Marie-Claire Daveluy (1880–1968)

Marie-Claire Daveluy was a Montreal-based librarian whose career spanned three decades in which she made a number of important contributions to Canadian library science. In 1937, she co-founded the École de bibliothécaires at the Université de Montréal. She served as this school’s chair for several years and sought to combine American library techniques within a French-Canadian context. Daveluy also helped establish the Association canadienne des bibliothécaires de langue française in 1943. A noted literary figure, her novels and short works for youth and children won her a number of meritorious awards. Daveluy pioneering efforts succeeded within a male dominated profession that adhered to moral and religious principles prescribed by the Catholic Church which governed many political and social institutions in Quebec before the 1960s “Quiet Revolution.”

Her portrait is taken from L'Académie canadienne-française by Victor Barbeau (Montréal, c.1963), p 41. My biography appeared earlier at the Ex Libris Association site in 2020.

 Marie-Claire Daveluy

Born August 15, 1880, Montreal; Died January 21, 1968, Montreal.

Education:
Hochelaga Convent, Montreal
1920 Diploma in librarianship (McGill University summer library school)
1943 LL.D. (Université de Montréal)

Positions:
1920–1944 Assistant librarian, Bibliothèque municipale de Montréal
1932–1941 Head of cataloguing, Bibliothèque municipale de Montréal
Director of studies (1937–1942) and professor at the École de Bibliothécaires, Montréal

Publications (major contributions):
Daveluy, Marie-Claire (1919). L’orphelinat catholique de Montréal : en appendice la Société des dames de charité de 1827. Montréal: Imprimé au Devoir.
Daveluy, Marie-Claire (1923). Les aventures de Perrine et de Charlot. Montréal: Bibliothèque de l'Action française.
Daveluy, Marie-Claire (1926). Le filleul du roi Grolo suivi de La médaille de la Vierge. Montréal: Bibliothèque de l'Action française.
Daveluy, Marie-Claire and Jacques Laurent (1934). Jeanne Mance. Montréal: Albert Lévesque.
Daveluy, Marie-Claire (1936). Une révolte au pays des fées. Montréal: Albert Lévesque.
Daveluy, Marie-Claire (1938). Charlot à la Mission des martyrs. Montréal: Librairie Granger Frères.
Daveluy, Marie-Claire (1940). Le Richelieu héroïque: les jours tragiques de 1837. Montréal: Librairie Granger Frères.
Daveluy , Marie-Claire (1940). “L’École de bibliothécaires de l'Université de Montréal.” Culture: sciences religieuses et sciences profanes au Canada 1 (1) avril: 13-18.
Daveluy, Marie Claire (1944). ‘Les jeux dramatiques de l”histoire’; Que disaient nos aieules?; Le ‘Général” Vallières; Une visite inattendue; trois pièces en un acte. Montréal: Libr. Granger Fre’res.
Daveluy, Marie-Claire (1945). “L’École de bibliothécaires: son but — son enseignement.” L’Action Universitaire: Revue Des Diplômés de l’Université de Montréal 11 (10) juin: 119-125.
Daveluy, Marie-Claire (1947). “Ma carrière.” La bonne parole 37, no. 3 (mars): 3–7 and 37, no. 4 (avril): 6–9.
Daveluy, Marie-Claire (1948).“ L’École de bibliothécaires: son histoire, ses buts, ses initiatives,” Lectures: revue mensuelle de bibliographie critique 3, no 5 (janvier): 303–309.
Daveluy, Marie-Claire (1949). Essai d'un code de classement en langue française. Montréal: Éditions Fides.
Daveluy, Marie -Claire (1952). Instructions pour la rédaction des catalogues de bibliothèques. Montréal: Éditions Fides [vol. 1].
Daveluy, Marie-Claire and Jacques Laurent (1962). Jeanne Mance, 1606-1673. 2. éd., rev. et mise à jour. Montréal: Fides.
Daveluy, Marie-Claire (1965). La Société de Notre Dame de Montréal, 1639-1663: son histoire, ses membres, son manifeste. Montréal: Fides.

