Draft:Lucia Tryon
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Comment: It appears an account is needed to access the first 3 sources. --pro-anti-air ––>(talk)<–– 02:46, 5 December 2025 (UTC)
Lucia M. Tryon | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 22, 1903 Maumee, Ohio |
| Died | November 30, 2000 (aged 97) Pensacola, Florida |
| Education | Emory University (BA) |
| Occupation | Librarian |
| Years active | 1938-1968 |
| Employer | Pensacola Public Library |
| Title | Chief Librarian |
Lucia M. Tryon
[edit]Lucia Madeline Tryon (November 22, 1903 – November 30, 2000) became Pensacola, Florida's first female city department head when she was appointed the chief librarian of Pensacola's public library system (now West Florida Public Library). After earning a library science degree from Emory University, she became the head librarian at Miami Edison High School.
Tryon was later hired by the city of Pensacola to convert the Old Christ Church in historic Seville Square into the city’s first public library. On February 15th, 1938, the library opened its doors. And with a budget of only one hundred dollars, they began with 3,352 books.[1]
During her time at the helm of Pensacola’s free library system, Lucia Tryon guided it through many changes, including the construction of (and move to) the main library’s current building on Gregory Street in 1957, and an expansion of that building ten years later.[2]
She oversaw the establishment of the Alice S. Williams Branch Library to serve the city’s Black community [3] during the time of racial segregation[4]. This branch ultimately merged with their downtown branch, the Pensacola Public Library. [5]
Tryon was particularly proud of initiating the system’s first Bookmobile program in 1963, which made the library's resources more accessible to residents in outlying rural areas. After her thirty years of service, the library had grown twenty times its size.[6]
On her 65th birthday in 1968, Lucia Tryon was forced to retire from her position as chief librarian and described the memory to colleagues as, “the saddest day of her life.” She continued involvement with the library as a member of the Friends of the Pensacola Public Library as long as her health would allow.
In 1990, the system’s Northeast Branch Library was renamed in her honor the Lucia M. Tryon Branch Library.[7] She passed away on November 30th, 2000 at the age of 97.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ Ball, Suzanne (November 24, 1968). "Retirement to Be a Difficult Thing for Miss Lucia Tryon, Librarian". The Pensacola News-Journal. p. 17.
- ^ Jasper, Catherine; McCook, Kathleen de la Peña (August 1998). The Florida Library History Project. Tampa, Fla: University of South Florida.
- ^ Wiegand, Wayne A.; Wiegand, Shirley A. (April 14, 2018). The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South: Civil Rights and Local Activism. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-8071-6867-7.
- ^ Ball, Suzanne (February 11, 1968). "Library and Miss Lucia -- 30 Years Together, Both Doing Fine". The Pensacola News-Journal. p. 14.
- ^ Jasper, Catherine; McCook, Kathleen de la Peña (August 1998). The Florida Library History Project. Tampa, Fla: University of South Florida. p. 483. ERIC ED422005.
- ^ Blair, Kimberly (August 7, 1995). "City's first lady of public library: Namesake guides branch to 38,000 books". Pensacola News Journal. p. 15.
- ^ "History". MyWFPL. Retrieved 2025-12-03.
- ^ "Northeast Branch Library is named for Lucia Tryon". Pensacola News Journal. February 26, 1990. p. 6.