MARION E. LANG (1902-1981)

Today would be the 109^th birthday of Marion E. Lang.  Marion Lang was born in New Hampshire and moved away from home after graduating from high school.

Lang entered the Springfield (MA) City Library Association Training Class in 1920 but left in 1921 to work for the S. Manchester (CT) Free Library.  She moved to NYC in 1922 and started substituting at NYPL.  Marion Lang headed the Westchester Square and Chatham Square branches between 1941 and her retirement in 1963. 

The Chatham Square Branch kept a historical card file of those who worked in the branch.  Lang’s card listed two individuals as emergency contacts.  The first was Ruth Shinnamon (1907-1982) who was also a NYPL Branch Librarian.  The second was Esther V. Saul (1896-1989), who started at NYPL but left to be a librarian for the NYC Board of Education.  The lives of these three librarians were intertwined for more than 50 years.

Lang and Saul are listed in the 1930 Census as rooming with Mildred Mathews (also a NYPL librarian) and her husband.  From ship passenger lists, we know that Lang and Esther Saul also travelled to Bermuda together in 1938.

Between 1932-1935 Lang, Shinnamon and Saul lived together on East 89^th Street.   Lang and Shinnamon shared apartments in Manhattan in the 1940s. 

The three of them all retired to Jamesburg NJ, and the three friends all died there in the 1980s.