Edith Guerrier: “A Little [Warrior] Woman of New England” on behalf of U.S. public documents, 1870–1958

Abstract

An exemplary independent woman for many and still a role model for some gay and lesbian couples today, Edith Guerrier contributed to the popular use of government documents in the first half of the 20th century. Part of a long-term Boston marriage with Edith Brown (1872–1932), Guerrier served at the Boston Public Library; in the U.S. Food Administration; and on the Public Documents Committee of the American Library Association. On the cutting edge of her profession in the 1920s, she led the patriotic movement to popularize government documents, created a precursor to the U.S. Government Manual; and collected some of the earliest data on actual document use. Throughout her 40-year career, she championed life and work skills, especially literacy, among young women and the public's use of documents rather than libraries archiving such material.