Security Pacific Collection, Los Angeles Public Library
How Adelaide Hasse Got Fired: A Feminist History of Librarianship through
the Story of One Difficult Woman, 1889-1953
Adelaide Hasse was one of the most prominent and certainly the most controversial
of the first generation of women librarians in the era of the New Woman. Best
known for her work with government publications, she also was involved in most
of the major issues of a developing profession, seldom missing an opportunity
to make provocative comments. Her career swung dramatically between highs and
lows, most notably in being summarily dismissed by New York Public Library after
twenty-one years of distinguished service, but she always fought back and bounced
back. Clare Beck, author of The New Woman as Librarian: the Career of Adelaide
Hasse (Scarecrow Press, 2006), will discuss her experience in researching and
writing the life of a woman librarian and suggest how biography can both illuminate
the construction of a gendered profession and provide fresh perspective on issues
of continuing concern to librarians.
Clare Beck is emeritus professor at Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti,
where she served for many years as a government documents librarian.
WHAT: How Adelaide Hasse Got Fired: A Feminist History of Librarianship through
the Story of One Difficult Woman, 1889-1953
WHEN: Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 1:00 - 3:00pm
WHERE: Suzzallo & Allen Libraries, Petersen Room (4th Floor Allen North),
University of Washington campus
QUESTIONS: E-mail Government Publications, govpub@u.washington.edu,
or Cass Hartnett, U.S. Documents Librarian, 206-685-3130.
For a poster of this event, click here.
For an audiorecording of this event, click here.
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Last modified:
Friday April 10, 2009
