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Finding Aid for the Miriam Matthews papers, 1845-1988, bulk 1920-1980
1804
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Title: Miriam Matthews papers
Date (bulk): 1845-1988, bulk 1920-1980
Collection number: 1804
Creator:
Matthews, Miriam.
Extent:
19 boxes (9.5 linear ft.)
2 oversize boxes.
Abstract: Miriam Matthews (1905-2003), the first credentialed African-American librarian in the state of California, was a librarian
at Los Angeles Public Library (1927-1960), a historian of African American and California history, and an active member of
the American and California Library Associations' Committees on Intellectual Freedom. The collection consists of clippings,
correspondence, photographs, reports, ephemera, and other materials relating to intellectual freedom; the Los Angeles Public
Library; Matthews' involvement with professional, civic, community, and historical organizations; and her research on African-American
and California history.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC
Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Miriam Matthews family, 2008.
Processed by Krystal Appiah in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Kelley Wolfe Bachli,
Summer 2008.
[Identification of item], Miriam Matthews papers (Collection Number 1804). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young
Research Library, UCLA.
Miriam Matthews (1905-2003), the first credentialed African-American librarian in the state of California, was a librarian
at Los Angeles Public Library (1927-1960), a historian of African American and California history, and an active member of
the American and California Library Associations' Committees on Intellectual Freedom.
Miriam Matthews was born on August 6, 1905 in Pensacola, Florida and moved to Los Angeles with her family two years later.
After graduating from Los Angeles High School in 1922, Matthews studied at the University of California, Southern Branch (now
UCLA) for two years. She transferred to the University of California, Berkeley where she graduated with a B.A. in 1926 and
a certificate in librarianship in 1927, becoming the first known certified African American librarian in California. Matthews
began her career at the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) in 1927 and became a branch librarian in 1934. She took two leaves
of absence from LAPL, one in 1940 to work at the New York Public Library in a librarian exchange program and another from
1944 to 1945 in order to earn a master's degree in library science from the University of Chicago. In 1949, she was promoted
to regional librarian, a position she held until her retirement from LAPL in 1960.
Matthews was one of the first people to advocate for the establishment of Negro History Week (now African American History
Month) in Los Angeles, leading to its official observance by the City of Los Angeles in 1931. In 1946, she became chairman
of the California Library Association Committee on Intellectual Freedom. The following year, she was appointed to the American
Library Association Committee on Intellectual Freedom (1947-1951) where she contributed to the 1948 revision of the Library
Bill of Rights. In 1977, Gov. Edmund Brown appointed Matthews to the California Heritage Preservation Commission and California
State Historic Records Advisory Board. She contributed to the establishment of an archives and records management program
for the City of Los Angeles in 1979. While a member of the Los Angeles 200 Committee in 1981, Matthews proposed and implemented
the construction of a historical plaque detailing the names, ages, and races of the city founders.
Matthews died in Mercer Island, Washington on June 23, 2003.
In 2003, the Los Angeles Historical Society established the annual Miriam Matthews Award in her honor. The Los Angeles Public
Library Hyde Park branch was renamed for her in 2004.
Collection consists of clippings, correspondence, photographs, reports, ephemera, and other materials relating to intellectual
freedom; Matthews' work at Los Angeles Public Library; her involvement with professional, civic, community, and historical
organizations; and her research on African American and California history. The collection is especially strong in materials
about Titus Alexander, Ralph J. Bunche, Mary Ellen Pleasant, and William Grant Still.
Arranged in the following series:
- Committee work and professional memberships
- Los Angeles Public Library
- Personal papers
- Subject files.
Original file titles were preserved whenever possible.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Matthews, Miriam --Archives.
Bunche, Ralph J. (Ralph Johnson), 1904-1971.
Still, William Grant, 1895-1978.
Pleasant, Mary Ellen, 1814-1904.
African American women librarians --California --Los Angeles --Archival resources.