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DCLA History: Past Presidents

Term President Institution
 2019-2020 Tracy Sumler District of Columbia Public Library

 2018-2019

Nicholas A. Brown  Washington Performing Arts

2017-2018

 Candace Townsend Library of Congress
2016-2017Yvonne DooleyLibrary of Congress
2015-2016
Julius C. Jefferson, Jr.
Library of Congress
2014-2015
Christina M. Bailey
Library of Congress
2013-2014Amanda J. WilsonNational Transportation Library
2012-2013 Jacqueline Protka
Corcoran College of Art and Design
2011-2012 Megan Shiels
U.S. Department of State
2010-2011 Richard Huffine U.S. Geological Survey
2009-2010 Angela Jaffee Bureau of National Affairs / Social Security Administration
2008-2009 M-J Oboroceanu Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service
2007-2008 Barbara Folensbee-Moore Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
2006-2007 Elaine Cline U.S. Department of State
2005-2006 Kathryn Ray American University
2004-2005 Noel Rutherford District of Columbia Public Library
2003-2004 Jean Craigwell Organization of American States
2002-2003 Andrea Morris Gruhl Retired Federal Librarian 12/31/01 (GPO and LC)
2001-2002 Claudette Tennant ALA Washington Office
2000-2001 Judy Solberg George Washington University
1999-2000 Betty Landesman AARP
1998-1999 Mary Augusta Thomas Smithsonian Institution Libraries
1997-1998 Dennis Reynolds CAPCON Library Network; American Medical Informatics Association beginning August 1, 1997
1996-1997 Patricia A. Wand The American University
1995-1996 Dan Clemmer U.S. Department of State Library
1994-1995 Trellis C.Wright Library of Congress
1993-1994 Sue Uebelacker Prince George's County Memorial Library System
1992-1993 Hardy R. Franklin District of Columbia Public Library
1991-1992 Susan Fifer Canby National Geographic Society Library
1990-1991 Doria Grimes National Technical Information Service
1989-1990 Shirley Loo Library of Congress, CRS
1988-1989 William Gordon Prince George's County Memorial Library System
1987-1988 Molly Raphael District of Columbia Public Library
1986-1987 Jacque-Lynne Schulman National Library of Medicine
1985-1986 Lelia Saunders Arlington County Public Library
1984-1985 Lawrence E. Molumby District of Columbia Public Library
1983-1984 Darrell Lemke Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area
1982-1983 Judith A. Sessions Mount Vernon College
1981-1982 Martha Bowman George Washington University
1980-1981 Murray Howder ERIC Document Processing Facility
1979-1980 Nancy Gwinn Library of Congress, CRS

