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Miriam Matthews — Portrait
Portrait. Judith Sedwick, Miriam Matthews. Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Harvard University; Black Women Oral History Project. Via Wikimedia Commons. Image credit & source

Librarianship · History · Archives

Miriam Matthews

1905–2003

HumanitiesCalifornia

Matthews became the Los Angeles Public Library’s first Black librarian in 1927. She collected books, photographs, and records of African American life, defended the freedom to read, and later supervised twelve South Central branch libraries. Her collections helped preserve histories that institutions had too often overlooked.[1],[2]

Read this story

Matthews became the Los Angeles Public Library’s first Black librarian in 1927. She collected books, photographs, and records of African American life, defended the freedom to read, and later supervised twelve South Central branch libraries. Her collections helped preserve histories that institutions had too often overlooked.[1],[2]

Local connection. She earned her librarianship certificate at Berkeley and spent her public-library career in Los Angeles, including Vernon and Watts branches.

Impact reached: Los Angeles library users; Researchers of Black California history. (Impact describes who was reached; it is not a place of residence.)

Inquiry & making

Inquiry and making prompt

What story from our school or neighborhood should a future library save? Create a label for one photograph.

Places

Where Miriam was born, had roots or studied, and worked — distinguished from where their impact reached.

Born
Pensacola, Florida
Roots / education
Los Angeles, California; Berkeley, California
Worked
Los Angeles, California
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Mapped places for Miriam Matthews
RelationshipDocumented placeMap pointSources
BirthplacePensacola, FloridaPensacola city, FLCensus representative point[1][2]
Roots / educationLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles city, CACensus representative point[1][2]
Roots / educationBerkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley city, CACensus representative point[1][2]
WorkLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles city, CACensus representative point[1][2]

Timeline

  1. 1905

    Born — Pensacola, Florida[1]

  2. 1927

    Matthews became the Los Angeles Public Library’s first Black librarian in 1927.[1],[2]

    Date from the article's life dates/text; see references.

  3. 2003

    Died[2]

Gallery

Portrait only in this edition; no reuse-supported contextual media has been verified for this figure yet.

Miriam Matthews: Portrait
Miriam Matthews — portraitPortrait.Credit: Judith Sedwick, Miriam Matthews. Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Harvard University; Black Women Oral History Project. Via Wikimedia Commons.License / rights: No known copyright restrictions, as declared by Schlesinger Library through Flickr Commons. This is an institutional rights statement, not a Creative Commons license or an independently proven public-domain conclusion.Source recordOriginal-quality file

References

  1. [1]
    Los Angeles Public Library: The Incomparable Miriam Matthews

    Supports: Career, birth, education, branches and historical collecting.

  2. [2]
    UCLA Library: Miriam Matthews

    Supports: Collections and legacy; death in 2003.

Last reviewed 2026-11-08 · Initial research edition · Record ID miriam-matthews. A curated, source-informed article — not openly editable and not independently scholar-reviewed. Corrections process.