BCALA NEWS Volume 41, Issue 3


Summer 2014


57


Ethelene Whitmire: For that exact reason! I discovered Andrews’ story while working on another project and I came across an article about the 135th Street Library Branch of the New York Public Library during the Harlem Renaissance. The article mentioned that several African American women librarians worked there in the 1920s. As an African American female former librarian I was intrigued. Why haven’t I heard about these women? What was it like being a librarian during that time period as an African American? Andrews emerged as one of the more interesting librarians. I wanted to know more about her life. I also thought it was important that her stories, and others like her, not be lost to history.


J.A.: How did you go about researching for this project and how long did it take you?


E.W.: I first heard about Andrews during the fall of 2005 when I was an assistant professor at UCLA’s Department of Information Studies. When I went home to New Jersey for Christmas I made a trip to nearby New York City and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. I wanted to explore Andrews’ archives to determine if a book project was feasible. I had a research assistant, Dalena Hunter, now the librarian for UCLA’s Bunche Center for African American Studies, who returned with me during the spring break in 2006 to start collecting archival material. I am not a trained historian but I read a lot of books about writing biographies and I read a lot of biographies, particularly about African American women, and Black Feminist Theory. I wrote the project over many years. I presented parts of it at several conferences including the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and the Collegium of African American Research in Paris. It took eight years to produce the book. Not unusual for a biography. Many take even longer.


J.A.: Did your research include learning from other librarians who knew and worked with Andrews? What were some of their stories and how did they perceive her?


E.W.: Because Andrews died at age 91 over 20 years ago there are not too many people alive who worked with her. However, I did hear from a former page who provided some insights into Andrews’ personality and her daughter Regina Ann. Another woman who was an intern in Andrews’ library at Washington Heights recently contacted me. Both women had nothing but admiration for Andrews. I did a presentation for the retired New York Public Librarians group and was told that Andrews’ former assistant librarian Edna Law was still alive but infirm. I did not contact her due to her illness.


J.A.: What were some of the most surprising and interesting things that you found out about Ms. Andrews while doing your research?


E.W.: One of the most exciting experiences was meeting her family through a blog I started about the project (http://harlemrenaissancelibrarian.blogspot.com/). Andrews’ brother Maurice’s family contacted me. They, ironically, lived in Los Angeles where I started the project but I had returned to the University of Wisconsin – Madison. I flew back to Los Angeles and met with Andrews’ niece, her children, and grandchildren. I interviewed two of them who knew Andrews well for a documentary, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wQRE1egQZI). Later, because of the documentary, I was contacted by two of Andrews’ granddaughters, Robin and Kim, who filled me in on recent family history.


Some of the most exciting parts of the research were visiting her former homes and workplaces in New York City; visiting Wilberforce [University] and seeing the Carnegie Library where she worked; traveling to Bremen, Germany where she went during her first trip abroad; and spending the summer in the Hyde Park section of Chicago where Andrews was born, while writing this book and photographing Andrews’ old homes and the high school she attended. I was literally walking in her footsteps.


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