Kathleen Bethel
Kathleen Evonne Bethel is an African-American studies librarian who currently works at Northwestern University. She is involved with numerous organizations and groups involved in promoting library leadership, diversity, recruitment, and research activities.[1] She has been a strong supporter of African American research and collections throughout her life.
Early life
Kathleen Evonne Bethel was born on August 4, 1953 in Washington D.C. to Helen and Frederick Bethel.[2] She was interested in doing "cultural work" for the African American community from a young age.[2][clarification needed]
Education
After high school Bethel received a scholarship from the National Bridge Association that gave her the opportunity to attend Elmhurst College where she earned a B.A. in Political Science in 1975.[2] Afterwards she earned a M.A. in library science from Dominican University (formerly known as Rosary College) in 1975.[2] In 1989 she earned a second M.A. degree, now in African history, from Northwestern University.[1]
Career
In terms of work history, Bethel began her career working at the Newberry Library in Chicago, where she worked as a receptionist for 2 years starting in 1975.[2] In 1977 she obtained the position of branch librarian for the Maywood Public Library in Maywood, Illinois.[2] In 1978 she began working at Johnson Publishing Company as an assistant librarian, where she worked for four years. In 1982 Bethel became the African American Studies librarian at Northwestern University.[2] This is a position she has held to this day.
Awards
Bethel has received the DEMCO/ALA Black Caucus Award for Excellence in Librarianship, as well as the Irma Kingsley Johnson Distinguished Service Award from the Chicago Friends of the Amistad Research Center.[3] Her paper entitled "Afrocentricity and the Arrangement of Knowledge" was published as part of "Afrocentricity and the Academy: Essays on Theory and Practice" in 2003.[1]
External activities
Bethel has been engaged with a number of organizations related to librarianship, as well as African-American culture and research during her life. These include board positions on the Center for Black Genealogy, the Project on the History of Black Writing, and the SonEdna Foundation.[3] She is a life member of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History where she is affiliated with the Chicago Branch and has served on the Executive Council.[3] Bethel is a life member of the Toni Morrison Society where she co-chairs the Bibliography Committee.[3] She is also a member of the American Library Association and the Black Caucus (BCALA).[1] As well as a member of the Association of College and Research Libraries where she is involved with the African American Studies Librarianship Section.[1] Bethel is a member of the Caribbean Studies Association, the Steering Committee of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, the Dominican University Graduate School of Library and Information Science Alumni Council, and also serves on advisory boards for both the Project on the History of Black Writing and the online Journal of Pan African Studies.[1] She was a member of the board of trustees for the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago for 14 years from 1993 to 2007.[2]
Bethel has worked on a number of projects that explore and help document Black Life and Culture in and beyond the United States. In 1994 she served as an International Non-governmental Observer in South Africa for their national elections.[1] In 1996 she was awarded a Fulbright Library Fellowship that allowed her to go to the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where she aided and worked with fellow colleagues.[2] In 2001, she participated in an international colloquium on African diasporas in Paris, France.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Kathleen E. Bethel". www2.ku.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-11. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 "Kathleen E. Bethel's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Contributors". Fire!!!. 2 (2). 2013. doi:10.5323/fire.2.2.bm. ISSN 2156-4078. JSTOR 10.5323/fire.2.2.bm.
External links
- https://www.thehistorymakers.org - Interviews with Kathleen Bethel
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