Ruth Brown (librarian)
Encyclopedia
Ruth Brown was an American
librarian
, best known for her dismissal from service for civil rights
activities in the late 1940s. On July 25, 1950, she was dismissed after 30 years of service as the Bartlesville, Oklahoma
public librarian. She was accused of providing "subversive" materials to the public and indoctrinating children against the principles of America. However, it was widely regarded at the time that her dismissal was in response to her activities promoting the equality of African-Americans during a time when the leading citizens of the city were not ready to face equality for all..
on July 26, 1891. She attended high school in California
and then Northwestern State Normal School in Alva, Oklahoma
where she graduated in 1910. After a couple of teaching jobs, she moved to Bartlesville to be closer to her parents. In November 1919 she accepted the job as the library director of the Carnegie Library in Bartlesville. She felt a calling to her work and said she would not marry because the library was "like a marriage to her." She was passionate about the children who visited the library and knew them all by name.
Active in the Oklahoma Library Association (OLA), Brown was elected secretary in 1920, treasurer in 1926 and president in 1931. During her presidential year she gave a speech which promoted librarians to "reduce to a minimum worry about lost books" and to encourage the many who did not "make use of their right to library service." She stated that libraries should provide "recreational culture suited to all needs" of the community they served which was a forward thinking idea for libraries at that time. Like Ranganathan's first law , she believed books were for use and wanted "books worn out by use." Brown truly believed that the library should be both a repository for information and a source for wholesome recreation.
. The group quickly went into action working to recruit an African-American doctor to live and work in the black community of Bartlesville. They, together with the YWCA, sponsored interracial conferences and seminars featuring black and white speakers.
In the library, Brown had been providing service to African Americans since the 1920s. Records show borrower's names in the registry and a small number are identified as "colored". By 1950, the library subscribed to Ebony and Negro Digest. Apparently, Brown was also interested in integrating the children's story time but was dissuaded from doing so by the library commission. She then turned her attention to an educational exhibit on "Negro Culture from Africa to Today". On a personal note, Brown was pushing the cultural norms and limits in many ways. She upset the entire community when she took two female, African-American teachers to a local diner in downtown Bartlesville. The diner refused to serve them and Brown and her companions staged what became known as a "sit-in" during the 1960s Civil Rights protests. She took African-American friends with her to church and promoted a lecture by Bayard Rustin, an African-American Quaker pacifist. Almost immediately the leaders of the community began to work to remove Brown.
A citizens' committee was formed to work towards her dismissal. Though it now seems apparent that the true reason behind the anger in the community was a backlash against integration, at the time even the city leaders and commission realized that Brown could not be fired because of her political views and her civil rights activities as they all took place on her own time. Instead, the citizen's group against Brown attacked her for having supposedly subversive materials in the library. The library board was asked by the city commission to perform a complete examination of the library's collection and the general operations and work ethic of Brown. After a through examination, the library board reported that they could not find any evidence of subversive materials or subversive teachings. On March 9, 1950, The Bartlesville paper, the Examiner-Enterprise, published a picture of the materials in question. The picture showed a pile of Nations and New Republics (magazines that were now being questioned but which had been subscribed to by the library for years) with two books on top. The first book was "The Russians: The land, the people and why they fight" and other was pictured without its dust jacket or any library markings. There was never any acknowledgement or admittance by the paper of where this picture was taken. It had not been authorized by the library board and the books on top could never again be located. The library board, the American Library Associations' Intellectual Freedom Committee and Brown were locked in a battle with the Bartlesville city leaders.
On July 10, the city commission thanked the library board for its service and summarily dismissed them all. A new board was immediately appointed which supported the city's position regarding Brown. The campaign to fire her was almost complete and though "everyone knows what they are really fighting" as Brown later commented to a friend, her opponents chose the McCarthy era scare tactics as a more viable way to rid the city of her progressive views on racial equality. Brown was interviewed by the city commission on July 25, 1950. She refused to answer questions about her private life except in writing at her attorney's request. When asked about having the subversive materials (New Republic, The Nation, Soviet Russia Today) in the library she responded that they were three of seventy-five publications to which she subscribed. Further, she continued, she did not feel she should censor what her public chose to read and that she had subscribed to them for 15 or 20 years. However, in spite of no clear evidence of subversion, she was fired the same day.
Though the Bartlesville commissions' public position was that Brown was fired for insubordination, to the outside it appeared she had been fired for trying to protect the library's position of intellectual freedom and the right to free speech. A group of supporters, calling themselves the Friends of Miss Brown, tried to pursue her cause in court but were unsuccessful due to the lack of constitutional standing. Though she was unsuccessful, her Friends managed to keep her firing in the public eye for quite some time. The Oklahoma Library Association as well as the ALA and the ACLU all protested the attack on intellectual freedom and Bartlesville continued to be scrutinized on a national level. This attention surprised and somewhat embarrassed the town which wished to go back to the way things were and end the bright and unpleasant spotlight on Bartlesville.
On March 11, 2007 a bronze bust of Brown was unveiled at the Bartlesville Library and a library scholarship fund was established in her honor.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
, best known for her dismissal from service for civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
activities in the late 1940s. On July 25, 1950, she was dismissed after 30 years of service as the Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Bartlesville is a city in Osage and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 43,070 at the 2010 census. Bartlesville is located forty-seven miles north of Tulsa and very close to Oklahoma's northern border with Kansas. It is the county seat of Washington County, in...
public librarian. She was accused of providing "subversive" materials to the public and indoctrinating children against the principles of America. However, it was widely regarded at the time that her dismissal was in response to her activities promoting the equality of African-Americans during a time when the leading citizens of the city were not ready to face equality for all..
