tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57549854159921868522024-03-12T19:31:12.695-04:00NYPL LibrariansThis blog focuses on my research on the branch librarians of the New York Public Library during the first 50 years of the Circulation Department, 1901-1950. I am particularly interested in who became a Branch Librarian, how they achieved and then lost autonomy within the institution, their publishing history, and other aspects of their lives. This blog has no official connection with the New York Public Library.Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-41448664700385912072015-10-27T17:53:00.001-04:002015-10-27T17:53:23.114-04:00CATHERINE BOSLEY ALLEN LATIMER (1896-1948)
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In 1920, Catherine B. Allen (later Latimer) became the first
African-American librarian hired by NYPL. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had been <a href="http://nypl-librarians.blogspot.com/search?q=%22the+struggles+of%22">one of four</a> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">black women offered the chance to be hired and was the only one to be chosen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Allen was born in Nashville TN in 1896, but her family moved
to Brooklyn ca. 1907.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She spent
1908-1910 traveling in Europe with her mother but lived in Brooklyn for most of
her life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Catherine Allen graduated from
Brooklyn’s Girls High School in 1916 and then entered Howard University where
she studied 1916-1918, the second year of which was devoted to courses on
librarianship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">After Howard, Allen worked as a librarian at Tuskegee
Institute 1919-1920 before returning to Brooklyn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She started her trial as a substitute at the
135<sup>th</sup> Street Branch in August 1920 and received her regular appointment
in November.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following year Allen
married Benton R. Latimer (1894-1985).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her husband had attended Howard University, served in the US Army in
World War I, and later worked as an accountant in the US Post Office.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Catherine Allen Latimer had a strong physical presence although
descriptions of her varied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Langston
Hughes met her at the 135<sup>th</sup> Street Branch shortly after he arrived
in Harlem in 1921 and admired her <span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"luscious café au
lait" skin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, both the 1910
and 1930 US censuses listed her race as “White.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pura Belpré remembered her first visit to the
135<sup>th</sup> Street Branch and how Allen “moved like a butterfly through
these tables, talking to these teen-agers and handling books.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Belpré, inspired by Allen’s purpose and
presence, wouod soon became the first Puerto Rican librarian at NYPL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jean Blackwell (later Hutson) worked with
Latimer at the 135<sup>th</sup> Street Branch in the 1930s and her later
comment that Latimer “was literally, as the song goes, five feet high and five
feet wide” was at odds with Belpré’s imagery.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Catherine Latimer spent her entire NYPL career at the 135<sup>th</sup>
Street Branch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1924, she and <a href="http://nypl-librarians.blogspot.com/search?q=%22ernestine+rose">Ernestine Rose</a> <span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(head librarian at 135<sup>th</sup> Street) </span>created a
reference collection of books on the Negro and convened a meeting of community
leaders (chaired by Arthur Schomburg) to help build the collection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following year, the collection became the
Division of Negro History, Literature and Prints with Latimer as the head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1926 Latimer was promoted to Grade 3, making
her an equal to the First Assistant in the branch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also in 1926 the Library acquired Arthur
Schomburg’s outstanding collection of printed and manuscript materials
documenting the history and culture of people of African descent, and Latimer
set to work incorporating that collection into the holdings of the Negro
Division.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Latimer’s time at NYPL was not always easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the Library administration was committed
to an integrated staff, some white librarians opposed that move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the pioneering black librarian, Latimer
bore the brunt of the prejudice and hostility of those white colleagues who
opposed the Library’s progress in this area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After a
decade at NYPL she wrote W.E.B. Du Bois, </span>“I have labored steadily and
never complained until now even in the face of studied neglect and patent
injustice.”<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In the early 1930s, NYPL worked with the Carnegie
Corporation and the American Association for Adult Education to design an experiment
in adult education for Negroes living in Harlem and Atlanta.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ernestine Rose recognized that the Schomburg
Collection would be a crucial element of that work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Rose had also come to feel that
Latimer lacked the bibliographic and rare book knowledge required to make the
collection more useful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rose intended to
hire Arthur Schomburg as Curator of the collection and to transfer Latimer to
the Harlem Adult Education Project as the field worker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Latimer objected not only to her demotion but
also that Rose intended to hire a white library school graduate to catalog Arthur
Schomburg’s collection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Latimer complained to
W.E.B. Du Bois about the situation and he attacked the Library for displacing
her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the end, Schomburg did come to
NYPL as Curator, but Latimer stayed in place as his assistant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NYPL also promised to seek additional “qualified”
Negro librarians for the 135<sup>th</sup> Street staff.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Despite her struggles at NYPL, Latimer made major
contributions to the Library.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her
obituary in the Brooklyn <u>Daily Eagle</u> said she was <span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"noted for her assistance to young Negro artists, writers and
students."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Jean Blackwell
Hutson recognized that Latimer was not an expert in either rare books or
manuscripts, she praised Latimer as "an energetic and talented cataloger
who also delighted in receiving and instructing young visitors."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During her career, Latimer created a calendar
of the manuscripts in the Schomburg Collection and compiled a bibliography on
black women.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">One of Latimer’s major
contributions may have come in 1948 when Lawrence Reddick (who had become Curator
of the Schomburg Collection in 1938 after Arthur Schomburg’s death) resigned in
