Mary Johanna Louisa Black

Mary Johanna Louisa Black
Born	1879-04-01 Uxbridge, Ontario
Died	1939-01-04 Vancouver, British Columbia
Occupation	Librarian, civic activist
Father	Fergus Black
Mother	Georgina Elizabeth Macdonald

Mary Johanna Louisa Black ((1879-04-01)1 April 1879 – 4 January 1939(1939-01-04) (aged 59)) was a Canadian librarian who served as head of the Fort William Public Library from 1909 to 1937, transforming it into a leading public institution and becoming a prominent figure in Ontario library and civic life.

Early life

Black was born on 1 April 1879 in Uxbridge to Fergus Black, a physician, and Georgina Elizabeth Macdonald. Her maternal grandfather was Roderick Macdonald, and her paternal grandfather was William Black. She grew up in a family distinguished for its professional and intellectual accomplishments; her brothers included Norman Fergus Black, a writer and educator, and Davidson William Black, who worked in the grain business and died in 1918. The poet Bliss Carman was connected to the family circle, and William Wilfred Campbell, a poet, was married to a first cousin.

Career in Fort William

Black arrived in Fort William with her father in September 1907. She took up the position of librarian at the Fort William Public Library on 1 January 1909 at a salary of $40 per month. Over the following decades she built the collection and services into something her contemporaries described as remarkable for a city of Fort William's size and character — ethnically diverse and predominantly working class.

A new Carnegie building opened in April 1912, providing the library with a proper permanent home funded by Andrew Carnegie's philanthropy. By 1917, annual circulation had reached 90,000 volumes. Black's collection was notable for its holdings of Canadian authors, children's books, and fine art, including works by members of the Group of Seven. She articulated a philosophy centred on access and service, aiming to carry "the right book to the right reader at the least cost."

Black published extensively on library practice and Canadian librarianship throughout her career, contributing to the Ontario Library Review, Canadian Bookman, Public Libraries, and the Library Journal (New York), among others. In 1933 she co-authored Libraries in Canada: a study of library conditions and needs with George Herbert Locke, head of the Toronto Public Library, and John Ridington, librarian of the University of British Columbia, a survey funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

She retired on 1 May 1937, receiving a pension of $50 per month. Her successor as librarian was Lachlan Farquhar MacRae. In 1938 the Westfort branch library was named in her honour.

Professional associations and public life

Black was active in library associations at both the provincial and national levels. She served as a councillor of the Ontario Library Association and was elected its first woman president in 1917. She also participated in the American Library Association.

Beyond librarianship, she served as a school trustee in Fort William from 1918 to 1920, during which she advocated for women teachers' salaries, opposed the arbitrary dismissal of female instructors, and defended school dental services and domestic science programs during a period of economic constraint. She was president of the Women's Canadian Club from 1916 to 1918 and president of the Women's Business Club in 1921. She was also involved with the West Algoma Equal Suffrage Association, the Thunder Bay Historical Society (serving as secretary-treasurer from 1913 to 1928 and as president from 1928 to 1932), the Canadian Women's Press Club, and the Girl Guides as district commissioner.

Among her close acquaintances was the writer Nellie McClung (or perhaps archivist Helen A. McClung as well?) and her long-time friend Eleanor Todd. She supported the political campaigns of Robert James Manion and others across party lines, though her enthusiasm for electoral politics eventually waned.

As Fort William's city librarian, Black also gave the Thunder Bay Historical Society a home: from 1912 the Society held its meetings in the new Public Library and stored its books, photographs, and records there, "through the kindness of Miss M. J. L. Black, City Librarian."

Death

Black's father Fergus Black died in 1933, and her own health declined in the years following. She died in Vancouver on 4 January 1939, unmarried.

In the Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society

Black served as president of the Thunder Bay Historical Society during the mid-1920s. She was among the attendees at two historic-monument unveiling ceremonies at the Head of the Lakes, at which Peter McKellar and his sister Mrs. Deacon officiated; others present included Mayor Joseph E. Crawford, Roy Kirkup, and F. J. O'Brien.

Following the unveilings, Black presided over an informal dinner held at the Avenue Hotel under the auspices of the Fort William Historical Society, given in honour of Dr. James Coyne of St. Thomas, who represented the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. In his address, Coyne noted that the Thunder Bay Society was one of the best known in Ontario, and that Black and past president Peter McKellar had "a name and fame not confined to Fort William."

In her work for the Society, Black presented a paper titled "Our Public Library." As librarian she agreed to display prehistoric relics — bones and copper instruments uncovered during Canadian Car & Foundry Company excavation work in the valley of the Kaministiquia River — pending scientific examination. As secretary-treasurer of the Society she assisted Peter McKellar in compiling a souvenir pamphlet to accompany the memorial tablet erected on McTavish Street in Fort William commemorating the 1821 amalgamation of the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company.

Further reading

• Ken Morrison."Mary J. L. Black of the Fort William Public Library."[book].Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, Papers and Records, vol. 11.1983.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• Brook Abbott."An accidental librarian: Mary Black of Fort William, Ont. governs the destinies of a library whose motto is hospitality."[book].Canadian Magazine, vol. 76, no. 5.1931.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• Madge Macbeth."A bookish person."[book].Canadian Magazine, vol. 51.1918.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "BCA, GR-2951, no. 1939-09-552257."[record].GR-2951, no. 1939-09-552257.British Columbia Archives.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• Eleanor Todd."Letter from Eleanor Todd to F. B. Scollie, 11 February 1983."[record].1983.Private archive, F. B. Scollie (Ottawa).(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• T. M. Longstreth."The Lake Superior country."[book].1924.Toronto.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography