{"id":42630,"date":"2022-03-23T14:39:26","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T18:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/?p=42630"},"modified":"2022-03-25T16:28:26","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T20:28:26","slug":"catherine-allen-latimer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/2022\/03\/catherine-allen-latimer\/","title":{"rendered":"Women’s History Month- Catherine Allen Latimer, First African-American librarian at the New York Public Library"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Catherine

Catherine Allen Latimer sitting in front of file cabinets at the New York Public Library<\/p><\/div>\n

Celebrating Catherine Allen Latimer, NYPL’s first African-American Librarian.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Catherine Allen Latimer was New York Public Library\u2019s first African American librarian. She was hired as a substitute in 1920 after being an assistant at Tuskegee Institute\u2019s library for a year from 1919-1920.[1]<\/a> She stayed for her entire career until she retired in 1946. She founded the Division of Negro Literature, History and Prints at the 135th<\/sup> Street Branch of NYPL in 1925. This was a precursor to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.<\/a> Later, she was promoted to a curator of the same by Arturo Alfonso Schomburg.<\/p>\n

Catherine was born in Nashville, TN in 1896. Her family eventually moved to NYC. She was educated during her early life in Germany and France. She spoke French fluently and read German. For high school, she attended public schools in Brooklyn, NY. Her undergraduate work and library training took place at Howard University and she completed some graduate work at Columbia University.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Over her career, she lectured to students of Wellesley College, Columbia University, Vassar College, Smith College, Hunter College and Pratt Institute.<\/p>\n

Latimer kept a file of clippings from Black current events and history that was updated \u201c\u2026until 1985 and since then has been marketed under the title of the Ernest D. Kaiser Index to Black Resources<\/em>. Kaiser was Latimer’s prot\u00e9g\u00e9.\u201d[3]<\/a> \u201cAs described in a review of The Kaiser Index to Black Resources 1948-1986<\/em><\/a>, \u2018reference material on black people was so thin that the resourceful librarians at the Schomburg Library were forced, out of sheer necessity, to create a file of clippings from newspapers and magazines to answer reference questions.\u2019 This began as a simple card file but grew to hundreds of thousands of items.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Mrs. Latimer died in 1948 at age 52.<\/p>\n

The following information is taken from the NYPL\u2019s Blog (author, Rhonda Evans):<\/strong><\/p>\n

Catherine Allen Latimer\u2019s Legacy: <\/strong>Reflection by Rhonda Evans, Assistant Chief Librarian, Schomburg Research & Reference Division<\/strong><\/p>\n

While Latimer is known as the first Black librarian at The New York Public Library, her contributions to the institution run so much deeper. Beyond her work cultivating collections, Latimer showed that a librarian\u2019s work could be far-reaching and not defined by one role. Latimer accomplished an awe-inspiring amount during her tenure with NYPL\u2014not least, being the steward of the collection that would evolve to become the Schomburg Center\u2014leaving behind an indelible legacy:<\/p>\n