Associations:
Vice-President, Association canadienne des bibliothécaires de langue française.
Membership, executive and honorary positions in various associations: Académie canadienne-française, Société des écrivains canadiens, Fédération nationale Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Société historique de Montréal, Orphelinat Catholique.

Awards and Accomplishments:
Marie-Claire Daveluy was a literary author, librarian, bibliographer, and historian. She is likely best known as the author of popular children’s works exemplified by Les Aventures de Perrine et de Charlot. Her stories were based on historical themes and provided a moral compass for young children.
During her lifetime she was often at the forefront of cultural life and was accorded many honours.
—The first female member of the Société historique de Montréal in 1917.
—Prix David (Province of Quebec) awarded for literary merit in 1924 and 1934.
—Prix de l'Académie Française, Paris, awarded in 1934 for Jeanne Mance.
—Co-founder with Aegidius Fauteux, Émile Deguire, and Paul-Aimé Martin, of the École de Bibliothécaires de l'Université de Montréal.
—She helped found the Association canadienne des bibliothèques d'institutions in 1943 [known as the Association canadienne des bibliothécaires de langue française after 1948].
—Founding member of Académie canadienne-française in 1944.
—As a member of the Conseil de l’École de Bibliothécaires, she was a signatory to the declaration, “Les bibliothèques dans la province de Québec,” in 1944 which emphasized the public library as a responsible provincial educational institution for rural and urban communities.
—Médaille du centenaire, Société historique de Montréal awarded in 1958.
—Parc Marie-Claire-Daveluy, a small streetside spot in Montreal, was named in her honour in 1987.

Sources:
Chabot, Juliette (1968). “Marie-Claire Daveluy (1880-1968), bibliothécaire et femme de lettres.” Bulletin de l’Association canadienne des bibliothécaires de langue française 14(1): 12–15.
Morisset, Auguste Marie (1977). “Marie-Claire Daveluy, bibliothécaire, bibliographe, écrivain.” In Livre, bibliothèque et culture québécoise;: mélanges offerts à Edmond Desrochers, edited by Georges-Aimé Chartrand, vol. 1: pp. 405–423. Montréal: Asted.
Grivel, Marie-Hélène (2016). “Créer une littérature nationale au Québec: l’impact des textes de Marie-Claire Daveluy, de La presse aux sagas.” Strenae no. 11 (October).
Bienvenue, Louise (2018). “Marie-Claire Daveluy (1880-1968), historienne des femmes.” Histoire sociale/Social History, 51 (November): 329–352, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/his.2018.0029.
Lajeunesse, Marcel, Éric Leroux, and Marie D. Martel (2020). Pour une histoire des femmes bibliothécaires au Québec: portraits et parcours de vies professionnelles, “Marie-Claire Daveluy, bibliothécaire de carrière,” pp. 43–75. Québec, Presse de l'Université du Québec.

There is an excellent French language biography with a short English translation at Marie-Claire Daveluy in Wikipédia. Accessed December 17, 2021.

Mary Kinley Ingraham (1874—1949)

 Mary Kinley Ingraham was the chief librarian at Acadia University from 1917-1944 at a time when very few females headed academic libraries in North America. Fittingly, her achievements include literary works as well as academic publications. As an acknowledged leader in Maritime librarianship, she was one of the founders of the Maritime Library Association in 1918. Ingraham was also an innovator: under her guidance, Acadia launched a pioneering bookmobile service to three provinces in 1930.

My biography appeared earlier in 2015 in the Ex Libris Association biography website. The image from the Acadia University archives is taken from Tanja Harrison’s article, “The courage to connect: Mary Kinley Ingraham and the development of libraries in the Maritimes” (p. 80).

