{"id":32051,"date":"2022-03-10T14:05:41","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T19:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bapl.org\/?p=32051"},"modified":"2022-03-10T14:17:10","modified_gmt":"2022-03-10T19:17:10","slug":"nine-prominent-women-the-founding-of-bapl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bapl.org\/nine-prominent-women-the-founding-of-bapl\/","title":{"rendered":"“Nine Prominent Women” – the founding of BAPL"},"content":{"rendered":"

We were recently asked an interesting question by the City\u2019s Director of Equity and Inclusion, our friend Janine Santoro. Were there important women in the history of BAPL that we could highlight as part of the City\u2019s Women\u2019s History Month Celebration? Good question, Janine! We knew that there must be, as women played a prominent role in leadership positions throughout the history of most libraries. But what specific leaders could we honor? We of course enjoy research so hit the archives to see what we might find.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"One of the first items we located was an entry in the minutes books of the \u201cFree Library of the Bethlehems\u201d from 1900. It spoke of \u201cnine prominent women\u201d from Bethlehem and Fountain Hill who met late that year to \u201cconsider the need of a Public Library in the Bethlehems and to devise methods by which it might be established.\u201d There were private, or membership\/subscription-based in the City prior to then, including the Bethlehem Congregational Library and the Bethlehem Library Company going back to the 18th century. But these 20th century leaders were the first to conceive of a truly public library\u2013free and open to all\u2013in Bethlehem.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our first question was, who exactly were these nine prominent women? The minute books listed them under their husband\u2019s names, as was often the case at the time. We read of Mrs. H.F.J. Porter, Mrs. J. Mortimer Levering, Mrs. Wm. W. Coleman, Mrs. G.B. Linderman, and Miss Minnie Erwin. Only Minnie, who was not married, had her name listed. The other eight were listed as \u201cMrs.\u201d and then the name of their husbands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

BAPL Reference Librarian Kristen Leipert started to research the question further. \u201cThese ladies of Bethlehem society have been my true joy of the week,\u201d Kristen said. She was able to find their names by heading to our <\/span>Genealogy Research<\/span><\/a> databases and searching in Ancestry Library Edition using names and location, in this case Bethlehem, Northampton, Pennsylvania, USA. Sometimes names of people and streets are transcribed incorrectly, but the site offers a column of \u201cSuggested Records\u201d and links to various other records like birth, marriage, and death certificates, and school yearbooks. These help to clarify spellings and locations. <\/span>Find a Grave<\/span><\/a> was also helpful in figuring out relationships!<\/span><\/p>\n

So rather than nameless prominent women known only as their husband\u2019s wives, we\u2019d like to introduce you to:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n