Women at QM Logo
Featured Women
Women at Queen Mary Online: a virtual exhibition
 
 
Montage of QM Women
 
In this section:     Minnie Stewart Rhodes James, People's Palace Librarian  

> Featured Women

> Women A to Z

> Women by College

See also:

> Women in Medicine and Dentistry

> Women in Science and Engineering

> Women in Arts and Humanities

 

 

     
   

Minnie Stewart Rhodes James, c1889.

Minnie Stewart Rhodes James, c1889.
Courtesy of The CILIP Archive, UCL Library Services, Special Collections.

 

Minnie James (1865-1903) was appointed assistant librarian at the People's Palace for East London in 1887. Two years later, in 1889, she became head librarian.

The People's Palace was opened in 1887 to provide technical training and recreation for the people of the East End of London, and eventually became what is now Queen Mary, University of London.

James played an important role in building the collections of the People's Palace Library. Her writings display respect and sympathy for the library's working-class clientele, whom she tried to accommodate by adequate opening times and by the acquisition of novels and light reading.

She is also recognised for her work to promote librarianship as a profession for women.

 
 

<< previous
Explore Featured Women
 
QMUL Logo © Queen Mary, University of London 2008 | Your privacy | Acknowledgments