Thursday, September 18, 2014

This letter has as much occult meaning as the book Which was my grandmother's and is extra special cause ya know all the fires and stuff

I wonder well u know had things gone better it would've really made an interesting link
Because Miss Julia was a supporter of Blacks having books and being able to read 


IDESON, JULIA BEDFORD (1880–1945). Julia Bedford Ideson, pioneer librarian and civic activist, daughter of John Castree and Rosalie (Beasman) Ideson, was born on July 15, 1880, in Hastings, Nebraska. She moved to Houston as a child and later attended the first program in library science offered by the University of Texas. She was appointed librarian of the new Houston Lyceum and Carnegie Library in 1903 and held this position for more than forty years. By the time of her death in 1945, the collection had increased from 13,228 to 265,707 volumes, and annual circulation had risen from 60,000 to 600,000. Her efforts to improve physical facilities had resulted in the addition of five branches, a new Central Library in Spanish Renaissance style, and the first municipal bookmobile in the state.

Julia Ideson served as secretary (1907–09) and president (1910–11) of theTexas Library Association, president of the Southwestern Library Association (1932–34), and first vice president of the American Library Association (1932–33). She served on the Legislative Committee of the Texas Library Association, where she helped to prepare an amendment to the County Library Law of 1915 and opposed a bill that would have abolished the Texas State Library in 1933. Providing library services for blacks in the South was the topic of her address at the American Library Association meeting at Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1923.

Throughout her career, she remained an active supporter of various civic causes and organizations. As a member of the Women's Political Union, she spoke at the first open-air woman suffrage rally in Texas in 1915 and helped to arrange a reception for the visiting Emmeline Pankhurst. Like many suffragists, she turned her attention to the war effort; she campaigned for Liberty Bonds and served eight months at a field library in Brest, France. In later years she was active in such groups as the League of Women Voters, the Houston Open Forum, the Foreign Policy Association, and the Texas Interracial Commission. Her professional and civic achievements brought her recognition in 1929 as the Torchbearer of the Year and in 1932 as the first Houston woman included in Who's Who in America.

Julia Ideson died on July 15, 1945, while on a visit to Pennsylvania. The Central Library building, erected in 1926 and later named in her honor, was renovated and reopened in 1979 to house the archives, special collections, and Texas Room of the Houston Public Library.


No comments:

Post a Comment