Mildred Steinbach (22 December 1906 – 28 September 2002) was an art historian and the fourth 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 ...

Education

Steinbach graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

in 1929. She received a master's degree from the

Institute of Fine Arts The Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) of New York University is dedicated to graduate teaching and advanced research in the history of art, archaeology and the conservation and technology of works of art. It offers Master of Arts and Doctor of Philoso ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in 1946, completing a thesis on Spanish Romanesque sculpture under the direction of

Walter W.S. Cook Walter William Spencer Cook, also known as Walter W. S. Cook in citation (7 April 1888 – 20 September 1962) was an American art historian and professor. He specialized in Spanish Medieval art history. He was an emeritus professor from New York ...

. While in graduate school, she worked as a librarian at the Institute.

Career

In 1944, Steinbach joined the Library's staff as a reference librarian. Three years later, she was promoted to Assistant Librarian, a position she held for twenty-three years. A specialist in medieval art, she was instrumental in augmenting the Photoarchive's collection of illuminated manuscripts. She served as the Chief Librarian of the Library from November 1970 to December 1977. During her tenure, more than 17,000 publications and 21,000 photographs were added to the Library's collections.

Controversy

The Library maintained a strict dress code until 1989. Before that year, women "wearing very short skirts, slacks or spike heels" were not admitted, and men had to wear jackets or coats while conducting research in the Library's reading room. In 1975, the artist

May Stevens May Stevens (June 9, 1924 – December 9, 2019) was an American feminist artist, political activist, educator, and writer. Early life and education May Stevens was born in Boston to working-class parents, Alice Dick Stevens and Ralph Stanley ...

challenged this regulation, issuing a formal complaint to New York City's Human Rights Commission. Steinbach defended the dress code, noting that "we think it's a nice kind of decorum. Usually we have a great deal of cooperation." She added that the ban on spike heels was to keep visitors from falling on the slippery marble floors.''The New York Times'' (1975). "Woman Artist Challenges Frick Library Over Pants." January 14.

Publications

* "The Romanesque Sculpture of the Cathedral of Jaca" (1946). Unpublished M.A. thesis, New York University, Institute of Fine Arts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinbach, Mildred 1906 births American librarians American women librarians Employees of the Frick Art Reference Library 2002 deaths 20th-century American women