Mary Kinley Ingraham

Born March 6, 1874, Cape Wolfe (or West Cape), PEI. Died November 19, 1949, Livermore, Maine, USA

Education:
1899 Graduate of Acadia Ladies’ Seminary
1915 BA (Acadia University)
1916 MA (Acadia University)
1917 Summer course (Simmons College School of Library Science, Boston)

Positions:
c.1897-1905 School teacher in Nova Scotia
1911-1913 School teacher in Massachusetts and Georgia, USA
1917-1944 Chief Librarian, Acadia University
1918-1944 Instructor, library science, Acadia University

Publications:
Ingraham, M.K. (1921). “Italian and English book collectors of the Renaissance.” Dalhousie Review 1, no. 3: 293-300.
Ingraham, M.K. (1920). Acadia; a play in five acts. Wolfville, NS: Davidson Bros.
Ingraham, M.K. (1921). “Librarianship as a profession.” Canadian Bookman n.s., 3, no. 1: 38-40.
Ingraham, M.K. (1931). “The bookmobiles of Acadia University,” Library Journal 56, 15 January: 62-63.
Ingraham, M.K. (1932). A month of dreams. [poetry] Wolfville, NS.: n.p.
Ingraham, M.K. (1940). “Sixth annual conference of the reorganized Maritime Library Association.” Bulletin of the Maritime Library Association 5, no. 2: 2–6.
Ingraham, M.K. (1947). Seventy-five years: historical sketch of the United Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Kentville, NS: n.p.
Ingraham, M.K. (1949). “My favorite books.” Bulletin of the Maritime Library Association 13, no. 2: 1-2.

Associations/Committees:
1918-1944 Secretary-Treasurer, Maritime Library (Institute) Association

Honours:
1947 DCL, Acadia University

Accomplishments:
Mary Kinley Ingraham was a significant public figure in the development of libraries in the Maritime Provinces after she became chief librarian of the Emmerson Memorial Library at Acadia University in 1917. During her quarter century tenure she improved and expanded circulating holdings, special collections, and library services to students and faculty, even during the Great Depression. Trained initially as teacher, she saw the need to institute formal courses on library education as part of the BA program at Acadia for Maritime library students. As well, she inaugurated a bookmobile service in 1930-31 for rural Maritime readers who were not served by public libraries in three provinces. Later, Acadia operated a travelling library service for communities that continued until WW II. Ingraham was one of the founders and secretary-treasurer of the Maritime Library Association (1918-28) which continued in 1934 as the Maritime Library Institute (1935-40) and became the Atlantic Provinces Library Association in 1957. She contributed many short articles to the Association Bulletin. Ingraham also was active on the literary front, publishing two volumes of verse, plays, a history of the Baptist Women’s Union, and serving as editor for the review journal, “Book Parlance,” 1924-29. Upon her retirement she was made Librarian Emeritus.

Comments:
“The best preparation will not make a librarian out of a man or woman who has not innate fitness for the work. No one should seriously consider librarianship as a profession who does not know himself to have in his approach to books the grave, searching attitude of the scholar.” M.K. Ingraham (1920)
“Acadia University at Wolfville in the land of Evangeline, with Mrs. Mary K. Ingraham as its ‘live librarian,’ has been the most active representative of library progress in relation with the Maritime Library Association….” Mary S. Saxe, Library Journal (1927)
“Librarians who had the pleasure of knowing and working with her were charmed and impressed by her personality. She helped us to know one another better through the Bulletin. She gave us the joy at conventions of hearing minutes and reports—written and read—in her own inimitable style.” Dorothy Cullen (1950)

Sources:
Shaw, Beatrice M. H. (1924). “Maritime Librarian,” Maclean’s Magazine, 15 Nov., 37: 68-70.
Beals, Helen D. (1944). “Mrs. Ingraham Retires” Library Journal 69, 1 December, 1961.
Cullen, Dorothy (1950). “Mrs Mary Kinley Ingraham 1874-1949,” Bulletin of the Maritime Library Association 14, no. 2: 1–2.
Elliott, J.H. (1954). “Pioneers! O Pioneers! 4. Mary Kinley Ingraham.” Canadian Library Association Bulletin 10, June, 261.
Harrison, Tanja. (2012). “The courage to connect: Mary Kinley Ingraham and the development of libraries in the Maritimes.” Library & Information History 28, no. 2: 75-102.
Bird, Kym (2005). “In the beauty of holiness, from the womb of the morning: allegory, morality, and politics in Mary Kinley Ingraham’s Acadia,” Theatre Research in Canada 26, no. 1-2: 26-55.
Mary Kinley Ingraham Fonds, Acadia University Archives, Accession No. 1944.0

The Mary Kinley Ingraham biographic entry in Canada's Early Womens Writers provides extensive information on her family and literary career.

