Ernest Cushing Richardson
| Ernest Cushing Richardson | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Ernest Cushing Richardson February 9, 1860 Woburn, Massachusetts |
| Died | June 3, 1939 (aged 79) Old Lyme, Connecticut |
| Cause of death | Angina pectoris |
| Resting place | Lyme, Connecticut |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Amherst College Hartford Theological Seminary |
| Occupation | Librarian, Reformer |
| Known for | Classification work, Librarianship |
| Home town | Woburn, Massachusetts |
Ernest Cushing Richardson (February 9, 1860 – June 3, 1939) was an American librarian, theologian and scholar. Throughout his life Richardson strived to make advances in cataloging systems and increased access to necessary research materials in U.S. libraries. He was named one of the "100 Most Important Leaders [Librarians] had in the 20th Century" by American Libraries in 1999.
Richardson was born into a middle-class family in Woburn, Massachusetts. His father, James Cushing, and mother, Lydia Bartlett Taylor Richardson, were of English descent. As a child, Ernest has been described as athletic. He was most passionate about baseball, ice skating and hiking and continued to enjoy them throughout his life.
Richardson began his higher education at Amherst College in September 1876. To support his studies financially he worked as a student assistant in the library and also as a pin-setter for a local bowling alley. He also applied for and received scholarships, which he "...secured by virtue of a good academic record and seriousness of purpose." During Richardson's first year at Amherst, Melville Dewey was an assistant librarian. Dewey was followed by W.S. Biscoe, who worked with Dewey on the Dewey Decimal System. It has been suggested by Lewis C. Branscomb, Richardson’s primary biographer, that these librarians influenced Richardson in his enthusiasm for classification methods.
Richardson was promoted to assistant librarian at Amherst during his senior year. Throughout his academic career he maintained a good grade-point average, so that when he graduated on July 2, 1880 did so with Phi Beta Kappa honors.
After graduating from Amherst, Richardson accepted a part-time position at Hartford Theological Seminary as a student assistant under Dr. Chester David Hartranft, one of the founders of the American Library Association. While at the Hartford Theological Seminary, Richardson was granted leave to travel to Europe. It was on his various trips throughout Europe that Richardson was able to study, examine and collect many significant books, manuscripts and documents. These studies helped to support Richardson‘s belief that U.S. Libraries lacked serious research materials. Three years into his career at Hartford Seminary, Richardson was given an honorary M.A. from Amherst College, which was common practice for the institution at the time (given to graduates who had furthered their professional or liberal studies for two or more years). Richardson was promoted to librarian with faculty rank in 1884, and again in 1888 to associate professor. He received an honorary PhD from Washington and Jefferson College for his work in bibliography on June 13, 1988.
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