
Lawrence Clark Powell (September 3, 1906–March 14, 2001) was an American librarian, literary critic, bibliographer and author of more than 100 books. Powell "made a significant contribution to the literature of the library profession, but he also writes for the book-minded public. His interests are reflected in the subjects that recur throughout his writings; these are history and travel, especially concerning the American Southwest, rare books, libraries and librarianship, the book trade, and book collecting."
Biography
Powell was born September 3, 1906
[Lawrence Clark Powell oral history recorded/transcribed UCLA](_blank)
/ref> in Washington, D.C. of Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
parents, G. Harold and Gertrude (Clark) Powell.[UCLA Special Collections: L.C. Powell Archive](_blank)
/ref> His father was a general manager of the Sunkist Cooperative, and the family spent Powell's early winters in Riverside.
Powell's family moved to South Pasadena, California
South Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 26,943, up from 25,619 at the 2020 census. It is located in the Western San Gabriel Valley. It is in area and lies betwe ...
when he was five years old, and there he attended public schools, graduating from South Pasadena High School
South Pasadena High School (SPHS or "South Pas") is the one public high school serving grades 9–12 in the city of South Pasadena, California. With the South Pasadena Middle School and three elementary schools (Arroyo Vista, Marengo, and Montere ...
.
He received a B.A. from Occidental College
Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...
in 1928. According to his obituary in the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', "During the Depression, he worked as a shipping clerk at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena and for Fowler Books in Los Angeles and local rare bookstores until Los Angeles City Librarian Althea Hester Warren, in Powell's words, 'plucked me out of Jake Zeitlin's bookshop and sent me off to Berkeley.' " Powell later returned to Los Angeles to work for Warren at the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles.
He earned a doctorate from the University of Burgundy in Dijon
Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...
(''Université de Bourgogne
The University of Burgundy Europe (, UBE; formerly known as University of Dijon) is a public university located in Dijon, France.
The University of Burgundy Europe is situated on a large campus (more than 150 ha) in the eastern part of Dijon cal ...
'') in 1932 (having written his dissertation on Robinson Jeffers), and a Certificate of Librarianship from the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
in 1937.
In 1938, Powell started working at University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
in the acquisitions department of the library.[Lawrence Clark Powell, Former University Librarian and Founding Dean of the Library School, Dies](_blank)
/ref> He was University Librarian at the UCLA Library from 1944 to 1961, and head librarian of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library from 1944 until 1966. He was the first dean of the School of Library Service at UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
, which later merged to become the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. He was also a lecturer in English at UCLA and a visiting professor at the Columbia University School of Library Service
The Columbia University School of Library Service was a school dedicated to education for librarianship that was part of Columbia University in New York City.
It was founded by Melvil Dewey and began operation in 1887 as the Columbia College Schoo ...
. Under his directorship, the UCLA library "quadrupled in size," numbering some 1.5 million volumes circa 1960. He acquired "such noted collections as Michael Sadleir
Michael Sadleir (25 December 1888 – 13 December 1957), born Michael Thomas Harvey Sadler, was a British publisher, novelist, book collector, and Bibliography, bibliographer.
Biography
Michael Sadleir was born in Oxford, Oxford, England, the ...
's Victorian Fiction and the 80,000-volume library of C.K. Ogden, originator of Basic English." The Powell Library at UCLA is named for him.
Powell was a Guggenheim Fellow
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...
in Great Britain in 1950–51.
He had a monthly column on "Books of the West" for '' Westways'' magazine.
In 1977 he was awarded the Sir Thomas More Medal for Book Collecting, by the University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...
Gleeson Library and the Gleeson Library Associates.
After retiring from UCLA in 1966, Powell moved to Tucson, Arizona
Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
in 1971, where—as Professor in Residence for nearly two decades—he was instrumental in the growth of the University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
Graduate School of Library Science, now known as the University of Arizona School of Information Resources and Library Science. The University of Arizona Libraries special collections holds Powell's papers documenting his time in Tucson, and the Fay and Lawrence Clark Powell Endowment for Southwest Research continues to support Powell's interest in the geography of the southwest United States.
The Lawrence Clark Powell Memorial Lecture is held in Tucson annually in Powell's honor, with noted authors speaking about topics relevant to Powell's work, and Lifetime Achievement awards have been granted at the Memorial Lecture in prior years.
