Ida Jane Dacus
Ida Jane Dacus (September 9, 1875 – October 18, 1964) was the first professionally trained librarian in the state of South Carolina. [1]
Early life and education
[edit]Ida Jane Dacus was born in Williamston, Anderson, South Carolina, to father John Arving Dacus and mother Sara Elizabeth Hogg.[2] She was the oldest of four children.[3]
She attended Williamston Female Academy, which is now Lander University.[4] In 1896, the Winthrop Normal and Industrial College[2] opened in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Dacus continued her education there.[2] At the time of the school's founding, the library consisted of a study hall and a small collection of two hundred books.[5] Dacus was one of three girls who received a scholarship to maintain the school's library.[5] Following her junior year, Dacus was asked by Winthrop President David Bancroft Johnson[6] to head the school's library.[1] Her salary was $20 per month including housing.[3]
In 1901, Dacus attended the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia after competing in a nationwide exam in which she won a scholarship to study library science.[7] The following year, she and fifteen others became the first trained librarians in the entire Southern United States.[5]
Impact
[edit]When Ida Jane Dacus began as head librarian at Winthrop University, the library only had 5,184 books and 5,000 volumes of government publications. In 1905, construction started on a new library after the Carnegie Foundation donated $20,000 to Winthrop.[8] The next year, the foundation increased their donation to $30,000 and added 500 books, contingent on the new library offering library methods courses and serving as a training school.[3] In 1907, Dacus inaugurated two classes in library science: one in reference and the other in elementary library methods for schoolteachers.[5] Library methods instructors in other parts of York County highly respected Dacus and used her courses at their own institutions. [2] Due to Dacus' impact, library methods courses were common by the late 1920s.[5]
Dacus was an active member of the South Carolina Teachers’ Association, the National Education Association, and the American Library Association. Known as “Miss Ida" to her students, Dacus had a love of gardening and created the “Miss Dacus Garden” on the campus of Winthrop University.[2]
Later life and legacy
[edit]Dacus retired in 1945 after working at the Winthrop library for 43 years. In 1959, she received the Mary Mildred Sullivan Medallion, the highest alumna award offered by Winthrop University.[2] In her retirement, Dacus enjoyed gardening, making aprons, quilt collecting, and maintaining her home, a three-hundred-acre cotton farm.[2] Dacus was buried in the Williamston Cemetery after her death due to illness.[3]
In 1969, the Ida Jane Dacus Library was built to replace the Carnegie Library, which is now known as Rutledge Hall.[9] The library was dedicated to Dacus, who had died five years prior. [2]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Slavery; American Civil War; Dacus, Ida (2019-01-01). "Ida Jane Dacus Collection - Accession 1658". Manuscript Collection.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Littlefield, Valinda W., ed. (2020). "Educators and Activists". 101 Women Who Shaped South Carolina. University of South Carolina Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-64336-160-4.
- 1 2 3 4 "Dacus, Ida Jane". South Carolina Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2025-09-30.
- ↑ "History". Lander University. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- 1 2 3 4 5 StudySC (2022-07-13). "Ida Jane Dacus". studysc.org. Retrieved 2025-09-30.
- ↑ "Virtual Tour - David Bancroft Johnson Bust | Winthrop University". www.winthrop.edu. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ↑ "Drexel Home". drexel.edu. 2020-06-11. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ↑ "Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching". Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ↑ Winthrop University (2015-01-01). "1969 - Dacus Library was Built". Winthrop University Archives Digitized Collections.
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