Paul North Rice
| Paul North Rice | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 9, 1888 Lowell, Massachusetts |
| Died |
April 16, 1967 Middletown, Connecticut |
| Alma mater | Wesleyan University |
| Occupation | Librarian |
Paul North Rice (February 9, 1888 – April 16, 1967) was an American librarian who served as Chief of the Reference Department of the New York Public Library and President of the American Library Association.
Early life and education
He was born in 1888 in Lowell, Massachusetts to Charles Francis Rice and Miriam Owen Jacobs. His father was a minister, and his grandfather William Rice had been a minister and librarian. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1910, where he was a member of the Eclectic Society and Phi Beta Kappa. He then studied at the New York State Library School in Albany, NY.[1] In 1935, he earned an honorary Master of Arts from Wesleyan.
Career
Rice was a reference assistant in the Ohio State University Library from 1911-1913. He worked as a reference assistant at the New York Public Library from 1914-1917 where he was treasurer of the New York Library Association from 1916-1917. He served from Private to Second Lieutenant the United States Army, from 1917-1919. He was then chief of the accessions division in 1920.[2] He served as chief of the NYPL Preparation Division from 1920-1927.[3]
He was president of the Dayton Public Library from 1927-1936, and President of the Ohio Library Association from 1930-31. While in Dayton, he corresponded with W. E. B. Dubois about his magazine, The Crisis.[4] Rice served as Director of New York University Libraries from 1936-1938.[5]
He was Director of the Reference Department of the New York Public Library from 1937-1953. During this time he was President of the New York Library Association from 1939-1940, Executive Secretary of the Association of Research Libraries from 1942–46 and President of the American Library Association from 1947-48.[6] Rice supported the efforts of UNESCO. In a speech as President of the ALA, Rice spoke of the role of libraries in a Cold War context: "our libraries are one force that assures that the United States can never succumb to fascism or any other kind of totalitarianism, we should do everything we can to influence UNESCO to stimulate such libraries everywhere."[7]
After retiring from New York, he served as director of the Wesleyan University Library from 1953-1956.[8] Following that tenure, he was librarian emeritus, and served as a trustee of the Russell Library in Middletown from 1954-1964.[9]
He was the editor of the 9th edition of the Wesleyan University Alumni Record, 1961.[10]
Family life
Rice married Genevieve Briggs, daughter of Albertus Theodore Briggs and Lenore Allemon Briggs on July 17th, 1924. Genevieve was a graduate of DePauw University, and like her husband was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. They had four children; Rachel, Lenore, Horace and Charles. Their final residence was 139 High Street in Middletown, Connecticut, where he died in 1967.[11]
Genealogy
Paul North Rice was a direct descendant of Edmund Rice, an English immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony, as follows:[12][13]
- Paul North Rice, son of
- Charles Francis Rice (1851–1927), son of
- William Rice (1821–1897), son of
- William Rice (1788–1863), son of
- Nathan Rice (1760–1838), son of
- John Rice (1704–1771), son of
- Ephraim Rice (1665–1732), son of
- Thomas Rice (1625–1681), son of
- Edmund Rice (1594–1663)
References
- ↑ "PAUL NORTH RICE APPOINTED TO NEW POSITION OF DIRECTOR OF N. Y. U. LIBRARIES".
- ↑ "Paul North Rice". Prabook.
- ↑ "Paul North Rice". New York Public Library.
- ↑ "Letter from W. E. B. Du Bois to Dayton Public Library and Museum, January 12, 1928". Credo.
- ↑ "PAUL NORTH RICE APPOINTED TO NEW POSITION OF DIRECTOR OF N. Y. U. LIBRARIES".
- ↑ "Paul North Rice, Librarian, Dies; Expanded Reference Collection; Department Chief at 5th Ave. Branch for 16 Years--Led Association in 1947-48".
- ↑ "UNESCO and the Globalization of the Public Library Idea, 1948 to 1965". Taylor and Francis online.
- ↑ "Paul North Rice records". New York Public Library.
- ↑ "Paul North Rice". Prabook.
- ↑ "Paul North Rice". Prabook.
- ↑ "Paul North Rice, Librarian, Dies; Expanded Reference Collection; Department Chief at 5th Ave. Branch for 16 Years--Led Association in 1947-48".
- ↑ Edmund Rice (1638) Association, 2007. Descendants of Edmund Rice: The First Nine Generations.
- ↑ "Edmund Rice descendants: First six generations.". Edmund Rice (1638) Association, Inc. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
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