Sadie Peterson Delaney (February 26, 1889 – May 4, 1958) was the chief

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

of the

Veterans Administration Hospital Veterans' health care in the United States is separated geographically into 19 regions (numbered 1, 2, 4-10, 12 and 15–23) In January 2002, the Veterans Health Administration announced the merger of VISNs 13 and 14 to create a new, combined netw ...

Tuskegee, Alabama Tuskegee () is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. It was founded and laid out in 1833 by General Thomas Simpson Woodward, a Creek War veteran under Andrew Jackson, and made the county seat that year. It was incorporated in 1843. ...

, for 34 years. She is well known as a pioneer for her work with

bibliotherapy Bibliotherapy (also referred to as book therapy, reading therapy, poetry therapy or therapeutic storytelling) is a creative arts therapy that involves storytelling or the reading of specific texts. It uses an individual's relationship to the co ...

Biography

Sadie Peterson Delaney, daughter of Julia Frances Hawkins Johnson and James Johnson, was born on February 26, 1889, in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. She attended high school in

Poughkeepsie, New York 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 ...

, and also spent one year at Miss McGovern's School of Social Work.Gubert, B. K. (1993)
Sadie Peterson Delaney: Pioneer Bibliotherapist
''American Libraries'', 24(2), 124-125. She was active in the Smith Metropolitan AME Zion Church where she was recognized for her poetry and activities that ranged from being a Sabbath School teacher, to being a member of the sewing circle, to being President of the J. W. Hood Literary Society. She attended college at the College of the City of New York, graduating in 1919.Shaw, S. J. (1996). ''What a Woman Ought to Be and to Do: Black Professional Women Workers During the Jim Crow Era''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. She went on to receive her

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

training at the New York Public Library School from 1920 to 1921. Delaney had one daughter named Grace with her first husband, Edward Louis Peterson. They divorced in 1924, and she married Rudicel A. Delaney in 1928. Delaney had a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

and died in Tuskegee, Alabama, on May 4, 1958.Wynar, B. S. (Ed.). (1978). ''Dictionary of American Library Biography''. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Career

New York Public Library

Delaney continued her work at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

after she completed her training. She worked at the 135th Street Branch in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

through 1923. She worked diligently to increase the programs available for children of different ethnic backgrounds. She ran story hours, discussion groups, and other events for children. Some of the events were geared specifically toward juvenile delinquents, foreign-born children or blind children. Her interest in working with blind children led her to learn

Braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

and Moon Code, a system of reading and writing for blind people. She also worked with parents and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

elders, helping them to see the

value Value or values may refer to: Ethics and social * Value (ethics) wherein said concept may be construed as treating actions themselves as abstract objects, associating value to them ** Values (Western philosophy) expands the notion of value beyo ...

of the library for the children that they worked with at home or in community groups. New York Public Library May 2011

While at the New York Public Library, Delaney was integral in the development of an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

collection. She routinely met with African American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

s, helping them to connect with other authors and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

s. Delaney often helped arrange artistic programs that included talks by scholars and community leaders such as W.E.B Du Bois,

James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peop ...

William H. Ferris William Henry Ferris (July 20, 1874 – 1941) was an author, minister, and scholar. Early life He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of David H. and Sarah Ann Jefferson Ferris. His grandparents were free at the time of his father's birt ...

, George Edmund Haynes,

Hubert Harrison Hubert Henry Harrison (April 27, 1883 – December 17, 1927) was a West Indian-American writer, orator, educator, critic, race and class conscious political activist, and radical internationalist based in Harlem, New York. He was described by a ...

, and Fred Moore. She also established the first African American exhibit of art held in the New York Public Library.

Veterans Administration Hospital

Delaney was approached to head the library at the

Veterans Administration The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers and ...

Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama. The hospital was home to physically disabled African American war

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

s and veterans with mental or emotional issues. Delaney initially took a six-month

leave of absence The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they are ...

from the New York Public Library; however, she ended up staying in Tuskegee for the remainder of her career. When she arrived at the Veterans Administration Hospital in January 1924, there were just 200 books and a table in the library. One of the first things Delaney did in Tuskegee was make the library more welcoming. She moved it into a larger room and added plants, wall hangings, flowers and other inviting elements. She wanted to have a positive impact on the patients in the hospital. She also began acquiring books for both the patients and the medical staff. Within one year of Delaney's arrival in Tuskegee, the library had 4,000 volumes available for patients and 85 volumes available in the medical library.

Library circulation Library circulation or library lending comprises the activities around the lending of library books and other material to users of a lending library. A circulation or lending department is one of the key departments of a library. The main public ...

had risen to 1,000 books per month. By 1954, there were over 13,000 volumes in the patient library and over 3,000 volumes in the medical library. In addition to the chief librarian, there were six library assistants to help handle the demand for library resources. Delaney died in 1958 after working 34 years at the hospital.

