Her other civic activities included volunteering at the library and the museum, functioning as the official town historian, and serving for 14 years on the Board of Education.

One of Marion Stock’s co-workers at the library and the historical society wrote me that Stock “was a very wise lady and accomplished a great deal for this town—all as a volunteer.”

RUTH ANTOINETTE SAXTON (1883-1974)

Ruth A. Saxton graduated from the five-year classical course at the Friends Central School in Philadelphia in 1902.  It is not clear what she did over the next 14 years.  She is listed in the 1910 US Census as living with her parents on E. 87^th Street in New York City, and no occupation is given for her.  Even after she became a librarian, Saxton was listed in the 1920 and 1930 censuses as living with her parents.

Saxton was hired at NYPL in 1916 when she entered the NYPL Library School.  She took the two-year course and received her library degree in 1918.

Ruth Saxton served as Acting Branch Librarian at the W. 40^th Street Branch, 1921-1923 and then headed that branch until 1943.  For a few months in 1943 she headed the 96^th Street Branch before transferring to be the Branch Librarian at the 125^th Street Branch, serving there until her retirement in 1943.

Ruth Saxton died in Danbury CT in 1974.

GLADYS YOUNG LESLIE—UPDATE

Last November, I posted a short biography on Gladys Y. Leslie .  Thanks to the courtesy of the Lilly Library at the University of Indiana, I can now add some additional information on her 1915 marriage to Noel Leslie, a British actor. 

Her husband’s given name was actually Noel Leslie Brown, but he used the shorter version as his stage name.  In my earlier post I mentioned her marriage but speculated that it had not lasted.

Under US law in 1915, Gladys Young lost her US citizenship since her husband was a British national.  Apparently this law only applied to American women; American men who married a foreign national kept their US citizenship.  (See the Wikipedia article on the Married Women's Independent Nationality Act for more information.)

The Lilly Library holds the papers of John J. O’Connor (a New York City Congressman) and provided copies from his file on Gladys Young Leslie’s effort to regain her US citizenship. The papers confirm that Gladys Young Leslie divorced her husband in 1924.  Six years later she sought O’Connor’s assistance to have her US citizenship restored.  Finally, in 1930 Gladys Young Leslie once again became a citizen of the United States of America.    

FLORENCE R. BRADLEY (1885-1972)

Florence Bradley’s mother, Frances Sage Bradley (1866-1949), was a physician who worked for the US Children’s Bureau.  Her father, Horace James Bradley (1862-1896), was an artist and a founder of the Art Students League in New York City.

While Florence Bradley worked for both the Atlanta Carnegie Library and NYPL, her major contributions to the library profession were based on her work in special libraries. 

Bradley began working in the Atlanta Carnegie Library after graduating from high school in 1904 and completed that library’s Training School in 1906.  Bradley worked as an Assistant in the Atlanta Carnegie Library, 1906-1910.  Bradley left Atlanta for two years to work at NYPL, 1911-1912, and then returned to Atlanta to become the head of Circulation.  In 1915 she resigned after being passed over for promotion to become head of the system.

Following her resignation, Bradley returned to NYPL and served as First Assistant at the Tompkins Square Branch. In 1918 she was promoted to be head of Tompkins Square.  Bradley held that position for two years before taking a leave of absence and never returned to NYPL.

Bradley became head librarian at the National Organization for Public Health Nursing, 1920-1923, and then spent the next 25 years as head librarian at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.  As a corporate librarian she worked to improve the status of librarians in a business setting and also developed programs to train paraprofessionals to work in a special library.

Bradley helped form the New York chapter of the Special Libraries Association, served as Vice-President of SLA, 1929-1930, and edited Special Libraries in the 1930s.  She also authored at least 10 articles on special libraries.  Bradley was elected to the SLA Hall of Fame in 1960.  Her obituary in Special Libraries described her as a "lovely lady with a gentle wit and true southern charm" who had “a particularly creative and distinguished career.”

It appears that Bradley lived with Esther Johnston, who also worked at NYPL, from 1927 until 1968 when Johnston died.

LILLIAN QUINCEY TOBEY (1873-1962)

Lillian Q. Tobey came from a family of sisters who were librarians.  She spent much of her life living with her sisters Ellen (who was also an NYPL librarian) and Grace (who worked at the Brooklyn Public Library).

Lillian Tobey was born in Portland, Maine, but her family had moved to New York City by the 1890s.  So far, I have been unable to find any information on Lillian Tobey’s educational background. 

       

In 1897 both Lillian and Ellen Tobey were assistants in the New York Free Circulating Library and continued to serve there until the NYFCL joined NYPL in 1901.

In 1905 Ellen became Branch Librarian at Bloomingdale, and Lillian transferred to serve as her First Assistant.  When Ellen Tobey was transferred in 1907, Lillian was promoted to replace her as Branch Librarian.

In 1910 Lillian was transferred to be Branch Librarian at Washington Heights and after three years transferred again to head the Bond Street Branch.  The Bond Street building (the original headquarters of the NYFCL) was closed in 1918 and Tobey left NYPL.

