The "Voices of SLA: an International Oral History" is an initiative of the Fellows of SLA in partnership with the SLA Centennial Commission. Learn more about the project...
Judith J. Field Oral History Interview
December 2009
Dorothy McGarry Oral History Interview
November 2009
Miriam (Mimi) Drake Oral History Interview
April 2009
Kitty Scott Oral History Interview
May 2009
David Bender Oral History Interview
August 2009
James Matarazzo Oral History Interview
April 2009
Barbara Semonche Oral History Interview
April 2009
Bill Fisher Oral History Interview
2009 SLA Leadership Summit | Savannah, GA USA
Voices from Our Past -- SLA Presidents' Reminiscences
By Susan DiMattia
Beginning with Guy Elwood Marion, who served as president of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) in 1918-19, some people who have held that office have participated in oral interviews or have provided written information about their memories of their term of office and the status of specialized librarianship in their contemporary environments. The comments range from sparse to detailed and cover a wide range of topics, yet there is a surprising number of issues and concerns that emerge repeatedly over a span of years--association governance and planning, proposed name changes and branding, mentoring, campaigns to grow membership, globalization, conflicts, and a host of others, just some of which are included below.
Guy Elwood Marion (1918-19)
Irene Macy Strieby Shreve (1947-48)
DEFINING SPECIAL LIBRARIANSHIP
Grieg Aspnes (1951-52)
PARTNERSHIP PROPOSALS
Eugene Jackson (1961-62)
Elizabeth Ferguson (1952-53)
Edward Strable (1972-73)
Shirley Echelman (1977-78)
Vivian Hewitt (1978-79)
VALUE
Frank Spaulding (1986-87)
Joe Ann Clifton (1988-89)
GLOBALIZATION
Ruth Seidman (1990-91)
Guy St. Clair (1991-92)
NAME CHANGE PROPOSALS
Miriam (Mimi) Drake (1993-94)
Edwina (Didi) Pancake (1994-95)
COMPETENCIES
Sylvia Piggott (1995-96)
MENTORING
Judy Field (1997-98)
Susan DiMattia (1999-2000)
Hope Tillman (2001-2002)
CONTINUING TO FACE THE FUTURE
Ethel Salonen (2004-2005)
Pam Rollo (2005-06)
Transcripts of some oral histories conducted in the 1990s by Doreen Cohen for the San Andreas Chapter have been posted as examples of the type of information we hope to gather from a wide range of SLA members and friends of SLA.
The San Andreas histories include four 1995 interviews, with SLA past-presidents Bill Fisher and Cindy Hill as well as prominent members Monica Ertel and Eugenie Prime.
Interview with William Fisher (1995)
Interview with Cindy Hill (1996)
Monica Ertel (1996)
Eugenie Prime (1998)
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