Helen Gordon Stewart (1879–1971)

Helen Gordon Stewart was an early, important influential leader in Canadian librarianship, especially in western Canada. She had an ongoing relationship with the Carnegie Corporation of New York which saw her famously promote and administer the formation of the Fraser Valley Library in the early 1930s. As well, she was a recognized expert in regional library development in the southern United States where she taught at the Louisiana State Library School and worked as a consultant in South Carolina. No less important was her work with the Carnegie Corporation and British Council in Trinidad Tobago. There is an international quality to her accomplishments that is matched only by Toronto’s chief librarian, George Herbert Locke in the first half of the 20th century.

I created this bio in 2018 for the Ex Libris Association website. The image is taken from As We Remember It; Interviews with Pioneering Librarians of British Columbia (p.16).

Helen Gordon Stewart

Born Dec. 19, 1879, Fletcher (Chatham-Kent) ON; Died April 5, 1971, Vancouver, BC

Education:
????-1908 Teacher training (Central Normal School, Winnipeg, Manitoba)
1908-1909 Library training diploma (New York Public Library School)
1926 BSc (Teachers College, Columbia University)
1927 AM (Columbia University, Social Science)
1928 PhD (Columbia University, Social Science)

Positions:
????-1908 School teacher in Carman, Manitoba
1909-1910 Children’s librarian, New York Public Library
1911-1912 Assistant Librarian, Victoria Public Library
1912-1924 Chief Librarian, Victoria Public Library
1916-1917 Medical war service in London, England, and France
1927-1928 Acting Head, Department of Sociology, Wells College, New York
1930-1934 Director for the Carnegie sponsored Fraser Valley Regional Library Demonstration
1934-1936 Director for the Carnegie British Columbia Public Library extension program
1936-1938 Acting Associate Director and Professor, Graduate School of Library Science, Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge
1939 Consultant, South Carolina large county and unit development
1940-1948 Director, Trinidad and Tobago Central Library Service and British Council regional library development for the British West Indies

Publications:
Stewart, Helen G. (1911). “Cooperation among the libraries of the northwest.” In Proceedings of the third annual conference of the Pacific Northwest Library Association, Victoria, British Columbia, September 4, 5, and 6, p. 61–64. Seattle, Wash.: Dearborn Press.
Stewart, Helen G. (1920). “Regional and county libraries.” Public Libraries 25 (10): 387–388. [synopsis]
Stewart, Helen G. (1927). Adult education and the library. MA thesis, New York: Columbia University. Social Science.
Stewart, Helen Gordon (1934). “A dramatic moment?” Library Journal 59 (1 April): 306–307.
Stewart, Helen G. (1934). “Advantages and difficulties in the administration of a regional library unit.” American Library Association Bulletin 28 (9): 604–608.
Stewart, Helen G. (1934). “Fraser Valley demonstration.” American Library Association Bulletin 28 (9): 637–638.
Stewart, Helen G. 1934). “Fraser Valley library.” Ontario Library Review 18 (4): 146–149.
Stewart, Helen Gordon (1934). “Social trends.” Bulletin of the American Library Association 28 (9): 484–489.
Stewart, Helen G. (1936). “British Columbia and tax-supported regional units.” Bulletin of the American Library Association 30 (8): 692–694. [abridged address]
Stewart, Helen Gordon (1936). “Uniting a rural region.” Bulletin of the American Library Association 30 (8): 748–750.
Stewart, Helen G. (1936). “Vote for regional libraries.” Bulletin of the American Library Association 30 (3): 194.
Stewart, Helen G. (1936). “Regional libraries in British Columbia.” Library Journal 61 (20): 876–878.
Stewart, Helen G. (1936). “Schools and the regional library.” Bulletin of the American Library Association 30 (10): 927–934.
Stewart, Helen Gordon (1936). “What regionalism means.” In Papers and proceedings of the Southwestern Library Association, eighth biennial meeting, October 21, 22, 23, 24, 1936, Houston, Texas, p. 59–65. Houston, Texas: [The Association].
Stewart, Helen Gordon (1937). “Regional library development.” In Library trends; papers presented before the Library Institute at the University of Chicago, August 3-15, 1936, ed. by Louis R. Wilson, p. 87–104. Chicago: University of Chicago.
Stewart, Helen G. (1940). “Regions in perspective.” American Library Association Bulletin 34 (2): 95–96, 147–148.
Stewart Helen G. (1949). “The regional library of the eastern Caribbean.” Pacific Northwest Library Quarterly 14 (1): 27–30.