From 1919-1929 Lillian Tobey worked in the library of the Brooklyn Museum, and it is not known why she left that position. 

Tobey died in Ocean Grove NJ in 1962, and her death certificate indicates she had lived in the area since at least 1948.

GABRIELLA JOSEPHINE DUPONT ACKLEY (1868-1941)

Gabriella J.D. Ackley received her education at St. Mary’s School in Knoxville Illinois. 1884-1886. It was an Episcopal girls school, but she is not listed as a graduate.  Ackley’s library training consisted of three courses in the Wisconsin summer school, in 1900 and 1901.

Her first known library job was in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, in 1902-1905.  She then became an organizer for the Wisconsin Library Commission and later served as head librarian in Watertown (WI), 1908-1912.  Ackley left Wisconsin to head a branch of the Chicago Public Library, 1912-1913.

In February 1914, Ackley wrote to Edwin Anderson asking for a job at NYPL.  She preferred one working with the public, explaining, “Of the little I know, I think I know and like best, books and humanity.”  Based on good recommendations from the Chicago Public Library, Ackley was hired the following month to be the First Assistant at the Fort Washington Branch.  She then served as Branch Librarian at the Yorkville (1916-1921), Aguilar (1922), and Bloomingdale branches.  Although she was 73 years old, Gabriella Ackley was still working when she died in 1941.

HAROLD LESLIE WHEELER (1889-1928)

Harold Wheeler graduated from the Classical High School in Providence RI in 1906 and then entered Brown University.  While in college he worked in various positions at the Providence (RI) Public Library.  After graduating with honors from Brown in 1910, Wheeler became a reading room assistant at the Library of Congress.  He quit LC in 1912 to attend the New York State Library School and finished the two-year degree program in a single year.

Harold Wheeler was immediately hired as one of the three men who were hired to head NYPL branches in the 1913-1917 period.  Wheeler started as the First Assistant at the Hamilton Fish Park Branch (serving under another of the three men, Frederick Goodell) and within six weeks Wheeler was promoted to take over the branch.

In March 1916, Wheeler resigned from NYPL to become the head of the School of Mines and Metallurgy Library at the University of Missouri at Rolla.  He left academia in 1921 to head the Hackley Public Library in Muskegon, Michigan.  At Muskegon, he was credited with more than doubling circulation in his first 5 years there.  Wheeler died suddenly in 1928.

Harold L. Wheeler was the younger brother of Joseph L. Wheeler (1884-1970) who was Director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, 1926-1945.

MARGARETHE KORTENBEUTEL (1912-1971)

Margarethe (also called Marga) Kortenbeutel received her BA from the New Jersey College for Women (now Douglass College) in 1933 and already knew that she wanted to be a librarian.  She began as an NYPL substitute in 1934 during the midst of the Great Depression.  Ten years later she was still in an entry-level position when she was asked to be a witness at the US Senate Committee on Education and Labor hearings on the financial plight of white collar workers.  Kortenbeutel, who had created a monthly list of her itemized expenses, was asked to explain how she lived on her limited budget, and the New York Times noted that her “case history” captured the committee’s attention. 

Kortenbeutel testified that she had no extra money at the end of the month although she sewed her own clothes and got “one good cheap meal a day at the library”.  That meal was a shared one cooked by the branch staff (on Library time) at a cost of 25¢ each, and she noted that for “about everyone this dinner is the main meal of the day.”  Before she left the witness table, Kortenbeutel was asked why she stayed at the Library given her financial hardships. “I am quite willing to stay,” she replied. “I happen to be very interested in my work, and I like working with all kinds of people.”  She then added, “I am really not interested in just making money, but I would like not to starve to death.”

Kortenbeutel’s financial situation improved somewhat the following year when she was promoted to be the First Assistant at the Ottendorfer Branch.  In 1947 she was promoted to Branch Librarian at the 67^th Street Branch and retired in 1970.

Today would be Margarethe Kortenbeutel’s 99^th birthday.

ANNE SHUCK HUTCHINS (1887-1968)

Anne (or Annie) Shuck was born in Texas and graduated from Kansas City (M0) High School in 1905.  In 1909 she received her AB in Greek from Wellesley College, and afterwards she taught mathematics at Central High School in Fort Worth, 1909-1913.

Shuck married George Howard Hutchins, probably in 1913. 

By 1917 she was in the New York City area working as the Assistant Director for the US War Camp Community Service.

Anne Hutchins attended the US Secretarial School in 1920 and worked as a stenographer in the NYPL Library School, 1921-1923.  During this same period she also was a student in the Library School and earned her one-year certificate in 1923.  She took additional courses in 1925-1926 but never finished the two-year program.

After graduation Hutchins became the stenographer for the Chief of the Circulation Department.  In 1925 she was transferred to be the First Assistant at the Hamilton Fish Park Branch.  In 1926 she was promoted to Branch Librarian at the High Bridge Branch and served there until 1943 when she was promoted to be Superintendent of the Extension Division.  Hutchins retired from NYPL in 1952.

Anne Hutchins is believed to be the only member of the Christian Scientist church among the Branch Librarians.

Today would be the 124^th birthday of Anne S. Hutchins.