A brief history on Virginia Lacy Jones, the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in Library Science.

2.  Born in Cincinnati, Ohio but spent childhood in
Clarksburg, West Virginia
 Moved with aunt and uncle in St. Louis, Missouri
 Became the second African American to receive Ph.D.
in Library Science
 Continued to be an advocate for African American
library rights and services

3. 1933 - Bachelor of Science in
Library Science
1935 – Bachelor of Science
in Social Studies
Education
1938 – Master’s Degree in
Library Science
1945 – Doctorate in Library
Science

4.  Louisville Municipal College (now known as Simmons
College of Kentucky)
 Hampton Institute (now known as Hampton University)
 Atlanta University Library School (now known as Clark
Atlanta University)

5.  Protested to publishers about the demeaning images of
blacks in children’s literature.
 Conducted a project for the Carnegie Corporation of
New York in in improving African American schools in
the south.
 Spent many years improving library education, access
to libraries, and improvement of services for African
American patrons.

6. Bibliography
Tucker, John Mark. Untold Stories. Civil Rights, Libraries, and Black Leadership
(1998), Champaign, IL: Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.
Virginia Lacy Jones. Little Known Black Librarian Facts,
http://littleknownblacklibrarianfacts.blogspot.com/2012/07/virginia-lacy-jones-2nd-
african.html.
Virginia Lacy Jones. Facts on File, http://www.fofweb.com.
Virginia Lacy Jones. Notable Kentucky African Americans Database,
http://nkaa.uky.edu/record.php?note_id=770
Anderson, Felicia Bowens. Black Women’s Oral History Project Interview with
Virginia Lacy Jones (1991),
http://www.libsci.sc.edu/histories/georgia/statehistory/Oral_History_Project.PDF