Inventory of the Joseph P. Breedlove papers,
1913-1950
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Descriptive Summary
Repository
University Archives, Duke
University
Creator
Breedlove, Joseph Penn, 1874-1955
Title
Joseph P. Breedlove papers, 1913-1950
Language of Material
Material in English
Extent
2.0 Linear Feet
2000 Items
Abstract
Breedlove was appointed Librarian of Trinity College in 1898 and oversaw the growth of the libraries after Trinity expanded to become Duke University. He served as Librarian until 1939 when he was named Librarian Emeritus.
The Joseph P. Breedlove papers document the expansion and management of the Duke University Library after the General Library opens in 1930. The papers contain some annual reports of the Trinity College as well as an undated Guide to the Trinity College Library. Correspondence with Library Council member B. Harvie Branscomb includes a June 14, 1937 feasibility report of the resources needed to convert the Library classification scheme from Dewey Decimal to Library of Congress. The collection also includes a history of Wiley Gray medal with a list of winners.
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Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Patrons must sign the Acknowledgement of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
Collection is open for research.
In off-site storage; 24 hours advance notice is required for use.
Copyright Notice
Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Joseph P. Breedlove papers, University Archives, Duke University.
Provenance
The Joseph P. Breedlove papers were received by the University Archives as a
transfer in 1955-1974.
Processing Information
Processed by Tim Pyatt, July 2006
Encoded by Kimberly Sims, September 2006
Accessions were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and our local Style Guide.
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
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Biographical Note
Joseph P. Breedlove was born July 15, 1874 in Granville, N.C., to John Henry and Susan Caroline Breedlove. A descendant of John Penn, one of North Carolina's signers of the Declaration of Independence, Breedlove attended Horner's Military School in Oxford, N.C. He went on to the University of North Carolina in 1894, but transferred after his freshman year to Trinity College, where he received his undergraduate degree in 1898 and a Masters of Arts degree in 1902.
Breedlove was appointed Librarian of Trinity College in September of 1898, when the Library occupied a single room in the Washington Duke Building. Breedlove received his Library training in the summer of 1900 at Amherst, where he studied under William I. Fletcher, who was a pioneer in the field of library education. While at Amherst he also met Charles A. Cutter, who developed the Cutter classification system. Breedlove continued his library education in the summer of 1902, when he did a practicum at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.
By 1902 the Trinity College Library had grown to 15,000 volumes and moved to the newly completed Library over the Christmas break. Until September of 1914 when he was able to hire a staff member to assist with cataloging, Breedlove handled all aspects of Library operation with minimal student assistance. Library operations grew substantially after Trinity College expanded into Duke University. During the period of 1924 to 1930, Library operations grew to include the General Library (West campus) and the Woman's College Library (East campus) as well as the libraries for the schools of Law, Medicine, and Religion. Under Breedlove's direction, the General Library was organized into the divisions of Reference, Circulation, Periodicals, Newspaper, Serials, and Continuations, Reserve Books, and Graduate Reserve as well as the departments of Catalog, Order, and Manuscript.
Breedlove served as Librarian until September 1939 when he was named Librarian Emeritus. In the years after his retirement he continued to work on library projects and wrote a history of the Library entitled Duke University Library, 1840-1940.
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Collection Overview
The bulk of the Breedlove papers document the expansion and management of the Library after the General Library opens in 1930. Some annual reports from the Trinity College era can be found in Box 1 and an undated Guide to the Trinity College Library is located in Box 3. Box 3 also contains speeches and articles by Breedlove as well as a report on library instruction for freshmen. Of particular interest is a folder in Box 1 containing Breedlove’s correspondence with B. Harvie Branscomb. Branscomb was a member of the Library Council and served as Director of Libraries (a faculty appointment) from 1934 to 1941. A June 14, 1937 feasibility report of the resources needed to convert the Library classification scheme from Dewey Decimal to Library of Congress can be found in the Branscomb folder. In addition to materials about the Library, the collection also includes documentation of Breedlove’s campus activities with the Trinity Class of 1898 and a history of Wiley Gray medal with a list of winners.
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Subject Headings
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
- Branscomb, Bennett Harvie, 1894 -
- Breedlove, Joseph Penn, 1874-1955.
- Classification--Books.
- Duke University. Library.
- Trinity College (Durham, N.C.). Library.
- Wiley Gray Medal.
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Detailed Description of Collection
Container List
Box 1
Annual report of the Library, 1913-1925
Annual report of the Library, 1928-1935
Annual report of the Library, 1944-1945
Binding, 1929-1933
Book loans, 1934-1942
Books lost, 1938-1946
Branscomb, Harvie, correspondence and reports, 1927-1940
Budget fund, 1925-1927
Church material in Duke Library, 1941-1943
Class of 1898 alumni file
Correspondence, 1923-1924
Correspondence, 1924-1927
Correspondence, 1928-1933
Box 2
Correspondence, 1934-1938
Correspondence, 1939-1941
Correspondence, 1942-1943
Correspondence, 1944-1949
Correspondence, personnel, 1925-1942
Correspondence, student assistants, 1927-1942
Equipment, 1931-1935
Expenditures, 1929
Fee fund and reports, 1930-1942
Financial reports, 1920-1929
Friends of the Duke University Library, 1945
Glasson, William, 1924-1942
Box 3
Guide to the Use of the Trinity College Library
Inventory and reference survey, 1934-1935
John Spencer Bassett Collection contributions
Library Committee/Council, 1920-1942
Medicine, 1926
Memos, receipts, miscellaneous, 1929-1950
N.Y.A. workers, 1934-1942 (2 folders)
North Carolina Library Association, 1933-1946
Periodicals received, 1931-1946
Red Cross British War Relief, 1941-1942
Report on Library Instruction for Freshmen, 1937-1938
Report to the American Library Association, 1932-1938
Speeches and writings
Box 4
Staff of the General Library, 1928-1940
Staff salaries, 1931-1939
Statistics, 1930-1941
Statistics, accessions, 1931-1946
Statistics, manuscripts, 1934-1940
Statistics, Trinity and Duke, 1882-1929
Student help, 1939-1942
Treasure Room lists, 1931-1932
Wiley Gray Medals winners and history, 1879-1942
