Catherine Ruth Savord (November 2, 1894 – February 25, 1966) was a librarian and the author of several books and articles on library work. She served as president of the

Special Libraries Association The Special Libraries Association (SLA) is an international professional association for library and information professionals working in business, government, law, finance, non-profit, and academic organizations and institutions. History The S ...

, the first 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 ...

, and the head special librarian of

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

Early life

Ruth Savord was born November 2, 1894, to parents Alexander J. and Jennie (Kelley) Savord in Sandusky, Ohio."Savord, Ruth."''Who’s Who Among Association Executives''.
New York: Institute for Research in Biography, Inc., 1935
p. 471.
/ref> She graduated from Sandusky High School and attended the school of Library Science at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

in Cleveland from 1913 to 1914. She later enrolled at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

from 1916 to 1917, where she held a position in the Catalog Department of the university library.

Career

Savord began her career in approximately 1910, when she became an apprentice at the Sandusky Library. After her graduation from

Case Western University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location i ...

, she worked in the Catalog Department of the

Cleveland Public Library Cleveland Public Library, located in Cleveland, Ohio, operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 27 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and the Ohio Library for the ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she relocated to New York City and worked for the

Western Union Telegraph Company The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company chang ...

; after the war, she was employed by the

Newark Public Library The Newark Public Library (NPL) is a public library system in Newark, New Jersey. The library system offers numerous programs and events to its diverse population. With eight different locations, the Newark Public Library serves as a Statewide Re ...

Frick Art Reference Library

Savord assisted

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 ...

in organizing the Frick Art Reference Library, an institution dedicated to serving the art and art history research community, which Miss Frick had founded in 1920 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 ...

. Savord had been recommended by a close friend, and Miss Frick was impressed by Savord's "excellent mind," work ethic, and sense of humor. In the first entry in the library's diary, dated Monday, 8November 1920, a note in longhand records that "Ruth Savord began work as a librarian... She and Miss Frick began cutting up a few things on hand and working out forms, etc." — a reference to the Library's early collection of study images, many of which were removed from pamphlets and catalogs. Early in 1921, Savord accompanied Miss Frick on a six-week research trip to London where they studied the famous photograph collection of the British art historian Sir Robert Witt in his library at 32

Portman Square Portman Square is a garden square in Marylebone, central London, surrounded by elegant townhouses. It was specifically for private housing let on long leases having a ground rent by the Portman Estate, which owns the private communal gardens. ...

. On their return, Savord developed a cataloging system for the Frick Art Reference Library's growing collection of study images, which involved the adaption of principles ordinarily applied to books, and launched two initiatives: the development of a book collection and a program to photograph works of art in private collections, objects that were little known to the scholarly community. Savord also assisted in developing the staff of the Library and acquiring rare sales catalogs, a collection that has become one of the largest of its kind in the United States. Savord left her position at the Frick Art Reference Library in 1924 to assist in the reorganization of the library of the

General Education Board The General Education Board was a private organization which was used primarily to support higher education and medical schools in the United States, and to help rural white and black schools in the South, as well as modernize farming practices i ...

, where Marguerite M. Chamberlain served as her assistant from 1925 to 1927.

Council on Foreign Relations

After holding positions with the International Education Board as well as the advertising firm Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn, Savord extended her field into international relations and actively contributed to the organization of the library of the

in New York City. She served as the institution's Librarian from 1932 to about 1962. Her work for the Council led to the compilation of a directory on international affairs, her first major publication.

Special Libraries Association

Savord served as the President of the

from 1934 to 1935, heading the SLA's "Constitution Revision Committee" as Special chairman. She also served on the Ways and Means Committee and as ex-officio of the Publications Committee. In regard to her field, she noted that special librarianship "offers an outlet... for the one whose primary interest is in people, in new and interesting contacts, and in books as tools; for the one with the sleuthing instinct for the obscure or the not-yet-in-print information which is demanded today by our highly competitive world. It is not for the one seeking a quiet atmosphere of repose; nor for the one who is interested primarily in increasing the desire to read and in fostering the cultural side of life." In a special session on education for special librarians at SLA’s annual meeting of 1938 in Kansas City, Savord presented a paper on the best education for a special librarian. On the differences in objectives and purposes between special and general libraries, her presentation highlighted the detrimental side effects for the profession created by schools that do not illustrate the differences in their librarianship education and training.

Publications

Articles

"Training for Special Librarianship."
''

Special Libraries A special library is a library that provides specialized information resources on a particular subject, serves a specialized and limited clientele, and delivers specialized services to that clientele. Special libraries include corporate librari ...

'', Vol. 29, No. 7, September 1938, pp. 207–212
Full issue available."What Special Libraries Can Do For Civilian Defense."
''

'', Vol. 33, No. 1, January 1942, pp. 11–14
Full issue."Structure and Interrelations of SLA Groups."
''

'', Vol. 39, No. 7, September 1948, pp. 218–225
Full issue available."Source Material."
''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

'', Vol. 35, No. 4, July 1957, pp. 721–726. .

Books

* ''Directory of American Agencies Concerned with the Study of International Affairs''. Introduction by Isaiah Bowman. New York:

, 1931.
''Union List of Periodicals in Special Libraries of the New York Metropolitan District''
Edited with Pearl Keefer.

, 1931.
''American Agencies Interested in International Affairs''
New York:

, 1942.Skilling, Gordon
"Briefer Notices."
Review of ''American Agencies Interested in International Affairs'' by Ruth Savord. ''

American Political Science Review The ''American Political Science Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all areas of political science. It is an official journal of the American Political Science Association and is published on their behalf by Cambridg ...

'', February 1943, pp. 181–182. . . :"This is a handy reference book for information concerning freedom movements, university institutes on world foundations, propaganda societies of all kinds, post-war planning associations, learned societies, etc." (p. 182)

Pamphlets

''Special Librarianship as a Career.''
Sponsored by the

. New London: Institute of Women's Professional Relations, 1942.
"World Affairs: A Foreign Service Reading List."
''

World Affairs ''World Affairs'' is an American quarterly journal covering international relations. At one time, it was an official publication of the American Peace Society. The magazine has been published since 1837 and was re-launched in January 2008 as a new ...

'', Vol. 112, No. 4, Winter 1949. New York:

. ::"PART II — a supplement to the December, 1949, issue of the journal."

Reports

* ''Report on the Development of Education in International Relations in the United States: Submitted to the League of Nations Section of Intellectual Cooperation, May 1932''. 1932.

References

External links

Ruth Savord
at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

Works by Ruth Savord
at

The Online Books Page The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several feat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savord, Ruth 1894 births American librarians American women librarians 1966 deaths Employees of the Frick Art Reference Library 20th-century American women