Powell was a president of the Bibliographical Society of America The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is a North American organization that fosters the study of books and manuscripts. It was constituted from the earlier Bibliographical Society of Chicago (created in 1899) as the national membership began ...
, the California Library Association
Established in 1895, the California Library Association (CLA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organizatioHistory – California Library AssociationMembers of CLA include library staff members, professional librarians, library and information ...
, and the Zamorano Club of Los Angeles, and also a member of the Roxburghe Club
The Roxburghe Club is a Bibliophilia, bibliophilic and Text publication society, publishing society based in the United Kingdom.
Origins
The spur to the Club's foundation was the sale of the enormous library of the John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe ...
of Los Angeles, the Caxton Club
The Caxton Club is a private social club and bibliophilic society founded in Chicago in 1895 to promote the book arts and the history of the book. To further its goals, the club hosts monthly events, collaborates with institutions like the New ...
of Chicago, and the Grolier Club
The Grolier Club is a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York City. Founded in January 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The club is named after Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, T ...
of New York.
In 1981 he was awarded American Library Association Honorary Membership
Honorary Membership conferred by the American Library Association is the Association's highest award. "Honorary membership may be conferred on a living citizen of any country whose contribution to librarianship or a closely related field is so outs ...
.
He died at La Rosa Health Center in Tucson, Arizona at age 94. His wife, née Fay Ellen Shoemaker, died around 1991. The couple had two sons, one named Norman.
Literary friendships
In 1934, Powell moved to Laguna Beach, California
Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish language, Spanish for "Lagoon") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Located in Southern California along the Pacific Ocean, this seaside resort city has a mild year-round climate, scenic c ...
with his wife Fay, to live next door to M.F.K. Fisher, with whom he maintained a great correspondence and friendship. (The couple later lived in Malibu, until the family home—and the book collection contained therein—was destroyed in the 1978 Malibu fire.)
In the 1930s, Powell was a correspondent, friend and bibliographer for John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...
as he composed ''Of Mice and Men
''Of Mice and Men'' is a 1937 novella written by American author John Steinbeck. It describes the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant worker, migrant ranch workers, as they move from place to place in California ...
'' and ''The Grapes of Wrath
''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award
and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...
''.
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, so ...
wrote in his book '' The Air-Conditioned Nightmare'' that L. C. Powell, "a humble, modest librarian at U.C.L.A." was (apart from Ed Ricketts) the only person whom Miller, during his journey across the United States, found "satisfied with his lot, adjusted to his environment, happy in his work, and representative of all that is best in the American tradition".
Miller also credited Powell for the suggestion that led him to write "The Books In My Life", and that work is dedicated to Powell.
Selected works
* ''Islands of Books''
* ''The Alchemy of Books'' (1954)
* ''The Manuscripts of D.H. Lawrence''
* ''Robinson Jeffers, the Man and His Work''
* ''Philosopher Pickett''
* ''Land of Fiction''
* ''Heart of the Southwest''
* ''A Southwestern Century''
* ''The Malibu'' (with W.W. Robinson)
* ''A Passion for Books'' (1958)
* ''Books in My Baggage'' (1960)
* ''The Little Package'' (1964)
* ''The Blue Train'' (1977)
* ''The River Between'' (1979)
* ''Southwestern Book Trails'' (1982)
* ''Eucalyptus Fair'' (1992)
* ''California Classics: The Creative Literature of the Golden State'' (1971)
* ''Photographs of the Southwest'' (1976) (with Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his Monochrome photography, black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association ...
)
* ''Fortune & Friendship: An Autobiography'' (1968)
* ''Life Goes On: Twenty More Years of Fortune and Friendship'' (1986)
* ''Winter Crossing 1952 - Travel Notes from a Bygone era (1986)
Notes
External links
*
A Southwestern Century: A Bibliography of One Hundred Books of Non Fiction about the Southwest
' chosen and annotated by Lawrence Clark Powell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Lawrence Clark
1906 births
2001 deaths
American literary critics
Librarians from Arizona
American librarians
University of California, Los Angeles staff
Occidental College alumni
Presidents of the Bibliographical Society of America