Restrictions on Access
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Preferred Citation
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Processing Note
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
Scope and Content
Organization and Arrangement
Related Oral History
Related Material
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Miriam Matthews papers
Creator:
Matthews, Miriam
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1804
Physical Description:
9.5 linear feet
(19 boxes, 2 oversize boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1845-1988, bulk 1920-1980
Date (bulk): 1920-1980
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.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Miriam Matthews papers (Collection 1804). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Miriam Matthews family, 2008.
Processing Note
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
Processed by Krystal Appiah in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Kelley Wolfe Bachli,
Summer 2008.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
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Biography
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.
Scope and Content
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.
Organization and Arrangement
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.
Related Oral History
The following oral history is available through the UCLA Library Center for Oral History Research:
Subjects and Indexing Terms
African American women librarians -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archives.
Matthews, Miriam -- Archives
Bunche, Ralph J. (Ralph Johnson)
Pleasant, Mary Ellen
Still, William Grant, 1895-1978.