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MBLC Celebrates 125 Years

1915

In 1915: On Jan. 22, "the Governor and Council approved the appointment by the Commission of Mr. John Adams Lowe as agent."1 Miss Zaidee Brown, the first agent of the Commission, resigned in April 1914 to take a post as librarian in Long Beach, California.2

TODAY: On May 12, 2014, Dianne Carty was appointed director of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.3


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Johnny Gruelle received the patent for the Raggedy Ann doll (US Patent D47789) on September 7, 1915.[4][5]


What else happened in 1915?

  • The United States Coast Guard was established on January 28 under an act of Congress that merged the Revenue Cutter Service with the U. S. Life-Saving Service.6
  • Mary Mallon (Typhoid Mary) was arrested and quarantined on North Brother Island, New York, where she remained until her death in 1938.7
  • On May 7, RMS Lusitania was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland by the German submarine (or u-boat) U-20, sinking in 18 minutes. Of the known 1,960 people on board, 767 survived and 1,193 perished in the Lusitania disaster.8

References:
1. Twenty-fourth Report of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts, 1916.
2. Twenty-fifth Report of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts, 1915.
3. MBLC website [link].
4. Raggedy Ann - Wikipedia entry [link].
5. www.raggedyann.cc [link].
6. www.uscg.mil [link].
7. www.history.com [link].
8. www.rmslusitania.info [link].