Blog – Page 25 – Wisconsin Library Heritage Center

January 28, 2009

Lutie Eugenia Stearns (1866-1943)

Lutie Eugenia Stearns was inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame in 2008. Stearns, along with Frank Hutchins and James Stout, was instrumental in establishing the Wisconsin Free Library Commission (WFLC) in 1895. From 1895 to 1897 she served as the unpaid Secretary of the Commission. When the WFLC was reorganized with increased funding in 1897, she resigned from the commission and became its first paid staff member. In this capacity she traveled the state establishing traveling libraries and free public libraries. In 1951 she was one of 40 of America’s most significant library leaders selected by the Library Journal for inclusion in a “ Library Hall of Fame”. She is listed in the Dictionary of American Library Biography and the Dictionary of Wisconsin History . Other entries on this site related to Stearns are here and here. The image of Stearns is from the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Historical Image Collection Image ID: 42955.

Wisconsin Magazine of History articles about Stearns:

The Library Career of Lutie Eugenia Stearns by Earl Tannenbaum

My Seventy-five years: Part I (Stearns autobiography)

My Seventy-five years: Part II (Stearns autobiography)

My Seventy-five years: Part III (Stearns autobiography)

A Thousand Little Libraries by Stuart Stotts

Stuart Stotts has also written a fictional account of Lutie Stearns life entitled Books in a Box. Although the book was written for children, it is well worth reading by adults.

January 24, 2009

Carthage College Lincoln Connection

The nation is celebrating the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth this year. Wisconsin has a number of connections to Abraham Lincoln including those of Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Carthage College was founded in 1847 as the Literary and Theological Institute of the Lutheran Church of the Far West. After a series of name changes it became Carthage College when it moved to Carthage, Illinois in 1870. It relocated to Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1962. Abraham Lincoln served as a Trustee of the College in 1860-61 and sent his oldest son Robert Todd to the Preparatory Department of the College when the college was located in Springfiled, Illinois. The special envelope above was created when the “A Nation of Readers” stamp was issued in October of 1984.

A high point in the recent history of the college was the dedication of the Hedberg Library on October 18, 2002. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington gave the dedicatory address. The Hedberg Library at Carthage College was the 2004 Wisconsin Library Association Library of the Year.

January 18, 2009

Lyman Copeland Draper (1815-1891)

Lyman Copeland Draper was inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame in 2008. Draper became corresponding secretary of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in 1854, an office he held until 1886. In that capacity he was responsible for significantly increasing the size of the Society’s library. He was elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction for the period 1858-1859. In that capacity he was instrumental in promoting the beginnings of the University of Wisconsin Library. He is listed in the Dictionary of American Library Biography and the Dictionary of Wisconsin History . An biographical article by William B. Hezzeltine appeared in the Spring 1952 issue of the Wisconsin Magazine of History. The image of Draper is from the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Historical Image Collection Image ID: 2628.

January 13, 2009

Anne Morris Boyd and UW-Whitewater

Today (January 13, 2009) is the 125th anniversary of the birth of Anne Morris Boyd (1884-1969) who served as Librarian of the State Normal School at Whitewater (now the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater) from 1913 to 1917. Boyd served on the faculty of the University of Illinois Library School from 1918 to 1949 and was an authority and an advocate for government publications. She was the author of the landmark publication United States Government Publications As Sources of Information for Libraries, and served as President of the Association of American Library Schools. She is listed in the Dictionary of American Library Biography.The postcard of the interior of the library shown above was mailed on Sept. 30, 1912, one year before the arrival of Boyd. More about Boyd can be found here.

The State Normal School which was founded in 1868 became the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1971. The University Library at UW-Whitewater is a far different library today than when Boyd was librarian. A set of Flickr photographs of Willie the mascot at the University Library can be found here. A history of the Anderson Library Building at UW-Whitewater is located here.

January 12, 2009

ALA Waukesha Follow-up

In a previous post on the 1901 American Library Association meeting in Waukesha, I mentioned that momentos or favors were often given to conference participants. I recently discovered another such momento for the Waukesha conference. It is the book Shakespeare the Man by Walter Bagehot which was published by McClure Phillips and Company of New York. There were 1,000 copies of the book published with 450 designated specifically for distribution at the ALA conference.

January 6, 2009

Death of a Library

Postcard depicting Whitford Memorial Hall which housed the Milton College Library from 1906 to 1967. It is now a retail store.

On May 15, 1982 a Wisconsin college library along with the college it was part of died. The death of the college was announced to the staff and faculty in the library. The doors of the library were closed and the building in which it was located and the collection of books were transferred to other entities. Staff were only able to retrieve their posessions under supervision.

