June 17, 2008
Beatrice L. Jourdain Richie
Fisk University, B.A. '51
School of Information and Library Science, '52
Birthplace: New Bedford, Massachusetts
Current home: Cleveland, Ohio
Beatrice Jourdain Richie wanted to attend a predominately black college. With a host of academically strong, historically black colleges to choose from, she decided upon Fisk University. She majored in sociology and minored in psychology.
During her undergraduate years, she involved herself in student government and became a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She also worked in the Fisk library for four years with the now famous poet and writer, Arna Bontemps, who was a librarian at Fisk from 1946-66. She enjoyed learning about African American culture and art, especially from faculty members Aaron Douglas, an acclaimed artist, and John W. Work III, a noted composer and music educator.
Working with Arna Bontemps encouraged Mrs. Richie to consider graduate studies in library science and reference work. She learned of a one-year master of library science program at Western Reserve University School of Information and Library Science and soon after graduation from Fisk, moved to Cleveland to begin the program. She worked part time in the library at the Cleveland Museum of Art and attended shows and concerts at Severance Hall and other University Circle cultural institutions.
"Hard work and long hours" enabled her to complete the program in nine months. She presented a dissertation, "The History of Afro-American Press," and received her master's in 1952. During this time, she met her future husband, Winston, who was a student in the School of Dental Medicine. The couple has one son and three daughters, Winston Jr., Beth, Laurel, and Anne.
Her credentials led her to work as a youth librarian for the Detroit Public Library and the Cleveland Public Library, and as a reference librarian for the Euclid (Ohio) Public Library. Over the years, Mrs. Richie has served on the Visiting Committee of the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. She was a past president and board member of the Friendly Inn Settlement House and a board member of Health Hill Hospital.
Now retired, she says she is proud of the education she received at Fisk and Case Western Reserve. "I support this new partnership and the Fisk to Case Legacy Project. I see this undertaking as beneficial to both institutions and their affiliates."
Posted by: Heidi Cool June 17, 2008 03:34 PM
Category: Alumni
, Legacy
, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences
, School of Information and Library Science