Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Shirley Christian presents an original talk on Carrie Westlake Whitney, librarian and director of the Kansas City Public Library from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.

During her tenure (1881-1911), the Library eliminated a user's fee and grew from fewer than l,000 volumes to nearly 100,000 books. By 1911, however, Whitney apparently fell victim to several disgruntled Board of Education members. They announced that a man should be head librarian, so she was demoted. Two years later she lost the assistant librarian post.

Christian's presentation is sponsored by The Woman's City Club Foundation.

Download Shirley Christian's talk about Carrie Westlake Whitney (pdf).