Associations/Committees:
1917-1919 and 1932 President, British Columbia Library Association
1919-1922 Member, British Columbia Public Library Commission
1920-1921 President, Pacific Northwest Library Association

Accomplishments:
When she was approaching the age of ninety, Helen Gordon Stewart was asked about using a power mower to cut her lawn. “I supply the power” she responded, a statement that sums up her entire career. She was a dynamic factor in British Columbia for three decades: the 1919 Public Libraries Act, formation of the Public Library Commission, as well as regional and union library systems were very much the results of her hard work. She was the second woman to hold the presidency of a library association in Canada, being nominated in September 1917 only a few months after Mary Black in Ontario. In the late 1920s, she furthered her education by working her way through university while acquiring a doctorate in sociology at Columbia. Subsequently, the Carnegie Corporation (New York) and British Columbia Public Library Commission selected her to head a successful project in the Fraser Valley region. After she ‘retired’ to Saanich near Victoria at the outset of the Second World War to do volunteer war work, she was enticed by the Carnegie Corporation to repeat her earlier regional successes in the Caribbean islands of the British West Indies, especially Trinidad and Tobago. Because most of her work was completed by the end of the Second World War, she is truly recognized as a pioneer whose accomplishments in Canadian librarianship laid the foundation for others to build upon.

Honours:
1954 Honourary member of Pacific Northwest Library Association
1963 Honourary member of the Canadian Library Association
The British Columbia Library Association adjudicates the Helen Gordon Stewart Award. This award recognizes an outstanding career in librarianship involving achievements that brings honour to the entire profession. It also confers Honourary Life Membership in the BCLA.

Comments:
Howard Overend summarized Dr. Gordon’s career by stating: “Her work was a seminal force in the ruralisation of public library service in Canada and abroad, showing that a large tax-supported unit of service (a single purpose authority) was the most effective way to serve the library needs of people in several autonomous communities at the lowest cost.”

Sources:
Morrison, Charles Keith. (1950). “Helen Gordon Stewart, library pioneer.” Food for Thought 9 (6): 11–16 and 20.
“B.C. Woman pioneered libraries in many lands.” Toronto Globe and Mail, April 9, 1960: 10.
Gilroy, Marion and Sam Rothstein, eds. (1970). As we remember it; Interviews with pioneering librarians of British Columbia, p. 16–48. Vancouver: University of British Columbia School of Librarianship.

B. Mabel Dunham (1881–1957)

 Along with Mary Black, Mabel Dunham, the chief librarian at Kitchener (previously Berlin) from 1908–44, is notable for assuming a leadership role in Ontario's public libraries shortly after the First World War. After graduating with a BA in 1908 from Victoria College in Toronto, she trained at the recently formed summer library school at McGill University under the direction of Charles Gould, who was also serving as the president of the American Library Association in 1908–09. Mabel Dunham was the second female president of the Ontario Library Association in 1920–21. My earlier blog post this year covered her presidential address. Throughout her career she expanded services in Kitchener, notably for children's programming.