protest over what he characterized as NYPL’s lack of support for the
collection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W.E.B. Du Bois again
intervened and asked for Latimer’s input on a protest letter he was drafting
for publication in the New York <u>Times</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>More importantly, even though Latimer was on medical leave and would die
within a few months, she returned to the branch, gathered the Schomburg staff,
and urged them to ignore the tumult and remain focused on their work with the
Collection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The core of the staff did
stay and thus kept the Schomburg Collection functioning until Jean Blackwell
was appointed Curator in 1949.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Catherine Allen Latimer
died in Brooklyn in September 1948.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
had devoted 20 years </span>as a cataloger and reference librarian with <span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">the Schomburg Collection and helped lay the foundation for its becoming
an internationally acclaimed research collection.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-63893067456592276002015-10-22T08:20:00.001-04:002015-10-22T08:20:34.733-04:00CORA P. MULDROW EASTERLING (1888-1938)
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Cora Muldrow was <a href="http://nypl-librarians.blogspot.com/search?q=%22the+struggles+of%22">one of the four</a>
African-Americans who were hired as substitutes in 1920 as the New York Public
Library began the process of integrating the staff. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Muldrow never received a regular appointment
at NYPL but did refer to herself as a former librarian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Muldrow was born in Sumter SC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She attended the Colored Normal, Industrial,
Agricultural and Mechanical College (now South Carolina State University) in
Orangeburg SC, but the records do not indicate that she graduated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She did teach at the College in 1909-1910 and
was later a high school teacher in Salem NC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Muldrow married John W. Easterling (1886-1958) in 1921 and
they lived in Manhattan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In May 1938 she
was murdered in her home by a burglar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The notice of Cora Easterling’s death in the <u>Amsterdam News</u>
indicated that she had been a housewife, the mother of two children, and associated
with NYPL’s 135<sup>th</sup> Street Branch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-35505348583772565222015-10-08T17:46:00.002-04:002015-10-16T10:08:46.804-04:00RUTH A. MOSELEY (ca. 1893-????)
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Ruth Moseley was <a href="http://nypl-librarians.blogspot.com/search?q=%22the+struggles+of%22">one of the four</a> African-American
women who were offered the opportunity to become the first black librarian to
work for NYPL, but she was not selected for the position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Moseley was born in New York and graduated from the Mt.
Kisco High School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She then studied at the
NY Training School for Teachers, probably for 2 years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">She was listed in the 1915 NY State census as a
teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterwards, she worked as a
private secretary and then taught at the Industrial and Agricultural School in
Downingtown PA, a school for African-American teenagers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">After not being chosen for a position at NYPL, Moseley worked
in the 1920s and 1930s as a music teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 1932 she wrote W.E.B. Du Bois asking for his advice about social
service training programs that were open to Negro girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She subsequently worked for the YWCA in White
Plains NY and later became Director of the Foundation School of Music in Mount
Kisco.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The 1941 obituary in the <u>Amsterdam News</u> for her
father George Mosely (as the newspaper spelled his name) referred to her as his
adopted daughter, which may indicate that she was the daughter of George’s second
wife, Annie. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moseley had lived with her father George
Mosely in Mount Kisco NY until his death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-4589525156611446222015-10-08T15:45:00.000-04:002015-10-08T15:45:32.376-04:00FANNIE C. TARKINGTON (1892-????)<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Fannie Tarkington was <a href="http://nypl-librarians.blogspot.com/search?q=%22the+struggles+of%22">one of the four</a> African-American women
who were given trials at the 135<sup>th</sup> Street Branch in 1920.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I have found only sketchy information about her life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">She was born in Virginia and graduated from the North
Carolina State Colored Normal School (now Elizabeth City State University) in
1908.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The commencement program gives her
name as Fannie Clarine Janieth Targinton (sic).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She apparently attended Howard University in the 1910s and perhaps
worked in Washington D.C. as a social worker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She moved to New York City in the later 1910s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The 1940 US Census (the only one in which I found her listed)
had her living in Harlem as a lodger and working as an “independent dressmaker”
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three articles in the <u>New York Age</u>
from the 1940s mention her participation in activities of the Howard University
Club of NY.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">As far as I can determine she ever worked as a librarian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-51991627672369986462015-09-15T17:18:00.000-04:002015-10-27T18:00:33.473-04:00THE STRUGGLES OF NYPL’S PIONEERING AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIBRARIANS<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The early twentieth century saw the start of the Great
Migration in which thousands of African-Americans left the violence and
discrimination of the South for a better life in the North and West.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New York City was one of the primary
destinations for this dramatic population shift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The City’s black population more than doubled
between 1900-1920.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of this
population settled in Harlem which would come to be regarded as the Capitol of Negro
America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isabel Wilkerson’s <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/book/190696/the-warmth-of-other-suns-by-isabel-wilkerson"><span style="color: blue;">The
Warmth of Other Suns</span></a> (2011) is an excellent history of the Great Migration.<o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Much of the population change in Harlem centered on the
neighborhood around the 135<sup>th</sup> Street Branch and for the next three
decades that branch became the focus of the Library’s efforts to serve NYC’s
black population.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
The Library’s response to this ethnic shift was similar to
