In recognition of Women's History Month, we are celebrating Paducah’s Harriett “Hattie” Boswell who served as head librarian from 1919 - 1923 and 1927 - 1959 at the Paducah Carnegie Library, and rightfully so. One of Harriett’s earliest memories was of her parents taking her to the grand opening of the Paducah Carnegie Library in 1904.
Born in Paducah, December 2, 1894 to Thomas and Mary Boswell, her grandparents owned a large estate near Heather Hills. She attended a small private school next door to the Carnegie at the back of Grace Episcopal Church, where she was also allowed to visit the library. Her family lived outside of the city on Blandville Rd, which required her to take a horse and buggy to catch a streetcar in order to get to school. In 1914 she worked as an apprentice at the library. She attended Oxford College in Oxford, Ohio before graduating with from Emory University. She returned to Paducah in 1917 and became an assistant librarian. Not long after, she began studying at Columbia University and working at the New York Public Library. She would soon return to Kentucky working for the Kentucky State Library (now KDLA) in Frankfort. In 1919 she returned home to Paducah again and became head librarian until 1922 when she left and worked for 5 years as the head of circulation and reference at the Illinois State Library in Springfield, IL. Upon the tragic death of her sister, Harriett returned to Paducah in 1927 to help raise her nieces and nephews and return to head librarian where she would work until retirement.
Boswell started in 1919 making $50 a month. Her job included bookkeeping, administration, hiring, management, book selection, budgeting, state reports, and so much more. She organized study groups for students and helped them find class books. In 1933 she assisted Issac Bernheim in contributing to the Elbridge Palmer building addition. She helped find funding for classical music programs and set up reading rooms with stock market trends and business-related materials. She was instrumental in establishing a 500-volume collection of works associated with the history of Kentucky as well as Paducah newspapers starting in 1904. She directed the library through the 1937 flood when backwater overtook the building. She aided the American Red Cross with use of the basement for special projects during WWII. In 1947 she helped secure the Anna Bird Stewart Children's Department with the leadership of Virginia Jones. Located in the basement of the library they hosted puppet shows, story hours, and summer reading programing for 1000s of children. She kept penmanship with Irvin S. Cobb and was active in the acquisition of his archives.
In a 1960 Paducah Sun article she was noted as saying, “a surprising amount of queries, especially those from out-of-town concern genealogy, as people apparently are becoming more interested in their family background. These people are genealogy, as people apparently are a logical experts with which the library staff is acquainted.”
Through her career, 15 young people who worked for her went on to become librarians themselves, including her successor, Virginia Jones. She was quick to note that she was not the longest employee at the time of her retirement but that was held by Clarence Archer who worked as janitor for 40 years until his death. Upon her retirement in1959, the Carnegie had checked out 310,000 books to 15,000 borrowers.
A highly respected Paducahean, she was a member of Grace Episcopal Church, Magazine Club, Delphic Club, Kaloshophic Club, Woman’s Club, Kentucky Library Association, and the American Library Association. She was frequent writer for the Paducah Sun offering book suggestions and reviews.
Harriett died May 3, 1979 at Western Baptist Hospital and is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery. Her gravestone reads:
DAUGHTER OF THOMAS ELLIOTT BOSWELL II AND MAY PICKETT BOSWELL - A GRADUATE OF EMORY UNIVERSITY AND COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SHE WAS HEAD OF CIRCULATION AND REFERENCE DEPARTMENT OF THE LINCOLN LIBRARY SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS AND WAS HEAD LIBRARIAN CARNEGIE PUBLIC LIBRARY
PADUCAH FOR 35 YEARS - A DUCHESS OF PADUCAH - SHE WAS THE EMBODIMENT OF A TRADITION OF CIVILITY
GENTILITY AND RESPECT FOR THE THINGS OF THE MIND
Pictured here are numerous photographs, including some taken by the late great archivist Hugh Edwards who worked alongside Harriet at the Carnegie Library during the early 1900s.
To find out more visit www.digitalcollections.mclib.net
Citation
Paxton, Jack, ed. “Harriett Boswell Embodied Tradition.” The Paducah Sun, May 10, 1979. https://paducahsun.newspapers.com/image/426281048/?match=1&terms=Harriet%20Boswell%20.
“Miss Boswell, Librarian, Dies.” The Paducah Sun, May 4, 1979, Vol. 101 No. 107 edition. https://paducahsun.newspapers.com/image/426276497/?match=1&terms=Harriett%20Boswell%20.
Year: 1910; Census Place: District 7, McCracken, Kentucky; Roll: T624_493; Page: 15a; Enumeration District: 0130; FHL microfilm: 1374506
Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2014.
Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.
Hoffman, Mary Margaret. “Faithful Library Guide: Miss Boswell Headed Carnegie Library for 36 Years.” The Paducah Sun, February 7, 1960, Vol. 83 No. 32 edition, sec. B. https://paducahsun.newspapers.com/image/429104449/?match=1&terms=Harriett%20Boswell%20.