Jean Blackwell Hutson oral history interview

1978

Jean Blackwell Hutson served as the Chief Librarian at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture from 1948 until her retirement in 1981. Ms. Hutson was born in Sommerfield, Florida, in 1914, and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1935, she graduated with a degree in English from Barnard College. Ms. Hutson desired to pursue a career in librarianship and applied to Enoch Pratt Library Training School, but was denied entrance due to her race, later winning a discrimination lawsuit against the school. She received her degree in Library Science from Columbia University in 1936, and in 1941, received a teaching degree from Columbia as well.

She was hired by the New York Public Library in 1936. As the Chief Librarian at the Schomburg Center, she developed the Schomburg Dictionary Catalog and significantly grew the Library's collection. During her time in New York, Ms. Hutson developed close friendships with well-known writers, scholars, and artists, such as Langston Hughes and Richard Wright (both of their collections are housed at the Schomburg Center).

Jean Blackwell Hutson accomplished many other achievements beyond her work at the Schomburg Center. She taught courses at the City College of New York; helped to create the Africana Collection at the University of Ghana; participated in other organizations such as Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; and served on the Task Force on Library and Information Services to Cultural Minorities of the National Commission on Libraries.