Women Academic Librarians on the Western Frontier, 1900-1920

Abstract

The American West held great promise for turn-of-the-century professional women. Western normal schools and land-grant colleges expanded at the same time that library school graduates, many of them women, emerged seeking work. While top appointments in prestigious western universities were difficult to obtain, positions in normal schools and land-grant colleges allowed them to become self-sufficient and to develop administrative skills. Their employers had few preconceptions about professional librarianship and were receptive to modern methods. Furthermore, they encouraged these librarians to engage in teaching, committee work, and counseling of students and did not object when the women promoted public and school library development. While equal status in the academic workplace remained elusive, these westering librarians nonetheless participated in the expansion of opportunities for women in higher education during the early twentieth century.