Ella Morgan
A middle-aged white woman wearing a dark suit and two strands of pearls or beads
Ella S. Morgan, from the 1926 yearbook of Abraham Lincoln High School
BornApril 28, 1876
Los Angeles, California
DiedFebruary 26, 1958
Santa Barbara, California
OccupationLibrarian

Ella Sarah Morgan (April 28, 1876 – February 26, 1958) was an American librarian, and the first professional school librarian in California. She was inducted into the California Library Hall of Fame in 2015.

Early life and education

Morgan was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of George Washburn Morgan and Alice Sabrina Brown Morgan. Both parents were born in New York. Her father was a real estate developer,[1] and mother was a schoolteacher in Santa Barbara as a young woman.[2] Painter and educator Vesta Olmstead was Morgan's cousin.[3][4]

Career

Morgan was a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library[5] when she was appointed school librarian at Los Angeles High School in 1903, making her the first professional school librarian in California. From 1913 to 1940, she was librarian at Lincoln High School.[6] She bought and planted a "small, though beautiful" deodar cedar tree on campus, to be decorated for Christmas each year. "If every family adhered to this new plan of outdoor Christmas trees which many may enjoy, foresters of today would not have such a problem to work out in view of preserving our forests," she explained to the local newspaper in 1928.[7]

Morgan was a founder of the Los Angeles School Library Association (LASLA) in 1914,[8][9] and the first president of the California School Library Association (CSLA) when it was founded in 1915.[10] The organization worked for professional standards and status for school librarians in California. She was featured as a speaker at the 1914 meeting of the National Education Association, held in Oakland.[11] Morgan was also involved with professionalization of the field on the national level, when she helped to draft Standard Library Organization and Equipment for Secondary Schools of Different Sizes (1920).[6] She addressed the 1930 meeting of the American Library Association, when it was held in Los Angeles.[12][13] She was honored with a "book breakfast" event in 1943, by the CSLA.[14]

Personal life

Morgan lived in Los Angeles and Pasadena with her sister Mabel V. Morgan, a retired school teacher. Mabel died in 1955,[1] and Ella Morgan died in 1958, both in Santa Barbara, California.[3] She was inducted into the California Library Hall of Fame in 2015.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 "Funeral Rites Conducted for Miss Mabel V. Morgan". The Los Angeles Times. 1955-12-14. p. 29. Retrieved 2023-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "Pioneer Woman Dies; First Teacher of Santa Barbara Passes Away Here". The Los Angeles Times. 1919-05-26. p. 16. Retrieved 2023-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 "Ella Morgan Services Held". Star News. February 28, 1958. p. 10. Retrieved January 24, 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  4. ↑ "Vesta A. Olmstead - Biography". AskART. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  5. ↑ "Library Graduates. Training Class Finishes". The Los Angeles Times. 1901-05-16. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 3 "Ella Morgan 1876–1958)" California Library Hall of Fame (2015 inductee page).
  7. ↑ Farr, Esther (1928-12-27). "Fine Christmas Tree Planted on Lincoln High School Grounds This Week". Lincoln Heights Bulletin-News. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Los Angeles School Library Association Collection, Urban Archives, California State University, Northridge.
  9. ↑ "About". lasla. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  10. ↑ "CSLA Timeline". Celebrating Our History. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  11. ↑ "50 Educators to Address N.E.A. Body". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1915-08-24. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Big Strides are Made in Library Work". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1930-06-25. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Morgan, Ella S. (1930). "California School Libraries". Bulletin of the American Library Association. 24 (9): 326–328. ISSN 0364-4049.
  14. ↑ "School Librarian Will Be Honored". The Los Angeles Times. 1943-09-30. p. 32. Retrieved 2023-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
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