Gilbert H. Doane was inducted into the Wiscsonsin Library Hall of Fame on November 6, 2014 at the Wisconsin Library Association Conference in Wisconsin Desll. Doane served as Director of the University of Wisconsin – Madison General Library (1937-1943 & 1945-1956) and as Director of the UW-Madison Library School (1938-1941). He was head of the UW-Madison Archives program (1956-1962). He served in the U.S. Army’s World War II Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (“Monuments Men”) Project (1943-1945). He left the Army as a major in 1945. He retired as Professor Emeritus from the University of Wisconsin in 1962.
Doane was born in Fairfield, Vermont, January 28, 1897. He graduated from Colgate University (1918) and received graduate degrees from the University of Arizona (1922) and the University of Michigan (1924). From 1918 until 1920, Doane worked at the U.S. Naval Training Station with the Genealogy Society. After completing his graduate studies, he worked at the University of Nebraska as a librarian and professor from 1925 until 1937 when he began his career at the University of Wisconsin. In 1943 Doane was granted leave from the University of Wisconsin when he was recruited for MFAA service during World War II.
Doane is the author of numerous books and articles focusing on book collecting and genealogy. He was an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church and served as historiographer of the Diocese of Milwaukee between 1937 and 1967.
The primary source for the biographical information above is the Monuments Men Foundation website. The photograph of Doane is courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Archives & Records Management.
“Searching For Your Ancestors” by Gilbert H. Doane was the first book on genealogy I bought. I read it about 35 years ago. I still have it.