Theresa Elmendorf

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name = Theresa West Elmendorf


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birth_name = Theresa Hubbel West
birth_date = November 1, 1855
birth_place = Pardeeville, Wisconsin
death_date = September 4, 1932
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nationality = American
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known_for = First woman President of ALA
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occupation = librarian
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spouse = Henry Livingston Elmendorf
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Theresa West Elmendorf was a a prominent American librarian of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century.Thomison in Wedgeworth.]

Early life

Elmendorf was born in 1855 in Pardeeville, Wisconsin, and raised in Milwaukee when the family moved there in 1861. She had three siblings. She went to and graduated from Milwaukee’s public schools for her elementary training. From there she went to a higher education school for girls and graduated from that school in 1874.

Career

Elmendorf started her library career as a library worker in 1877 for the Young Men's Association of Milwaukee. At this time she read up on the 1876 report of the U.S. Bureau of Education, "Public Libraries in the United States of America." This was to form her basic knowledge of library theory and practice. About 1878 she started at the Milwaukee Public Library and worked her way up to become Deputy Librarian in 1880 and finally head Librarian in 1892. [ Garrison, p. 243 ]

Elmendorf resigned her position in 1896 at the Milwaukee Public Library system when at the age of forty-one she married Henry Livingston Elmendorf. [ Garrison, p. 188 ] He was Librarian of the public library at Saint Joseph, Missouri, and also Vice President of the American Library Association. Henry Elmendorf soon took up a position in Buffalo, New York, as the librarian of the Buffalo Public Library where he worked until his death nine years later. [ Rooney, pp. 65–66 ]

During this nine years Elmendorf acted as a "silent partner" and was an administrator advisor. At this time she worked on many library programs including the Buffalo Plan, which was a program to help the city schools with library services. Another project she worked on in 1899 was the "Descriptive Catalogue of the Gluck Collection of Manuscripts and Autographs in the Buffalo Public Library." Most notable in this collection was Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" manuscript. She was also editor in 1904 for the American Library Association's "Catalogue of Books for Small Libraries" and an author for "Classroom Libraries for Public Schools".

Elmendorf became "employed" as President of the New York Library Association in 1903 and 1904. At this time also she was a member of the American Library Association. When her husband died in 1906 the Board of Trustees of the Buffalo Public Library made Elmendorf vice-librarian. In 1911 Elmendorf was elected president of the American Library Association, the first woman ever to be nominated for this position. [Thomison, p. 280 "The death of her husband in 1906 forced Theresa Elmendorf to end her unpaid status, and for the next 20 years she held the position of Vice-Librarian at the Buffalo Public Library. Her new role also meant an increased participation in the American Library Association; in 1911–12 she served as its President, the first woman to hold that position."] She was in this position from May 24, 1911, to July 2, 1912. [ Bulletin of the American Library Association. Volume 6 No. 4 ]

Later life and death

Elmendorf retired in 1926. After this time she wrote, edited and published many bibliographies and reading lists, including some specifically on poets and poetry. She worked on these until her death in 1932. In 1951 the Library Journal selected Elmendorf for its Library Hall of Fame.

Mary E. Hazeltine of the University of Wisconsin Library System wrote of Elmendorf, cquote| "Many librarians in important postions today have carried on because she awakened their appreciation of books and opened up for them insight into new realms. She was a stimulating guide and a vitalizing teacher, as well as a great librarian."

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Persondata
NAME = Elmendorf, Theresa West
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = West, Theresa; West, Theresa Hubbel
SHORT DESCRIPTION = librarian
DATE OF BIRTH = November 1, 1855
PLACE OF BIRTH = Pardeeville, Wisconsin
DATE OF DEATH = September 4, 1932
PLACE OF DEATH = Buffalo, New York