its earlier response to the influx of Jewish immigrants to Manhattan’s Lower East
Side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The service ethic of librarianship
prompted the Library to devise library services to meet the needs of the new ethnic
group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of this approach meant the
hiring of group members to help their community adjust to their new urban
situation, and the black leadership in Harlem constantly pushed NYPL to hire more
black librarians.<o:p></o:p>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
NYPL started the integration process by installing <a href="http://nypl-librarians.blogspot.com/2011/03/ernestine-rose-1880-1961.html"><span style="color: blue;">Ernestine
Rose</span></a> (a white librarian) as head of 135<sup>th</sup> Street in June 1920 with
a mandate from the library to serve the new community and to hire black
librarians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was expected to meet the
community needs in Harlem just as she had with the Jewish community around the
Seward Park Branch on the Lower East Side where she had served as Branch Librarian,
1915-1917.<o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
The few previous studies of African-Americans at NYPL note
that integration began in 1920 when Rose selected Catherine Bosley Allen
(later Latimer) to be the first black librarian appointed to a regular position
at NYPL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like other new hires, Allen had
started as a substitute and was promoted to Grade 1 only after she passed the
entry level exam and her work was judged to be satisfactory.<o:p></o:p>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
My research has uncovered the fact that in the summer of
1920 Rose actually offered four black women the opportunity to begin as a
substitute at the Branch. Aside from
Allen, the other three were Ruth A. Moseley, Cora Muldrow (later Easterling),
and Fannie Tarkington.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should be
noted that these four had better educational credentials than most of their
white counterparts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All four had at
least some college while only one-third of the 57 white women hired in 1920 had
any college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Catherine Allen was the
only one of the four to receive a regular appointment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
Allen’s hiring was a milestone in breaking the color line at
NYPL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among the later milestones were
the hiring of Augusta Baker as the first black woman to receive a permanent
position as a children’s librarian in 1937.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><a href="http://nypl-librarians.blogspot.com/2011/05/regina-m-anderson-andrews-1901-1993.html"><span style="color: blue;">Regina
Anderson Andrews</span></a> became the first African-American to head a neighborhood
branch when she was appointed Branch Librarian at the 115<sup>th</sup> Street
Branch in 1938.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, four years later, after
Rose retired, <a href="http://nypl-librarians.blogspot.com/2011/09/dorothy-hill-robinson-homer-1897-1978.html"><span style="color: blue;">Dorothy
Robinson Homer</span></a> became the first African-American to head the 135<sup>th</sup>
Street Branch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jean Blackwell (later
Hutson) became the head of the Schomburg Collection in 1948 and built it into
one of the world’s greatest collections documenting the African diaspora.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
As important as these milestones were, they obscure the
struggles that the African-American women experienced as they sought to be hired
and promoted in the Library’s Circulation Department.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both Baker and Blackwell were initially
rebuffed when they applied for jobs at NYPL—both were told that the Library had
no available Negro openings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W.E.B. Du
Bois intervened to demand that NYPL promote Andrews to Branch Librarian, and he
repeatedly protested the Library’s treatment of Catherine Allen Latimer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, it was demands from the Harlem community
that caused the Library to promote Dorothy Homer as Rose’s replacement at 135<sup>th</sup>
Street, a promotion the Library had resisted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Despite the prejudice and obstacles, these pioneers succeeded in the
NYPL system and shifted the color line for the many African-Americans who would
follow them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
In future posts, I will focus on what is known about the
early African-American librarians and their struggles for equality within
NYPL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-80095890620983235732014-08-21T13:00:00.000-04:002014-08-21T13:00:01.816-04:00REGINA ANDREWS (and a note about Amazon.com)<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I just read Ethelene Whitmere’s new biography of Regina
Andrews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She did a good job finding what
few personal papers exist (the bulk consist of 22 linear feet at NYPL’s Schomburg
Center) and tracking down relatives with memories of Andrews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book highlights Andrews’ influence on the
Harlem Renaissance.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Note: I have been following Amazon.com’s dispute with
Hachette and the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/business/media/plot-thickens-as-900-writers-battle-amazon.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A7%22%7D&_r=0]">protests</a> by authors on behalf of the publisher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hachette
is a serious publisher, and Amazon seems determined to reduce books to the
lowest common denominator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I routinely
order books from Amazon, this time I ordered the biography directly from the publisher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The price was only $2.75 more and it took
only 3 days longer for delivery. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">For those who support the authors and want to order the
book, I recommend doing so directly from the <a href="http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/56bey4yp9780252038501.html">University of Illinois Press</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-50524037643449686882014-04-23T11:45:00.000-04:002014-04-23T12:19:42.090-04:00SOUTHERN LIBRARIANS AT NYPL
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The Carnegie Library of Atlanta (CLA) opened a library
school in 1905 to train librarians to work in the South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the next two decades, the school sent a
number of graduates to NYPL to gain experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although a few stayed, most returned South after a year or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The arrangement was beneficial to both CLA and NYPL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Library hired Anne Carroll Moore in 1906
to develop its children’s services and needed a cadre of trained librarians to
staff the growing number of children’s rooms in its newly-opened Carnegie
buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The CLA graduates (most
wanted to be children’s librarians) were able to gain experience in a large,
well-run system before returning south to work in that region’s growing number
of libraries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The CLA Library School wanted to make certain its graduates