I originally posted this biographical synopsis of Mabel Dunham for the Ex Libris Association several years ago in 2016. The post also continues on the current ELA website. The image is taken from the The Ontario Library Association: An Historical Sketch 1900–1925 (p. 106).

Bertha Mabel Dunham

Born May 29, 1881, Minto Twp. (near Harriston), ON. Died June 21, 1957, Kitchener, ON

Education:
1908 BA (Victoria College, University of Toronto)
1908 McGill University summer school for librarians

Positions:
1898–1904 Elementary teacher, Berlin Model School (now Suddaby Public School)
1908–1944 Chief Librarian, Kitchener Public Library
1911–1912 and 1914 Chief instructor at Ontario Department of Education training course for librarianship

Publications:
Dunham, B. Mabel (1910). “Leaves from the diary of a librarian.” Acta Victoriana 33: 270–276.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1910). “Methods of reaching the people.” Proceedings of the Ontario Library Association Annual Meeting: 68–76.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1912). “The Ontario Library Summer School, 1911.” Proceedings of the Ontario Library Association Annual Meeting: 63–66.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1915). “The library and the school.” The School: a Magazine Devoted to Elementary and Secondary Education 4, no. 2: 118–120.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1917). “What is the place and use of newspapers and periodicals in our public libraries in towns.” Proceedings of the Ontario Library Association Annual Meeting: 68–76.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1918). “William Wilfred Campbell, 1861–1918: An appreciation.” Waterloo Historical Society Annual Report 6: 44–47.
Dunham, B. Mabel (Jan. 1924). “Some ‘plain’ people of Canada.” Canadian Magazine 62: 188–195.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1927). “The public school and the public library.” Proceedings of the Ontario Educational Association Annual Meeting held at Toronto, 18th–21st April, 1927: 66–76.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1934). “Kitchener (Berlin) Public Library [history].” Typescript.
Dunham B. Mabel (1937). “Co-operation in the libraries of Waterloo County.” Ontario Library Review 21, no. 3: 120–122.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1938). “Waterloo County’s library scheme.” Ontario Library Review 22, no. 3: 197–199.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1945). “The Mid-European backgrounds of Waterloo County.” Ontario Historical Society Papers and Records 37: 59–70.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1945). “The story of Conestoga.” Waterloo Historical Society Annual Report 33: 16–23.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1948). “The Pequegnat family.” Waterloo Historical Society Annual Report 36: 50–55.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1950). “Beginnings in Ontario.” Mennonite Life 5, no. 4: 14–16.

Literary works:
Dunham, B. Mabel (1924). The trail of the Conestoga. Toronto: Macmillan.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1927). Toward Sodom. Toronto: Macmillan.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1931). The trail of the king’s men. Toronto: Ryerson Press.
Dunham, B. Mabel, ed. (1941). So great a heritage: historical narrative of Trinity United Church, 1841–1941. Kitchener: Trinity United Church.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1945). Grand River. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
Dunham, B. Mabel (1948). Kristli’s trees. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.

Associations/Committees:
1920–1921 President, Ontario Library Association
1922–1924 President, K-W University Women’s Club (also 1932–1934)
1947–50 President, Waterloo Historical Society

Honours:
1947 DLitt, University of Western Ontario
1948 Book of the Year Medal for “Kristil’s Trees” awarded by Canadian Association of Children’s Librarians
1953, the City of Kitchener declared her birthday to be ‘B. Mabel Dunham Day’ in tribute to all her contributions to the city.
The Kitchener-Waterloo Federation of University Women administers the Dr. B. Mabel Dunham Award for female high school graduates.
Dunham is inducted as a member of the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame.

