Women's History Month: Michigan's First Woman State Librarian
Harriet Tenney, when she accepted an appointment as Michigan's state librarian in 1869, became the first woman to hold this position and started a tradition of female leadership of the State Library that went on for 100 consecutive.
From 1859 to 1869, while her husband Eugene Tenney served as state librarian, Harriet took advantage of the many opportunities to aid her husband in administering the State Library. When Eugene resigned and recommended his wife for the position, Governor H.P. Baldwin and the Legislature appointed Harriet Tenney as state librarian.
Combining the knowledge she gained from her husband's decade as state librarian with her own vision, Harriet Tenney had an immediate effect on the State Library. During her first two year term, the collection grew by 5,000 volumes to 30,097, and popular authors were added to the collection.
That Tenney realized the significance of her position is reflected in use of italics and capital letters in the opening paragraph of her first annual report: "By the advice of the Chief Executive of the State and with the unanimous consent and approbation of the Senate, on the 31st day of March 1869, this Library was placed in charge of a WOMAN."
Harriet Tenney's first major tests involved moving the State Library and its collection to two new locations within the first nine years of her tenure. In 1871 the library was moved from the old State Capitol to the new State Office Building. During this time, Harriet worked tirelessly, even denying herself any vacation during the year of the move.
In 1875 appropriations for the library dipped down to $500 as all budget and legislative focus was on the construction of the new State Capitol. Although appropriations were reduced, the Legislature's high esteem for Harriet Tenney was apparent, as her salary was increased to $1,000, making her pay equal to the governors'!
During her tenure, Tenney worked to extend the state librarian's role beyond a mere keeper of books. The first state librarian to be a member of the American Library Association, she attended the ALA annual conference in Philadelphia, coming back to Michigan with many new concepts. As library visitation increased, she formulated plans to accommodate patrons' needs, increased correspondence and began cataloging books with cards, which necessitated significant clerical help. Again, Tenney was able to win over the Legislature - an assistant State Librarian was appointed and plans for a card catalog system implemented.
Mrs. Tenney was appointed state librarian for 11 consecutive terms by seven governors, serving 22 years before leaving the position in 1891. Her last report lists a collection of over 56,000 books. Assistant State Librarian Mary Spencer wrote of her role model Mrs. Tenney that "the library was her life and her joy; she loved the books as the mother does her child, and watched them closely."
Both Harriet Tenney and her successors earned the respect of the male governors and legislators with whom they worked, laying the groundwork for an unbroken succession of female state librarians from 1869 to 1968.
*Text source: Library of Michigan, 1869 - 1893: Approaching the Twentieth Century
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