were well-prepared and also wanted to position the school as the place to
contact when towns sought to organize or expand a library.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, the school wanted to know how its graduates
were progressing and urged the graduates to write letters describing their expectations
and experiences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Fortunately, much of that correspondence survives in the
alumni files of the CLA Library School which are housed in the Manuscripts,
Archives & Rare Book Library at Emory University.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recently spent a day reading through those files.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The graduates’ correspondence reported on both the
attractive and unattractive aspects of working and living in New York City.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">They found NYPL’s six-day work week to be strenuous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, while
the hustle and bustle of New York City was also difficult, they enjoyed the
opportunity to live independently and to experience the City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May Smith reported in 1914 that “New York is
wonderful and Katharine and I have our ‘day away’ together, and we have had
some most enjoyable jaunts.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other
letters indicates that the ability to attend the theater seemed a particular
attraction to the Southerners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another
wrote “I feel that the past five months … has been as broadening as a trip to
Europe.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The City and the Library also presented situations at odds
with the graduates southern backgrounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 1913 Elwyn de Graffenried reported with apparent surprise on her
first day working in the Central Children’s Room: “yesterday I found myself
answering the questions of a ‘black’ lady with the same desire to please as
though she had been white.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The mutually valuable connections between NYPL and the CLA have
not drawn much historical attention but deserve to be explored further.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-6068896345278275422014-03-26T13:07:00.000-04:002014-03-26T13:18:35.935-04:00LIBRARIANS AND MOVIES
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">NYPL’s branch librarians loved books and looked suspiciously
on new media that might reduce reading by children and adults.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They initially viwed both moving pictures and
television as potential threats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In each
case, the librarians’ reactions to the new medium started with suspicion and ended
with accommodation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is a <a href="http://nypl-librarians.blogspot.com/2011/03/milton-berle-television-and-library.html">previous post</a> about the initial reaction to television in a Bronx neighborhood. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The history of the Ottendorfer Branch illustrates this point
in terms of motion pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ottendorfer,
the second branch of the New York Free Circulating Library, opened in 1884 to
serve a largely German population in what is now known as the East Village in
Manhattan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">December
1912, John Shaw Billings (NYPL’s Director) wrote the NYC Commissioner of
Licenses to protest the opening of a movie theater next to the Ottendorfer
Branch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He argued that “it is not
desirable on general principle to have movie picture establishments close to
schools, public libraries and other places to which women and children are
accustomed to go in large numbers. … around the entrances to such theatres
there are usually displayed highly colored pictures, flaring electric lights,
etc., which have a tendency to attract idlers.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Despite Billings protest, the Commissioner granted the license.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">In her
annual report, <a href="http://nypl-librarians.blogspot.com/search?q=bohmert">Lucie Bohmert</a>,
the Branch Librarian, blamed Ottendorfer's decreased circulation in 1925 in part to “a
successful moving picture house adjoining the Library.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Just four
years later, however, Bohmert’s annual report noted that the movie house was
showing foreign films and boasted that the theater’s owner had agreed<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to promote Ottendorfer’s foreign book
collection in its program.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Over the course of 17 years, the Library had gone from
protest to incorporating moving pictures into its community outreach
activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">When I moved across the street from the Ottendorfer Branch
in the early 1970s, both the library and the movie theater were thriving, and
the theater was still featuring foreign films.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-76583771243200339992014-03-11T17:30:00.000-04:002014-03-11T17:30:01.613-04:00ARTICLE ON NYPL BRANCH LIBRARIANS
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I have presented papers at the Conference on New York State
History the past two summers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a
stimulating gathering of academic and independent scholars, archivists and
curators, and town and county historians.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">My 2012 paper explored the experience of African-American
librarians at the 135<sup>th</sup> Street Branch, which was the focus of
efforts to integrate the staff, 1920-1940s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In 2013, I spoke about how the Branch Librarians (mostly
single women) achieved a lot of workplace autonomy (in a male-run institution) and
then lost some of it due to the economic pressures of the Great Depression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, in the 1920s-1930s NYPLs librarians also
supported the certification of public librarians in New York State and the educational
reforms recommended by the Williamson Report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They chose to support these initiatives which undercut their autonomy at
work because they held out the promise of greater status as professionals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">A truncated version of the latter paper has now been
published: “Single and Independent” <u>New York Archives</u> 13 (Winter 2014)
15-19.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <a href="http://www.archives.nysed.gov/apt/magazine/">magazine</a> is still paper-based although one article is posted online.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-23489131927877895652014-03-10T19:28:00.000-04:002014-03-11T11:35:56.139-04:00MARGARET ELLEN MONROE (1914-2004)<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Margaret
Monroe worked at NYPL for 13 years but headed an NYPL branch for only two of those
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She credited her NYPL experience
for changing her focus in librarianship and setting her on the course that made
her so influential as a leader in adult services and as a library
educator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was also, without doubt,
the most prolific author among those who had headed an NYPL branch.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Monroe received
