Dorothy Mary Neal White QSO (née Neal, later Ballantyne, 22 December 1915 – 12 February 1995) was a notable New Zealand librarian and writer.
Biography
editDorothy Mary Neal was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1915. Her parents were Henry Neal and Florence, née Rhodes.[1] She was educated at Avonside Girls' High School followed by Canterbury College.[2] In 1933, she became a library assistant at the Canterbury Public Library, and in 1936 she became children's librarian at the Dunedin Public Libraries.[2] She later worked there again from 1957 as head of children's services until her retirement in 1974.[2]
When in 1939 Neal married a noted Dunedin second-hand-book seller, Richard (Dick) Desmond White, she continued to work under her maiden name as the City Council required women to resign on marriage.[2] After the death of her first husband in 1967, she married Dunedin doctor Robert Edmund Ballantyne in 1968.[2]
In the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service.[3]
Legacy
editThe Dorothy Neal White Collection, held by the National Library of New Zealand contains over 8,000 titles of pre-1940s children's literature.[4]
Further reading
editReferences
edit- ^ Lambert, Max (1991). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1991 (12th ed.). Auckland: Octopus. pp. 26f. ISBN 9780790001302.
- ^ a b c d e Atwool, M. E. "Dorothy Mary Neal White". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ "No. 53697". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 11 June 1994. p. 34.
- ^ National Library of New Zealand. "Dorothy Neal White Collection". http://www.natlib.govt.nz/collections/a-z-of-all-collections/dorothy-neal-white-collection. Retrieved April 2012.
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