Bibliotherapy

Delaney used

extensively in her work. She defined bibliotherapy as, “the treatment of patients through selected reading.” She was an advocate of giving the patients individual attention in order to learn their interests. She could use this knowledge to help pair them with books that would engage them. To help choose appropriate books for patients, Delaney would consult with the doctors and medical staff. She spoke of the value of having a librarian at medical meetings regarding patients. She also reviewed books, especially those that were written by or depicted African Americans. When choosing books for the library collection, Delaney took patient interests into consideration. She also tried to maintain information on current events and reference materials. To complement her work with books and bibliotherapy, Delaney developed many special programs for the patients. She instituted

book talk A book talk (or booktalk) is what is spoken with the intent to convince someone to read a book. Booktalks are traditionally conducted in a classroom setting for students; however, booktalks can be performed outside a school setting and with a varie ...

s, monthly program meetings, a story hour and a variety of other

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

s. She could share her own interests in some of the groups, such as the

stamp Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to: Official documents and related impressions * Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail * Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods * Revenue stamp, used on documents to ...

and

coin collecting Coin collecting is the collecting of coins or other forms of minted legal tender. Coins of interest to collectors often include those that were in circulation for only a brief time, coins with mint errors, and especially beautiful or historic ...

clubs. She tried diligently to get all of the veterans involved with clubs and library activities. She ran a book cart program so that patients confined to their beds still had access to reading material. For those unable to hold a book, Delaney arranged for the books to be projected on the wall. The patient could turn the pages with a single button. She also sang familiar

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

s and read

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

to help the patients feel more relaxed. She continued her work with the blind by teaching Braille at the hospital. As blind patients learned how to read Braille, some of them taught others. Delaney acquired talking books for the blind patients. Delaney taught more than 600 patients how to read Braille. They were also encouraged to join the clubs and programs that were run, giving them the same opportunities as the other patients. In 1927, Delaney and the patients began

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

the library activities on the local radio station. The patients participated in book and art fairs, displaying their work and delivering talks about books. They were given numerous opportunities and choices for a creative outlet with the various activities available. Delaney also started the Disabled Veterans’ Literary Society, which received acclaim from the Veterans Administration. In the February 1938 ''Opportunity'' magazine, which Delaney occasionally wrote for, she explains her work with the patients in the hospital, “Here minds long imprisoned by lethargy are awakened…And once again he is alive with enthusiasm and joy derived from activity.”

Professional associations

Delaney was active in many professional associations. She served on the advisory board for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

) for five years. She was a member of the International Library AssociationHospital Councilor Named. (1947). ''Library Journal'', 72(15), 1175. and the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

(ALA), where she served on the Council from 1946 to 1951. Delaney was elected councilor of the ALA Hospital Library Division in 1947. She was also a member of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Committee for Work with the Blind. Delaney worked to join the Alabama Library Association, which did not allow African Americans into its membership at that time. She was eventually invited to join by the president of the Alabama Library Association; however, on April 15, 1951, when the next president took over, her dues were returned and her membership was discontinued. The Association suggested that she start an African American chapter, and Delaney balked at that idea. She cited examples of other professional organizations that had integrated, including library associations in other southern states. Delaney tried again to join the Alabama Library Association two years later, and was met with rejection again.

Awards and honors

Students from

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 ...

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

and

Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Fou ...

were sent to observe and learn from Delaney at the Veterans Administration Hospital. Librarians from

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South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and around the United States also came to observe Delaney and her use of bibliotherapy. Her library was used as a model for other Veterans Administration hospitals.Josey, E.J. & DeLoach, M.L. (Ed.). (2000). ''Handbook of Black Librarianship''. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc. She was invited to give speeches at American universities, community churches and a conference in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1934. In 1948, she was named Woman of the Year by the

Iota Phi Lambda Iota Phi Lambda Sorority Inc. () is the first African American Greek-lettered business sorority established by African American business women. There are now more than 100 chapters with membership numbering more than 1300 in 85 cities and the US ...

sorority. She received the same honor again in 1949 by the

Zeta Phi Beta Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achie ...

sorority, and then in 1950 by the

National Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

. Also in 1950, an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

was bestowed upon her by Atlanta University. She was honored with a testimonial banquet at the 1950 American Library Association convention, and the US Veterans Administration awarded her their top award for excellence in 1956.

Legacy

*After Delaney's death in 1958, the Atlanta University School of Library Science started a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

in her name. *Delaney was inducted into the Alabama Library Association's Hall of Fame in 1982. *Named in her honor, The Sadie Peterson Delaney African Roots Library opened in Poughkeepsie, New York. *The Sadie Peterson Delaney African Roots Branch Library reopened on April 9, 2022 as a fully circulating library of the Poughkeepsie Public Library District in the Mid-Hudson Library System to honor Delaney's legacy of literacy. *The New York Public Library has acquired and archived a large quantity of Delaney's personal letters. *Delaney was recognized as one of the 100 most important leaders of the 20th century by ''American Libraries''. *In 2015, a non-profit organization by the name of Words Heal, Inc. was also name the Sadie Peterson Delaney Literary Collaborative, in her honor. The organization promotes bibliotherapy as an complement to conventional therapies and treatments for mental wellness.