both a BA and a BLS from the New York State Teachers College.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also earned an MA from Teachers College
in 1939.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Monroe
served as Branch Librarian at the St. George Branch, 1946-1948, a period when
NYPL was initiating its Great Books discussion groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although she had originally specialized in
young people’s work, Monroe volunteered for the new project and later wrote, “When
book discussions became a service option, I knew I had found my métier.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her
memoir, (<u>Margaret Monroe: Memoirs of a Public Librarian</u>, 2006) she wrote
that it was the “mixed cultural backgrounds, ages, vocations and educational
experiences, and the cross-cultural learning” that attracted her to NYPL’s book
discussion groups.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Following
the success of the Great Books program, NYPL developed the American Heritage
discussion groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This effort was taken
over by ALA, and Monroe took a leave of absence in 1952-1954 to work on the ALA
project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She never returned to
NYPL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead she joined the faculty of
the Rutgers University library school and earned her doctorate from Columbia University
in 1962.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She then joined the University
of Wisconsin library school, where she served as Director, 1963-1970.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">One measure
of Monroe’s influence on the library profession is that the bibliography in her
memoir lists 115 publications, including her book <u>Library Adult Education:
The Biography of An Ide</u>a (Scarecrow, 1963) which reviewed and defended the
development of adult education approaches in American librarianship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In 1985, the
Reference and User Services Association of ALA established the <a href="http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=awards&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=88802">Margaret E. Monroe Library Adult Services Award</a> </span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">to honor those
who made significant contributions to library adult services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-48736546280359984902014-03-09T13:30:00.000-04:002014-03-09T14:39:19.985-04:00MAUD AGNES WAIT LOUSON (1869-19??)
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Maud A. Wait was born in Montreal, Canada, and came to the
United States in 1903.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Maud Wait finished the NYPL Training Class in 1904 and
received a permanent staff appointment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She was promoted to First Assistant in 1907 and was appointed to be the Branch
Librarian at the Washington Heights Branch in 1913.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wait transferred to the Tremont Branch in
1917, but resigned in April 1921 to return to Canada and marry William Steele
Louson (1860-1921), a “commercial traveler” or traveling salesman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within
six months her husband had died, and Maud Louson returned to New York City in
September 1922.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She immediately resumed
her career at NYPL, serving as head of the Aguilar Branch from 1922 until 1938,
when she retired.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">After her retirement, Maud Wait Louson worked as a part-time
librarian at the National Council of Churches in NYC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is one indication that Maud Louson
might have returned to Canada to live in the 1940s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-27097551018267264382013-10-27T11:11:00.000-04:002013-10-27T11:11:00.058-04:00EUGENIE KRAUSS (1870-1947)<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Eugenie
Krauss was a life-long resident of Manhattan, but her life remains something of
a mystery despite working as a librarian for 40 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">It
is unlikely that Krauss had formal library training, but she started at the New
York Free Circulating Library sometime before 1897.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was serving as the head of the
Bloomingdale Branch of the NYFCL at the time of consolidation with NYPL in
1901.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She remained in charge of
Bloomingdale until 1905 and headed three other Manhattan branches before she
retired in 1937.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Although
Krauss did not leave many traces in the Library’s surviving archival records, we
know that in 1898, shortly after being named head of the original NYFCL Bloomingdale
Branch, she began to work with the architect James Brown Lord on the design of
a new structure for the branch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
resulting building served NYPL until 1960, and in 1989 was declared a landmark
by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The LPC <a href="http://www.landmarkwest.org/maps_and_data/Designation%20Reports/NewYorkFreeCirculatingLibrary.pdf">designation report</a> noted Krauss’ involvement with the design work and suggested that the
Bloomingdale building served as a “prototype” for the architects who designed NYPL’s
Carnegie branch buildings in the early twentieth century.<u><o:p></o:p></u></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-23735145501370112452013-10-25T09:00:00.000-04:002013-10-25T09:00:11.805-04:00SOPHIA P. KENT (1882-????)
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Sophia Kent was born in Pennsylvania and studied at Drexel
Institute, 1901-1902.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In 1904 Kent attended the Chautauqua Summer Library School, completed
the NYPL Training Class, and received a regular staff appointment at NYPL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 1906, she had been promoted to First Assistant
and in 1911 was under consideration for promotion to Branch Librarian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Head Worker at the University Settlement
House wrote Dr. John Shaw Billings (NYPL Director) recommending Kent’s promotion
based on “her uniform courtesy to the patrons of the Library; and her keen
interest in the work.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Kent received the promotion and over the next nine years
headed three branches in Manhattan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
resigned in 1920 and married John Archibald Shields in 1920 or 1921.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He worked as a private detective.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The couple lived on Staten Island, and Sophia Shields
apparently did not work outside the home until her oldest daughter was in
college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1943 she returned to
librarianship at Wagner College and worked there until she was 76 years
old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Sophia Kent’s younger sister, Dorothy Kent (1889-1917), was
a 1913 graduate of the NYPL Library School and worked as a librarian at NYPL
and in New Jersey. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-11121215578448273402013-10-23T11:00:00.000-04:002013-10-23T11:00:05.236-04:00ELEANOR WILSON HILL JANSSEN (1905-1997)
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Like many
NYC librarians, Eleanor Janssen’s career was held back by the Great Depression.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Eleanor W.