Life
Brown was born in Hiawatha, KansasHiawatha, Kansas
Hiawatha is the largest city and county seat of Brown County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,172. It is the largest city on U.S. Route 36 between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Denver, Colorado.Hiawatha is named after a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
on July 26, 1891. She attended high school in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and then Northwestern State Normal School in Alva, Oklahoma
Alva, Oklahoma
Alva is a city in Woods County, Oklahoma, along the Salt Fork Arkansas River. The population was 4,945 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Woods County....
where she graduated in 1910. After a couple of teaching jobs, she moved to Bartlesville to be closer to her parents. In November 1919 she accepted the job as the library director of the Carnegie Library in Bartlesville. She felt a calling to her work and said she would not marry because the library was "like a marriage to her." She was passionate about the children who visited the library and knew them all by name.
Active in the Oklahoma Library Association (OLA), Brown was elected secretary in 1920, treasurer in 1926 and president in 1931. During her presidential year she gave a speech which promoted librarians to "reduce to a minimum worry about lost books" and to encourage the many who did not "make use of their right to library service." She stated that libraries should provide "recreational culture suited to all needs" of the community they served which was a forward thinking idea for libraries at that time. Like Ranganathan's first law , she believed books were for use and wanted "books worn out by use." Brown truly believed that the library should be both a repository for information and a source for wholesome recreation.
Activities leading to dismissal
Brown had long worked for equal rights for all citizens. As early as the 1920s she was working to allow equal access to the library for African-Americans. In 1946, after the observing how the African-American soldiers fought in the army for rights they were denied at home, Brown joined the Committee on the Practice of Democracy (COPD). The COPD worked to improve "relations among people of all races; more particularly, to foster improvement of conditions arising out of discrimination based on race, creed, or color." Later the same year, the Bartlesville chapter of COPD decided to affiliate with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) becoming the only chapter of CORE below the Mason-Dixon LineMason-Dixon line
The Mason–Dixon Line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America. It forms a demarcation line among four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and...
. The group quickly went into action working to recruit an African-American doctor to live and work in the black community of Bartlesville. They, together with the YWCA, sponsored interracial conferences and seminars featuring black and white speakers.
In the library, Brown had been providing service to African Americans since the 1920s. Records show borrower's names in the registry and a small number are identified as "colored". By 1950, the library subscribed to Ebony and Negro Digest. Apparently, Brown was also interested in integrating the children's story time but was dissuaded from doing so by the library commission. She then turned her attention to an educational exhibit on "Negro Culture from Africa to Today". On a personal note, Brown was pushing the cultural norms and limits in many ways. She upset the entire community when she took two female, African-American teachers to a local diner in downtown Bartlesville. The diner refused to serve them and Brown and her companions staged what became known as a "sit-in" during the 1960s Civil Rights protests. She took African-American friends with her to church and promoted a lecture by Bayard Rustin, an African-American Quaker pacifist. Almost immediately the leaders of the community began to work to remove Brown.
A citizens' committee was formed to work towards her dismissal. Though it now seems apparent that the true reason behind the anger in the community was a backlash against integration, at the time even the city leaders and commission realized that Brown could not be fired because of her political views and her civil rights activities as they all took place on her own time. Instead, the citizen's group against Brown attacked her for having supposedly subversive materials in the library. The library board was asked by the city commission to perform a complete examination of the library's collection and the general operations and work ethic of Brown. After a through examination, the library board reported that they could not find any evidence of subversive materials or subversive teachings. On March 9, 1950, The Bartlesville paper, the Examiner-Enterprise, published a picture of the materials in question. The picture showed a pile of Nations and New Republics (magazines that were now being questioned but which had been subscribed to by the library for years) with two books on top. The first book was "The Russians: The land, the people and why they fight" and other was pictured without its dust jacket or any library markings. There was never any acknowledgement or admittance by the paper of where this picture was taken. It had not been authorized by the library board and the books on top could never again be located. The library board, the American Library Associations' Intellectual Freedom Committee and Brown were locked in a battle with the Bartlesville city leaders.
On July 10, the city commission thanked the library board for its service and summarily dismissed them all. A new board was immediately appointed which supported the city's position regarding Brown. The campaign to fire her was almost complete and though "everyone knows what they are really fighting" as Brown later commented to a friend, her opponents chose the McCarthy era scare tactics as a more viable way to rid the city of her progressive views on racial equality. Brown was interviewed by the city commission on July 25, 1950. She refused to answer questions about her private life except in writing at her attorney's request. When asked about having the subversive materials (New Republic, The Nation, Soviet Russia Today) in the library she responded that they were three of seventy-five publications to which she subscribed. Further, she continued, she did not feel she should censor what her public chose to read and that she had subscribed to them for 15 or 20 years. However, in spite of no clear evidence of subversion, she was fired the same day.
Though the Bartlesville commissions' public position was that Brown was fired for insubordination, to the outside it appeared she had been fired for trying to protect the library's position of intellectual freedom and the right to free speech. A group of supporters, calling themselves the Friends of Miss Brown, tried to pursue her cause in court but were unsuccessful due to the lack of constitutional standing. Though she was unsuccessful, her Friends managed to keep her firing in the public eye for quite some time. The Oklahoma Library Association as well as the ALA and the ACLU all protested the attack on intellectual freedom and Bartlesville continued to be scrutinized on a national level. This attention surprised and somewhat embarrassed the town which wished to go back to the way things were and end the bright and unpleasant spotlight on Bartlesville.
On March 11, 2007 a bronze bust of Brown was unveiled at the Bartlesville Library and a library scholarship fund was established in her honor.