From JSTOR DAILY

Howard University librarian Dorothy Porter with a student in the 1950s (Courtesy Moorland-Spingarn Research Center/Howard University)

From time to time we post information that we think may be of interest to you, the patrons of our library and library website, that are contained within our plethora of databases. 

Here's an article from JSTOR DAILY discussing Dorothy Porter, "a Black woman pioneer in library and information science."

Porter attended Howard University and from there moved to New York at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. This is where she discovered her passion for preservation. She was the first Black woman to receive an MLS degree from Columbia University. 

According to the article, "Toward the end of her time in the city, Porter accepted an offer from Howard’s president to join the administrative staff as chief librarian. Her objective was to provide improved access to the Moorland-Spingarn Center’s sprawling collections. From her appointment in 1930 until her retirement 43 years later, Porter “devoted herself to developing a modern research library” in service to both the school and “an international community of scholars.”

Click here to read the article in its entirety.

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