1978-1979Lilla HammondGeorgetown University Library
1977-1978 Cathy Jones George Washington University
1976-1977 Marilyn Gell Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
1975-1976 William L. Whitesides Fairfax County Public Library
1974-1975 Wallace C. Olsen National Agricultural Library
1973-1974 Paul L. Berry Library of Congress Reference Department
1972-1973 Rupert C. Woodward George Washington University
1971-1972 Mary A. Huffer Smithsonian Institution; Department of Interior Libraries beginning 2/19/72
1970-1971 Richard K. Burns Falls Church Public Library
1969-1970 Elizabeth L. Tate National Bureau of Standards
1968-1969 Alice Ball U.S. Book Exchange
1967-1968 Edward M. Waters Library of Congress Music Division
1966-1967 Elizabeth W. Stone The Catholic University of America, Library School
1965-1966 Kenardy L. Taylor Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare
1964-1965 Joseph W. Rogers Library of Congress Copyright Office
1963-1964 Ruth Fine Bureau of the Budget
1962-1963 Werner B. Ellinger Library of Congress
1961-1962 George B. Moreland Montgomery County Public Libraries
1960-1961 Eleanor R. Hasting National Library of Medicine
1959-1960 Robert S. Bray LC Division of the Blind and Physically Handicapped
1958-1959 Lucile Dudgeon U.S. Information Agency
1957-1958 Marietta Daniels Pan American Union, Columbus Memorial Library
1956-1957 Legare H. B. Obear Library of Congress
1955-1956 Louise O. Bercaw Department of Agriculture
1954-1955 Lucile M. Morsch LC Deputy Chief Assistant Librarian
1953-1954 James J. Kortendick Catholic University Department of Library Science
1952-1953 James J. Kortendick Catholic University Department of Library Science
1951-1952 Helen Scanlon Joint Library of the International Monetary Fund and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
1950-1951 Helen Wessells Department of State
1949-1950 Helen Wessells Department of State
1948-1949 Scott Adams Army Medical Library
1947-1948 Paul Howard ALA National Relations Office Director
1946-1947 David J. Haykin LC Subject Cataloging Division Chief
1945-1946 David J. Haykin LC Subject Cataloging Division Chief
1944-1945 Helen T. Steinbarger District of Columbia Public Library
1943-1944 David C. Mearns LC Director of the Reference Dept.
1942-1943 David C. Mearns LC Director of the Reference Dept.
1941-1942 John Russell Mason George Washington University
1940-1941 John Russell Mason George Washington University
1939-1940 Elsie Rackstraw Board of Governors/Federal Reserve System
1938-1939 Ralph L. Thompson District of Columbia Public Library
1937-1938 Adelaide R. Hasse WPA
1936-1937 John T. Vance Library of Congress Law Librarian
1935-1936 John T. Vance Library of Congress Law Librarian
1934-1935 Isabel DuBois Bureau of Navigation Libraries
1933-1934 Isabel DuBois Bureau of Navigation Libraries
1932-1933 W. Taylor Purdum District of Columbia Public Library
1931-1932 Elizabeth O. Cullen Bureau of Railway Economics
1930-1931 Elizabeth O. Cullen Bureau of Railway Economics
1929-1930 Claribel Barnett Department of Agriculture
1928-1929 Frederick W. Ashley Library of Congress
1927-1928 Frederick W. Ashley Library of Congress
1926-1927 Clara W. Herbert District of Columbia Public Library
1925-1926 Clara W. Herbert District of Columbia Public Library
1924 Miles O. Price Patent Office
1922-1923 Dorsey W. Hyde, Jr. U.S. Chamber of Commerce
1921-1922 Herbert Putnam Librarian of Congress
1920-1921 Herbert Putnam Librarian of Congress
1919* Theodore W. Koch LC Order Division Chief
1918** William J. Hamilton District of Columbia Public Library
1917 William A. Slade Library of Congress
1916 William A. Slade Library of Congress
1915 Herman H. B. Meyer LC Chief Bibliographer
1914 Herman H. B. Meyer LC Chief Bibliographer
1913 Paul Brockett Smithsonian Institution
1912 Paul Brockett Smithsonian Institution
1911 William W. Bishop LC Superintendent of the Reading Room
1910 William W. Bishop LC Superintendent of the Reading Room
1909 William D. Johnston Bureau of Education
1908 William D. Johnston Bureau of Education
1907 George F. Bowerman District of Columbia Public Library
1906 George F. Bowerman District of Columbia Public Library
1905 Cyrus Adler Smithsonian Institution
1904 Thorvald Solberg Registrar of Copyrights
1903 Thomas H. Clark Library of Congress Law Librarian
1902 Thomas H. Clark Library of Congress Law Librarian
1901 Francis A. Crandall Superintendent of Documents
1900 Howard L. Prince Patent Office
1899 Henry C. Bolton Bibliographer
1898 Henry C. Bolton Bibliographer
1897 William P. Cutter Dept. of Agriculture
1896 Cyrus Adler Smithsonian Institution
1895 Ainsworth Spofford Librarian of Congress
1894 Ainsworth Spofford Librarian of Congress

* Mr. A.K. Blessing (DCPL) served as acting President from July to October after Mr. Koch left the city in the summer of 1919.

** Ethel Owens (Superintendent of Documents Office) served as acting President from April to November after Mr. Hamilton moved in the spring of 1918.


Eight DCLA Presidents have also served as President of the American Library Association (ALA):
  • Herbert Putnam (Jan.-Aug 1898; 1903-1904)
  • William Warner Bishop (1918-1919)
  • Herman H. B. Meyer (1924-1925)
  • Lucile M. Morsch (1957-1958)
  • Elizabeth Stone (1981-1982)
  • Molly Raphael (1987-1988)
  • Hardy R. Franklin (1992-1993)
  • Julius C. Jefferson, Jr. (2020-2021)

Six DCLA Presidents have also been President of the Washington Chapter of SLA:

  • Shirley Loo (June 2005- December 2006)
  • Susan Fifer Canby (2003-2004)
  • Cathy Jones (1981-1982)
  • Mary Huffer (1969-1970)
  • Elizabeth Stone (1973-1974)
  • Ruth Fine (1952-1953)

Three DCLA Presidents have also been President of the Washington Chapter of Beta Phi Mu:

  • Andrea Morris Gruhl (2005-2006)
  • Kathryn Ray
  • Nicholas A. Brown (2018-2019)

The DCLA archives in the Washingtoniana Room at the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial Library provided information about the Presidents. The list of Presidents from 1894 to 1954 is based on the list in Martha Seabrook's A History of the District of Columbia Library Association, 1894-1954, p. 90-91. Another list dated June 26, 1972 provided information on later Presidents. John Y. Cole in March 1974 did a list with other information. Research using past issues of Intercom and other sources furnished information from the 1970's to present.



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