Justin Winsor - Writer and Editor, Librarian, Historian

Historian and librarian, born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Stemming from his early interest in history, his first book, A History of the Town of Duxbury, was published in 1849 during his freshman year at Harvard. He left in 1852 without taking a degree, travelled in Europe, then returned to Boston (1854) and began writing criticism, poetry, and fiction for various periodicals. He became a trustee and then director (1868–77) of the Boston Public Library. During his 20-year tenure as librarian of Harvard College (1877–97), he became the first president of the American Library Association (1876–85) and a co-founder of the American Library Journal. As a historian, he wrote such ground-breaking works as The Reader's Handbook of the American Revolution (1880), A Narrative and Critical History of America (1884–9), The Mississippi Basin (1895), and The Westward Movement (1897). His interest in and use of maps made him the leading historical cartographer of his day.

Writer and Editor

Justin Winsor published his first book, A History of the Town of Duxbury, during his first year at Harvard.

Librarian

Justin Winsor was one of the creators of the librarian profession, a strong proponent of the ability of libraries to uplift, and a leader in the effort to make libraries the center of universities. He started his library career as Trustee (1867-1868), then Superintendent (1868-1877) of the Boston Public Library. They espoused the Socratic idea that knowledge creates virtue and Winsor saw the public library as a way to educate common people so that the traditional order of the republic would be maintained. At Boston Public Library, Winsor undertook many projects used to track and help library use. He employed innovative statistical analysis of the library’s use and used the finding to promote the idea that libraries were not just institutions and repositories of books, but were a process. In an effort to increase book use, he worked for the establishment of branch libraries, extended hours, and relaxed restrictions on use. In 1877, following a struggle with Alderman Hugh O’Brien over the professionalism of library management, Winsor left Boston Public Library to become Librarian of Harvard University, where he served until his death. Winsor wanted to make the library the center of the university. In this effort, he pushed for more books and greater accessibility, improved the catalog, informed faculty of new acquisitions, liberalized the library use policy, instituted a reserve system, and wrangled with administration over the installation of electric lights for extended hours. Winsor was also a founder of the American Library Association and the Library Journal, serving as president of the ALA from 1876 through 1885. In this position, he emphasized the need for trained professionals and provided a rationale for the need for libraries in combating attacks on American morals and social standards. The Library History Round Table of the ALA awards the “Justin Winsor Prize”, established in 1978, for exceptional library history essays. Winsor is a member of the Library Hall of Fame.

Historian

Justin Winsor was a founding member of the American Historical Association and served as the president during the 1886-1887 term.