Hill was born in Tennessee and received a BA in English from Vanderbilt
University in 1927.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She worked as a teacher
for several years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In 1933, Hill
earned a BS in Library Science from Columbia University and began as a
substitute at NYPL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although she was eligible
for a regular position, neither appointments nor promotions were common during
the Depression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hill finally received
her Grade 2 appointment in 1938, and it took another seven years before she was
promoted to be an Assistant Branch Librarian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She was finally promoted to Branch Librarian in 1948 and headed two
Bronx branches until her retirement in 1969.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Eleanor Hill
married Frederick Janssen sometime in the late 1930s, but the marriage ended in
divorce.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Eleanor Janssen’s
annual reports at the Westchester Square Branch reflect the fears that many
librarians had about the negative impact of television.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1950 she noted “Watching television has
become a serious rival of the reading habits of our generation.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the same time, however, she was
experimenting with film programs for young adult users.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-22847191136365170552013-10-20T07:51:00.000-04:002013-10-20T07:51:00.401-04:00LOUISE FRANCES HLAVAC WOODS (1907-1983)<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Louise F.
Hlavac was born in New York and earned a BA from Hunter College in 1929.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That same year, she entered Columbia’s School
of Library Service as a part-time student and received her BS in 1931.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">NYPL’s Webster
Branch was central to Hlavac’s career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Webster
was known informally as the “Bohemian” branch and served the Czech community in
its Upper East Side neighborhood as well as those scattered around the city. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was not unusual that NYPL placed Hlavac at
Webster since she was of Czech ancestry--both of her parents were born in
Bohemia and came to the US in the 1880s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hlavac started her work at NYPL
as a substitute at Webster while she was still a student at Hunter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon her graduation from college she received
a regular appointment at Webster and worked there for two years while attending
library school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She returned to Webster
in 1939 as Acting Branch Librarian and became Webster’s Branch Librarian in
1941.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Louise Hlavac
married George Alan Woods (1903-????) in 1936/37.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He worked as a civil engineer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Louise
Woods resigned from NYPL in 1943 and worked as a Library Assistant at the
Bellevue School of Nursing, 1946-1947.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Woods returned to NYPL (probably on a part-time basis) in 1947 and
worked at several sub-branches until she retired in 1955.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-68321781000737951532013-10-18T13:10:00.000-04:002013-10-18T13:10:00.179-04:00NONA E. PLUMMER (1880-1943)
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In her book <u>Library Adult Education</u> (1963), Margaret
Monroe cited Nona Plummer as an example of a librarian who was reluctant to
engage in community work but eventually embraced it after some
experimentation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">A native-born New Yorker, Nona Plummer almost certainly had
no formal library training since she began working at the Muhlenberg Branch of
New York Free Circulating Library at the age of 17 or 18.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Plummer continued as First Assistant
at the Muhlenberg Branch when the NYFCL consolidated with NYPL in 1901.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1908 she was promoted to be Branch
Librarian at Kingsbridge and later headed the Bloomingdale, Mott Haven and
Yorkville branches before she retired in 1942. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 402.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Monroe wrote that Plummer, as the
new head of Yorkville in 1922, felt that “inside” work--serving patrons coming into
the branch--was more useful than community work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A decade later after experimenting with
outreach to local businessmen, hosting community council meetings, and working
with an evening school in the Yorkville neighborhood, Plummer seemed committed
to “outside” work as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nonetheless,
Plummer remained convinced that providing good books to individuals was the
best service that a librarian could provide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-67495198475480035172013-10-16T12:29:00.000-04:002013-10-16T12:29:00.872-04:00HELEN ELIZABETH PIERSON WESSELLS (1903-1990)
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Helen
Wessells worked at NYPL for 16 years, 12 of them as head of a branch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterwards her horizons expanded and she
worked for ALA, the federal government, and as editor of <u>Library Journal</u>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Helen E. Pierson
attended the NJ State Normal School, 1920-1921, and took the summer course
offered by the NJ Public Library Commission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She then worked at the Morristown (NJ) Public Library in her hometown,
1922-1925. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">After short
stints at the Florence (SC) Public Library and the Olivia Paney Public Library
in Raleigh NC, she earned a certificate from the NYPL Library School in 1926.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">She started
at NYPL in 1926 while still a student in Library School and then had unusually quick
promotions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 1929 she was Acting Branch
Librarian, was promoted to Branch Librarian in 1930, and headed the Port
Richmond and Hamilton Fish Park branches, 1930-1942.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Wessells
was one of the NYPL librarians who worked to collect books for American
military personnel during World War II.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 1942 she took a leave of absence to be the Assistant Director of the
Victory Book Campaign sponsored by ALA, the American Red Cross and the United
Service Organization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She never returned
to NYPL.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Between 1943-1950,
Wessells worked on library issues for the US Information Service in the State
Department, except for a short period as Acting Director of ALA’s International
Relations Office in 1948.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">She then
served as editor of <u>Library Journal</u>, 1951-1957.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1957 Wessells was forced to resign due to
poor health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frederic Melcher (President
of R.R. Bowker) hailed her for the 600 editorials she wrote during a time of
post-war expansion for American librarianship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Helen Pierson
was married twice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, in 1927 to
Parker Franklin Wessells, a social worker, and they divorced in 1936.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, in 1952 to Herman Strecker Hettinger
(ca. 1902-1972), an economist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Professionally,
she continued to use the name Wessells after her divorce from her first
husband.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Helen
Wessells’ <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/inside/projects/findingaids/scans/pdfs/46_WA-WE_21.pdf">personal papers</a> are held by Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-18652678116856951342013-10-14T11:10:00.000-04:002013-10-14T11:10:44.064-04:00ALICE MAYHEW BINNS GIBSON (1903-1946)
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Alice M.