Accomplishments:
Mabel Dunham was the first trained chief librarian appointed to lead an Ontario public library. She was the third woman to be president of a provincial library association in Canada. She was the first woman to serve on a public board in Kitchener, being twice elected to the public school board. She was one of the early leaders in efforts to train and educate librarians in Ontario before World War I. She helped organize systematic cooperation to distribute books throughout Waterloo County in the late 1930s prior to the formation of a county library service. She was one of the founders of Kitchener’s Women’s Canadian Club (later president); president (and founder) of the Waterloo Historical Society; and a founder of the K-W Business and Professional Women’s Club.
Dunham wrote five books depicting the history and heritage of her region. Her first novels, “Trail of the Conestoga” and “Toward Sodom,” described the migration of the Mennonites to the K-W area centered in Berlin (now Kitchener). The “Trail of the King’s Men” recounted the arrival of the United Empire Loyalists from the United States. The “Grand River” was an exploration of a river and its surrounding countryside. “Kristli’s Trees” was an enjoyable story of a Mennonite boy and his family on a small farm illustrated by Selwyn Dewdney.
Although Dunham made no major contribution to librarianship on a national scale, she greatly influenced its development on a local scale through the force of her personality as well as making a noteworthy literary contribution to regional historical fiction.

Sources:
Kitchener Public Library holds information on Dunham and there are library board minutes for her tenure. The Ontario Archives has some speeches and correspondence as part of the Ontario Library Association records.
Banting, Constance (1928). “Mabel Dunham.” Ontario Library Review 12, no. 2: 66.
“Honour to Whom Honour is Due” (1953). Waterloo Historical Society Annual Report 41: 7–8.
Snider, Lillian (Aug. 1954). “Miss Mabel Dunham.” Ontario Library Review 38, no. 3: 221–24.
Shoemaker, Dorothy and Grace Schmidt (1989). “Dr. B. Mabel Dunham (1881–1957).” Ex Libris News no. 5: 5–7.
Taylor, Ryan (1981). “Mabel Dunham’s Centenary.” Waterloo Historical Society Annual Report 69: 13–25 [extensive bibliography].

Also, my earlier post on Mabel Dunham's address about librarianship as a profession for women to the Ontario Library Association in 1921.

Mary J.L. Black (1879—1939)

Earlier this year I posted comments and excerpts from Mary Black’s presidential address at the Ontario Library Association in 1918. Mary Black was the first female president of a library association in Canada. As background for her career, I am adding a biographical piece that provides basic facts about her library career. I composed this biography for the Ex Libris Association in 2016 and it also appears on this association's website. The image above is taken from the 1908 Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society (p. 6) of which she was a long-standing member of the executive.

Mary Black was an inspirational force for improved library service to everyone in the old city of Fort William and its environs (today Thunder Bay). Service for people was her mantra. She was active in community and library and organizations, including the American Library Association extension services. In a time before national and provincial library associations formed across Canada, she was a progressive, regional force for librarianship, even in the gloomy years of the Great Depression.

Mary Johanna Louisa Black

Born Apr. 1, 1879, Uxbridge, ON. Died Jan. 4, 1939, Vancouver, BC

Education:
Received informal `homeschooling` in her youth
Attended (but did not complete) the first Ontario Department of Education one-month summer training course for librarianship at Toronto in June 1911

Positions:
1909–1937 Chief Librarian, Fort William Public Library
1917 Lecturer, Department of Education two-month training course in librarianship

