Penelope Wright
Conley, Z. (2023). Dorothy Porter: A Black woman pioneer in library and information science. Arkansas Libraries Fall/Winter 2023, 80(3/4), 24-26.
Summary:
Dorothy Porter was born in 1905 in Virginia. She attended Howard University and in 1930 became a librarian there. In 1932 she was Columbia University's first Black student to earn a library science degree. When she began as a librarian, there were two numbers in Dewey that all materials by (or about) Black people went: 326 (slavery) or 325 (colonization). A book of poetry by a Black author would be assigned either 326 or 325, it would not go in 811. Dorothy changed this, putting materials by Black authors in the sections in which they fit best in the wider Dewey system, not just in the two numbers. Porter's system pushed back on racism and challenged the bias of the Dewey system. She was the curator of the Moorland Foundation and amassed a collection of more than 180,000 materials. Her contributions to Black history and literature were immense. She received numerous awards and accolades, including the Frankel Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities. She published many scholarly works and helped set the standard for collections focused on Black lives and culture. Porter's indomitable will and trailblazing nature brought resounding positive change to libraries worldwide.
Evaluation/Opinion
I read a lot of different articles this semester but this is the one that I kept coming back to, that stuck in my mind the most. Porter challenged the status quo, and shook up the way things "had always been done" because the way things had "always been done" was wrong. I'm glad I learned about her, she was an amazing woman. I'd recommend this article to anyone who wants a quick, informative read about notable librarians, the history of libraries, or overcoming institutional racism.
