Sadie Peterson Delaney and the U.S. Veterans' Administration Hospital (Tuskegee, Alabama)

In honor of Veterans Day, we will recognize Sadie Peterson Delaney - a pioneer in library services to military veterans:

Sadie Peterson Delaney (1889-1958), a native of Rochester, New York, was the head librarian at the U.S. Veterans Administration Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama (1924-1958) and promoted the use of bibliotherapy in helping the hospital's patients.

Prior to her career at the  U.S. Veterans Administration Hospital, Ms. Delaney was a librarian at the New York Public Library (she left in 1924). She received her library science education at the New York Public Library's Library School, completing her training in 1921. Ms. Delaney passed away in 1958.


See related posts: Mattie Herd Roland and the Booker T. Washington Branch Library (Birmingham, Alabama); and Dulcina DeBerry and the Huntsville Public Library (Huntsville, Alabama).


Sources: Gubert, Betty K. "Sadie Peterson Delaney: Pioneer Bibliotherapist." American Libraries 24.2 (1993):124-125, 127, 129-130. Print. ; Jordan, Casper Leroy, and E.J. Josey. "A Chronology of Events in Black Librarianship." Handbook of Black Librarianship. Ed. E.J. Josey and Marva DeLoach. 2nd ed. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 6. Print. ;  Jordan, Casper Leroy. "African American Forerunners Librarianship." Handbook of Black Librarianship. Ed. E.J. Josey and Marva DeLoach. 2nd ed. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 30-32. Print. ; Robinson, Carrie. "Alabama Association of School Librarians."  Handbook of Black Librarianship. Ed. E.J. Josey and Marva DeLoach. 2nd ed. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 53-54. Print. ; "Obituary." Bulletin of the American Medical Library Association 46.3 (1958): 495. Print. ; Barrett, Kayla and Bishop, Barbara A. "Integration and the Alabama Library Association: Not So Black and White." Libraries & Culture 33.2 (1998): 146-148. Print. ; King, Annie Greene. "Library Service and the Black Librarian in Alabama." The Black Librarian in the Southeast Reminiscences, Activities, and Challenges. Ed. Annette L. Phinazee. Durham: NCCU School of Library Science, 1980. Print.