The college was Milton College in Milton, Wisconsin. The library was the the Shaw Memorial Library. Milton College dated back to the Milton Academy which was established in 1844, and was one of the oldest continuously operating colleges in Wisconsin. The Shaw Memorial Library building was completed in 1967. Prior to that time the library was located in Whitford Memorial Hall from 1906 to 1967, and before that in Main Hall. Both the Whitford Hall building and the Main Hall building are still in existence and are part of a historical district in Milton.

The Shaw Memorial Library building was acquired by and now houses the Milton Public Library. The library’s collection was sold as a unit to a college in Milwaukee.

Links related to Milton College and its libraries:

Milton College Preservation Society
http://www.miltoncollege.org/

Library History
http://www.miltoncollege.org/hist07.htm

Whitford Memorial Hall
http://www.miltoncollege.org/hist09.htm

Newspaper article on closing of the college
http://www.gazetteextra.com/milton062407.asp

Whole Earth Review article by Barbara Rubin Hudson, Spring 1988

January 3, 2009

In Bed With Carnegie

Finding alternative uses for Carnegie library buildings that have been vacated for newer and more functional facilities can be a challenge. The old Carnegie library in Ladysmith, Wisconsin was transformed into a very unusual alternative purpose. It is now the Carnegie Hall Bed & Breakfast. In a Google search, I was only able to find a couple of similar uses in the nation. The Carnegie library building in Sterling, Colorado is now the Old Library Inn. The Carnegie library building in Olean, New york is now the Old Library Restaurant in conjunctin with a bed and breakfast. Why not spend a night with Carnegie on your next vacation.

The public library in Ladysmith is now named the Rusk County Community Library. The library has done a good job of outlining its library history.

December 31, 2008

Edward Asahel Birge 1851-1950

Edward Asahel Birge was inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame on November 6, 2008. Birge was one of a small group of people who gathered in the office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction on February 11, 1891 to organize the Wisconsin Library Association. At the time Birge was a noted Professor of Zoology at the University of Wisconsin and a member of the Madison Public Library Board. He served on the Madison Public Library Board from 1891 to 1909 and was its chairman from 1893 to 1909. He served as President of the Wisconsin Library Association from 1897 to 1899 and again in 1905-1906. He was a member of the Wisconsin Free Library Commission. He had a long and active career at the University of Wisconsin serving as Professor of Zoology (1879-1911), Dean of the College of Letters and Science (1891-1918), Acting President (1900–1903), and President (1918- 1925). He is listed in the Dictionary of Wisconsin History. Thanks to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives and Records Mangement Services for permission to use the image of Birge.

Founding Contributors

We wish to express our appreciation to the following individuals and organizations who have achieved the designation of Founding Contributor to the Wisconsin Library Heritage Center by making a special contribution to the WLHC. These individuals and organizations are helping the WLHC to get off to a good start in its efforts to promote the heritage of Wisconsin libraries.

Diana Anderson
Appleton Library Foundation
Lori A. Belongia
Dan C. Calef
John Eldred/Heather Eldred
Nancy Fletcher
Peter Gilbert
Barbara Kelly
Rick Krumwiede
Beatrice (Bea) Lebal
Milton Mitchell
Ruth Ann Montgomery
Friends of Neenah Library
Larry T. Nix
T.B. Scott Free Library, Merrill, WI
Lisa Strand
Lowell W. Wilson

The WLHC is a program of the Wisconsin Library Association Foundation. All members of WLA are automatically members of the WLA Foundation. Those members who wish to provide additional support for WLA Foundation programs are encoraged to become a participant in one of the contributing Circles of the Foundation. The Founding Contributor designation for the WLHC is a one-time contributing opportunity. For more on how to become a Founding Contributor click here.

December 16, 2008

ALA in Waukesha

As noted in the previous post, the American Library Association met in Waukesha in July of 1901. As reported in the magazine Public Libraries: “The twenty-third annual meeting of the A. L. A. was held at Waukesha, Wis., with an enthusiasm and interest that has not been equaled more than two or three times in the history of the association.” The conference was held at the Fountain Spring House, Waukesha’s premier resort. The Public Libraries article concluded: “A large majority of the people present attended their first conference of American librarians at Waukesha, and the interest, enthusiasm, and evident progress made at this meeting is due largely to that fact. For months the local associations in the middle west were at work to interest thelibrarians of their diffferent states in the importance of being present at Waukesha. Their efforts were successful, and there was but one note sounded in regard to the meeting, and that was satisfaction.”

The full Public Libraries report on the Waukesha conference can be found in Google Books on pages 459-497 of the 1901 annual compilation.

At early ALA Conferences, momentos were routinely given to participants. At the Waukesha conference, the attendees were given an elaborate medal. At the top of the medal was a pin-back badger followed by a ribbon similar to those on military medals and finally there was a copper colored medallion. The medallion, which is in my collection of Wisconsin library memorabilia, is shown below. Someone probably took the medal apart for the attractve badger pin. A complete medal is located in the ALA Archives at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.