Articles authored by Sadie Peterson Delaney

Peterson SM. The Library; A Factor in Negro Education. The Messenger 1923 July;5 (7): 772-773. Peterson SM. U.S.V. Hospital Library No.91, Tuskegee, Ala. Crisis a Record of the Darker Races 1925 Jan;29 (3): 116-117. Delaney SP. The Library—A Factor in Veterans' Bureau Hospitals. Medical Bulletin 1930 Apr;6 (4): 331-334. Delaney SP. The Negro Veteran and His Books. Wilson Bulletin for Librarians 1932 Jun;6 (10): 684-686. Delaney SP. Bibliotherapy as an Aid to Rehabilitation. Journal National Association College Women 1935; (12): 9-11. Delaney SP. The Place of Bibliotherapy in a Hospital. Opportunity Journal of Negro Life 1938 Feb;16 (2): 53-56. Delaney SP. Place of Bibliotherapy in a Hospital. Library Journal 1938 April;63: 305-308. (Reprinted from Opportunity Journal of Negro Life) Delaney SP. Library Activities at Tuskegee. Medical Bulletin of the Veterans' Administration 1940 Oct;17 (2): 163-169. Delaney SP. Bibliography on Bibliotherapy. Bulletin of Bibliography 1951 Sep-Dec:135. Delaney SP. Time's Telling. Wilson Library Bulletin 1955 Feb;29 (6): 461-463. Delaney SP. Bibliotherapy for patients in Antabuse clinic. Hospital Book Guide 1955 Oct;16 (8); 141-143.

Articles about or featuring Sadie Peterson Delaney

American Hospital Librarian Honoured. Book Trolley (England) 1950 Summer; 6:38-39. Bauer HC. Seasoned to Taste. Wilson Library Bulletin 1955 Feb; 29 (6): 404. Brown EF. Origins and Pioneers. In: Bibliotherapy and its Widening Applications. Metuchen: Sage 1975: 13-38. Cantrell CH. Sadie P. Delaney: Bibliotherapist and Librarian. Southeastern Librarian 1956 Fall; 6(3): 1105-109. (Reprinted, Congressional Record, Appendix 1957 Jan 17: A266-A267.) Dibble Eh. The Veterans' Administration Facility for Negro Beneficiaries, Tuskegee, Ala. Medical Bulletin of the Veterans' Administration 1940 Oct;17(2): 158-162. Favazza Ar. Bibliotherapy: A Critique of the Literature. Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 1966 Apr;54(2): 138-141. Gubert BK. Sadie Peterson Delaney: Pioneer Bibliotherapist. American Libraries 1993 Feb:12(2): 124-130. Hospital Libraries: Veterans Administration Hospital, Tuskegee, Alabama. Book Trolley (England) 1938 April;17(1): 346-347. Jones, VL. Delaney, Sadie Peterson (1889-1959) In: Dictionary of American Library Biography. Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1978:122-124. McDougald EJ. The Task of Negro Womanhood. In: Locke A, ed. The New Negro. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1968: 369-384. Oppenheim G. Bibliotherapy—A new work for your vocabulary. (Bloemfontein, South Africa) Cape Times 1938 Jan 15:3. Pomeroy E. U.S. Veterans' Hospital Library Service. Library Journal 1975 Mar;50(6): 253-256. Schneck JM A Bibliography on Bibliotherapy and Libraries in Mental Hospitals. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic 1945 Sept;9 (5): 170-174. Sprague MD. Dr. Sadie Peterson Delaney "Great Humanitarian." Service 1951 June;15(11): 17-18, 25-26. Roosevelt, E. My Day. New York Post 1957 Jan 18:3.

The Tuskegee Controversy

Daniel P. Black Power in the 1920's: The Case of Tuskegee Veterans Hospital. Journal of Southern History 1970; 36(3): 368-388. Marable M. Tuskegee and the Politics of Illusion in the New South. Black Scholar 1977; 8(7): 13-24. Marable M. Tuskegee Institute in the 1920's. Negro History Bulletin 1977; 40(6): 764-768. Matthews, CS. The Decline of the Tuskegee Machine, 1915-1925: the Abdication of Political Power South Atlantic Quarterly 1976; 74(4): 460-469. Norrell, RJ, Perfect Quiet, Peace and Harmony: Another Look at the Founding of Tuskegee Institute. Alabama Review 1983.; 36(2): 110-128 Powell RH How the U.S. Government Broke Faith with the Blacks and Whites of Tuskegee. Birmingham Daily News, July 1923. Clipping in National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Records (Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). Walton LA. Southern Opinion on the Tuskegee Hospital. Outlook 1923 Sept 5;85:14-16.

References

External links

The Sadie Peterson Delaney African Roots Library The Sadie Peterson Delaney African Roots Branch Library page of the Poughkeepsie Public Library District New York Public Library -- Sadie Peterson Delaney LettersDutchess County Historical Society's recording program about Sadie P. Delaney
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delaney, Sadie Peterson American librarians American women librarians People from Rochester, New York People from Poughkeepsie, New York People from Tuskegee, Alabama 1889 births 1958 deaths Bibliotherapy African-American librarians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women