Ethelwyn Manning (23 November 1885 – 1 June 1972) was the second Chief Librarian of the

Frick Art Reference Library The Frick Art Reference Library is the research arm of The Frick Collection. Its reference services have temporarily relocated to the Breuer building at 945 Madison Avenue, called Frick Madison, during the renovation of the Frick's historic build ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she assisted the Committee of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) on Protection of Cultural Treasures in War Areas, later known as the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (MFAA).

Education

Manning graduated from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

in 1908 and the school of Library Science at

Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University, a women's liberal arts college in Boston, Massachusetts * Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky * Har ...

in 1911. She also studied at the Training School for Children's Librarians at the Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh.

Career

Manning began her career as a Children's Librarian at the

Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...

in 1909. She subsequently held positions in the public libraries of

Burlington, Iowa Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of, Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in 2000. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area, which includes ...

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. ...

, Iowa, and

Milton, Massachusetts Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and an affluent suburb of Boston. The population was 28,630 at the 2020 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and architect Buckminster Fuller. ...

. In 1917, she was appointed Head Cataloger of the

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

Library in Massachusetts. In September 1924, Manning was appointed the second Chief Librarian of the Frick Art Reference Library, a research institute dedicated to promoting the study of art history and related subjects that had been founded four years earlier by

Helen Clay Frick Helen Clay Frick (September 2, 1888 – November 9, 1984) was an American philanthropist and art collector. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the third child of the coke and steel magnate Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919) and his wife ...

as a memorial to her father, the collector

Henry Clay Frick Henry Clay Frick (December 19, 1849 – December 2, 1919) was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major ...

. Manning worked at the Frick Art Reference Library for twenty-four years, overseeing the institution's transfer from its original location in a two and one-half story building at 6 East 71st Street to its present thirteen story building located at 10 East 71st Street. During World War II, when the Committee of the

American Council of Learned Societies American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

(ACLS) on Protection of Cultural Treasures in War Areas was in residence at the Library, she worked alongside art historians on the Committee to prepare maps detailing the location of art treasures and landmarks in war zones and in danger of Nazi plundering. Manning was also instrumental in developing the institution's collection of study photographs of works of art, acquiring thousands of reproductions from European photographers and hiring photographers in the United States to travel through the country and photograph inaccessible paintings in private collections. The resulting collection, which presently comprises more than one million images, documents the Western artistic tradition.Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive: Holdings (2015). http://www.frick.org/research/photoarchive/holdings. Retrieved 15 March 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Ethelwyn 1885 births American librarians American women librarians Employees of the Frick Art Reference Library Smith College alumni Art and cultural repatriation Art and cultural repatriation after World War II 1972 deaths