Binns graduated from high school in 1920 and became an assistant curator at an
unidentified museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following year
she entered the Cooper Union Art School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While studying at Cooper Union, she worked as a substitute in the NYPL Circulation
Department, 1922-1925.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In 1925
Binns received a regular appointment at NYPL. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She took a leave of absence from NYPL
1928-1929 to work at the American Library in Paris.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Alice Binns
took another leave to attend the Pratt Institute Library School and earned her
degree in 1933.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Pratt application
asked prospective students to label their political beliefs as Conservative,
Liberal or Radical, and she checked off the latter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although this was a period of labor ferment
at the Library, Gibson’s name does not appear in any of the records relating to
union activity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In 1935, Binns
married Randall Lee Gibson (1903-1957), a railroad contractor, but the marriage
apparently ended in divorce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">After
working as a First Assistant at Central Circulation, the Picture Collection,
and the Hudson Park Branch, Alice Gibson was finally promoted to be Branch
Librarian at the Yorkville Branch in 1942.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After two years in that position, she resigned to work for the US Navy
Department.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Constance Binns
(Alice’s sister), was a long-time children’s librarian at NYPL.</span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-59858331664470593542013-10-10T08:14:00.000-04:002013-10-10T08:14:20.666-04:00LUCILLE ARMISTEAD GOLDTHWAITE (1877-1957)
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In the 1930s, Lucille A. Goldthwaite was regarded as
one of the country’s two leading authorities on books for the blind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Lucy Goldthwaite (as she was known) had no formal
library training but in 1899 at the age of 22 she became a library assistant at
the New York Free Circulating Library.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She worked at the NYFCL’s George Bruce Branch and was there at the time
of the 1901 consolidation with NYPL.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Goldthwaite remained at the George Bruce Branch and was
promoted to First Assistant in 1902.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
1905 she was appointed head of the Library for the Blind and continued there
until her retirement from NYPL in 1941.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Following her retirement, she worked half-time for the American
Foundation for the Blind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Goldthwaite was active in ALA’s Committee on Work for
the Blind and for 20 years served as a member of the NY State Commission for
the Blind, 1913-1933.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was also a
frequent writer on services for the blind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Goldthwaite focused especially on ways to provide books
to blind users.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was an early
proponent of “talking books” and served as founder and editor of the <u>Braille
Book Review</u>, 1932-1951, and as managing editor of <u>Outlook for the Blind</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
1946 the American Foundation for the Blind awarded its Migel Medal to Lucille Goldthwaite
for her many services to the blind in the United States.</span></span>Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-13493771575092285912013-05-11T13:21:00.000-04:002013-05-11T13:21:00.321-04:00LEONA DURKES WILSON (1902-1981)
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Leona
Durkes was born in Illinois and earned her BA from Wellesley College in 1924.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After graduation she worked in bookstores in
Boston.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Durkes
entered the NYPL Training Class in 1929 and received a regular Library appointment
that same year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She temporarily left
NYPL to earn her library degree at the University of Illinois in 1932.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Durkes
returned to NYPL in 1932 and six years later was promoted to Branch Librarian
at the Washington Heights Branch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
transferred to head the 96<sup>th</sup> Street Branch in 1943.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In 1936 she
married Burr Polk Wilson (1905-1963) of Ossining NY.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Leona
Durkes Wilson‘s major impact on NYPL came after being a Branch Librarian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1949 NYPL created a specialty office for
Reference Services, and Wilson was named the first head of that unit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1953 Wilson became just the second Coordinator
of Adult Services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wilson often wrote on
adult education during the six years she headed the Office of Adult
Services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Leona Durkes Wilson
retired from NYPL after 30 years of service and went to work as a librarian at
the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.</span>Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-4316508356427863932013-05-09T13:09:00.000-04:002013-05-09T13:09:00.062-04:00LEONORA J. HINSDALE (1860-1943)
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Leonora
Hinsdale was one of a small group of Catholic parishioners who assisted in the
organization of the Cathedral Free Library, which opened in 1888.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also in the group was her cousin <a href="http://nypl-librarians.blogspot.com/search?q=doughty">E. Corrine Doughty</a> (1859-1933), who
would later head three NYPL branches.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In 1905,
the CFL consolidated with NYPL, and Hinsdale was named First Assistant at the
Cathedral Branch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1909 Hinsdale was
promoted to Branch Librarian at the Columbus Branch and later headed the
Hamilton Grange Branch until her retirement in 1936.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For
most of her life, Hinsdale lived with two other NYPL librarians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As early as 1880 she lived with her cousin E.