Publications:
Black, Mary (1911/1912). “Our public library.” Papers and Annual Reports of the Thunder Bay Historical Society 3: 6–7.
Black, Mary (1913). “Books for girls.” Proceedings of the Ontario Library Association Annual Meeting: 74–79.
Black, Mary (1915). “Town survey in theory and practice.” Proceedings of the OLA Annual Meeting: 72–80.
Black, Mary (1916). “The library and the girl.” Ontario Library Review 1: 8–9.
Black, Mary (1917). “What seems to me an important aspect of the work of public libraries at the present time.” Proceedings of the OLA Annual Meeting: 30–34.
Black, Mary (1918). “Concerning some popular fallacies.” Proceedings of the OLA Annual Meeting: 52–58 (OLA Presidential Address.)
Black, Mary (1918). “Walks and talks with Wilfred Campbell.” Ontario Library Review 3: 30–31.
Black, Mary (1919). “Twentieth century librarianship.” Canadian Bookman n.s.1: 58–59.
Black, Mary (1920). “New library legislation in Ontario.” Canadian Bookman n. s. 2:18–19.
Black, Mary (1921). “Tales through the ages from the banks of the Kaministiquia.” Papers and Annual Reports of the Thunder Bay Historical Society 16–12: 8–10.
Black, Mary (1924). “Early history of the Fort William Public Library.” Papers and Annual Reports of the Thunder Bay Historical Society 16–17: 12–21.
Black, Mary (1924). “Place names in the vicinity of Fort William.” Papers and Annual Reports of the Thunder Historical Society 16–17: 12–21.
Black, Mary (1927). “Canadian library extension meeting”. Proceedings and transactions of the American Library Association, 49th Meeting: 338–340.
Black, Mary. (1928). “Adult education.” Proceedings of the OLA Annual Meeting: 61–64.
Black, Mary (1931). “Ontario libraries.” Ontario Library Review 15:132–138.
Black, Mary (1933). “Publicity for the older books.” Ontario Library Review 17: 5–6.
Black, Mary (1934). “Fort William, Ontario, Public Library.” Library Journal 59: 510–511.
Black, Mary (1935). “Ideal librarian.” Ontario Library Review 19: 125–126.
Ridington, John, Mary J. L. Black and George H. Locke (1933). Libraries in Canada: a study of library conditions and needs. Toronto: Ryerson Press and Chicago ALA.

Associations/Committees:
1917–1918 President, Ontario Library Association
1926–1934 American Library Association, member of Extension Board
1933–1934 American Library Association, chair, Small Libraries Round Table
1934–1937 Canadian Library Council, executive member (ex-officio)
1913–1928 Secretary-Treasurer, Thunder Bay Historical Society
1929–1932 President, Thunder Bay Historical Society
1916–1918 President, Fort William Women's Canadian Club

Honours:
The Mary J.L, Black Branch library, opened in 1938, was named in her honour. It was recently renovated for the second time in 2010 by the Thunder Bay Public Library at a cost of $4 million. It is one of the handful of Canadian libraries constructed during the Great Depression to continue in operation.

Accomplishments:
Mary J.L. Black believed the mission of the public library was essentially utilitarian – to provide the right book to the right reader at the least cost. Her “ideal librarian” was one who held the spirit of public service and knowledge of people alongside the love of books. Libraries should reach out to every citizen and in this regard her work with the non-English speaking immigrant population was particularly noteworthy. Her personal town survey in 1915 to identify library needs exemplified her approach to library service. On a national scale, her work as a member of the Commission of Enquiry, funded by the Carnegie Corporation and conducted in 1930, remains a lasting contribution to Canadian librarianship. In her home city, she was active in local service groups, promotion of history and local political and educational life. The poet, William Wilfred Campbell, was her cousin. She was the first woman to be president of a library association in Canada.

Sources:
Thunder Bay Public Library holds annual reports by Black and there are library board minutes for her tenure. The ALA Archives holds records of her activities and the Carnegie Corporation New York has information on her work on the 1930 Commission.

[Carson, William O.] (1917). “The librarian and library of Fort William.” Ontario Library Review 1: 92–95.
MacBeth, Madge (1918). “A bookish person.” Canadian Magazine 51: 518–520.
“Miss Mary J.L. Black is interviewed by Globe.” Toronto Globe June 18, 1927: 15.
Kirker, Ena. (1927). “The woman who put charm into a public library.” Canadian Magazine 68: 32, 41.
Abbott, Brook (1931). “An accidental librarian: Mary Black of Fort William, Ont.” Canadian Magazine 76: 18, 29.
“Mary J.L. Black dies in Vancouver.” Ontario Library Review 23 (Feb. 1939): 5–7.
Morrison, Ken (1994). “Mary J.L. Black of Fort William library.” Epilogue; Canadian Bulletin for the History of Books, Libraries and Archives 9, no 1: 13–22.
Scollie, Frederick Brent. “Black, Mary Johanna Louisa.” In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 16.
Giles, Suzette (2015). “Libraries named after librarians.” ELAN no. 57 (Spring): 6–7.

My earlier blog on Mary Black's presidential speech is also available.