Lodilla Ambrose (1865-1927) Papers

The Lodilla Ambrose Papers document Ambrose's life and career at Northwestern University Library, spanning the years 1883-2001, with an emphasis on her time spent as Assistant Librarian at the University.

Three biographies written about Ambrose (two in draft form) are filed at the start of the collection. Other biographical Materials include high school, college and alumni records, mentions of speeches made by Ambrose, brief biographical listings in publications, and correspondence inquiring into Ambrose's "mystery years" after leaving Northwestern. One highlight of the material is a poem entitled "When Lodilla Looks at You," published in the 1901 Syllabus (student yearbook). There is one newspaper-clipping picture of a middle-aged Ambrose filed at the end of the folder. A small amount of material pertaining to Lodisa and James Ambrose is contained in a separate folder.

Obituaries published after her death in 1927 are included in the Clippings file, which also contains the Northwestern articles mentioning her accomplishments and an 1896 Chicago Evening Post column that refers to Ambrose as "one of the most widely known of the pioneer women librarians of this country."

The Correspondence file includes incoming and outgoing correspondence. Many of the letters exist only as carbon or photocopies. Most of the correspondence is between Ambrose and University administrators and Library staff members.

The many articles Ambrose wrote for The Library Journal and the Northwestern (including her almost weekly "Library Notes" column), a bound copy of Ambrose's 1901 "Northwestern University Report on Library," two histories of the library, and various other articles are included in the Publications section. A separate folder of publications mentioning Ambrose (often in citations or attendance records) falls under this category as well.