Corinne Doughty and continued to do so until Doughty’s death in 1933.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From at least 1910 Mary C. Griffin (1866-????)
also lived with the two cousins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Griffin
served as First Assistant under Hinsdale at both the Columbus and Hamilton Grange
branches, and the two librarians retired on the same day in 1936.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are listed in the 1940 census as “partners”
indicating they told the census taker that they shared expenses equally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-80187527870564270052012-11-09T16:30:00.000-05:002012-11-09T16:30:02.703-05:00ANNE LOUISE GIBSON (1851-????)
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Anne Gibson was born in Virginia and came to New York
to live with her sister.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their father
was a physician. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Gibson was the head librarian of the St. Agnes Free
Library from 1893 until 1901 when it consolidated with NYPL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She served as head of NYPL’s St. Agnes Branch
until 1902 when she took a leave of absence and never returned.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Anne L. Gibson was the aunt of <a href="http://nypl-librarians.blogspot.com/2011/06/edwin-white-gaillard-1872-1928.html">Edwin White Gaillard</a>
who headed the Webster Free Library and then worked for NYPL.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-44483734856312794482012-11-08T13:22:00.000-05:002012-11-08T13:22:13.396-05:00CASINDANIA PRATT EATON (1907-1996)
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.”</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Soon after her hiring, Eaton became an active officer
of Local 111 of the United Public Workers Union, CIO.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">During this same time period, Eaton was promoted to be
the Branch Librarian at the Muhlenberg Branch, one of NYPL’s busiest
branches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Muhlenberg was closed for
renovation in 1955, Eaton was transferred to head the Parkchester Branch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1958 she was promoted to Coordinator of
all Manhattan branches, a position she held until her retirement in 1972.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-61093928314987773402012-11-05T12:10:00.000-05:002012-11-05T12:10:51.221-05:00EDNA ADELIA DIXON (1881-1966)
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Edna
Dixon had no known work experience prior to entering NYPL in 1906 at the age of
25.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She got her first library training
in 1907 at the Summer Course offered by the New York State Library School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1921 Dixon
was promoted to be the Branch Librarian at the Kingsbridge Branch and in 1923
transferred to head the Fort Washington Branch.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Dixon
was a keen observer of the impact of World War II on both the adults and children
in the Fort Washington neighborhood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The attack on Pearl Harbor, she feared, found
the Library, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“peering into an opaque
future.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As
the nation mobilized for war, Dixon commented that both men and women were
using the Library less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Men were being
mobilized for military service, while many women were working in defence
industries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Dixon
worried about the impact of the war on children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1942 she argued that children’s rooms “need
to grow up a bit”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following year she was more explicit
about the transformation of children’s reading interests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“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.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Edna
Dixon retired in 1946, almost exactly one year after the end of the war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754985415992186852.post-44323091168200469522012-11-04T13:14:00.000-05:002012-11-04T13:14:00.689-05:00THERESA L. BLUMBERG (1876?-1927)
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
have written <a href="http://nypl-librarians.blogspot.com/search/label/Pensions">several posts</a>
about the Library’s allowing aged and infirm librarians to continue working
since they had no pensions to support themselves during retirement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Blumberg
was born in Russia and came to the US in the mid-1880s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">She
began working at the East Broadway Branch of the Aguilar Free Library Society (AFLS)
in 1894.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She remained there when the
AFLS consolidated with NYPL in March 1903.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Around the same time, Blumberg resigned to become the Librarian at the
University Settlement House on the Lower East Side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She also served as head of the Jackson Square and Tremont branches until
1917 when she was put on sick leave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In
1914, the Library’s doctor suspected that Theresa Blumberg had
tuberculosis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Blumberg
was well enough to return to NYPL in 1919.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A year later she was made Acting Branch Librarian of the Bloomingdale
Branch and then headed the Fort Washington Branch, 1921-1923.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In
1923 Blumberg again became ill with TB.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her brother also had TB and no longer had financial resources to assist
her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was placed in a sanitarium at
Saranac Lake at a cost was $125/month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was initially paid by contributions from Trustees and others
formerly associated with the AFLS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
1924 the Draper Fund was again tapped to pay her expenses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Theresa
Blumberg never returned to work and died in June 1927.</span></div>
Bob Sinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419599568529373282noreply@blogger.com0