Rosamond Thomas Parma (1884 – October 24, 1946) was an American law librarian. She was the first law librarian at the University of California in Berkeley, and the first woman president of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). She was inducted into the AALL Hall of Fame in 2010, and into the California Library Hall of Fame in 2016.
Rosamond Parma | |
|---|---|
 Rosamond Parma as a college student, from a 1908 newspaper. | |
| Born | 1884 Santa Barbara, California |
| Died | October 24, 1946 Santa Barbara, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | law librarian |
Early life
editRosamond Thomas Parma was born in Santa Barbara, California, the daughter of Italian immigrants G. B. Parma and Catarina Parma.[1] Her father grew oranges.[2] She graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1901,[3] and earned a bachelor's degree at the University of California In 1908.[4] She was one of the founding members of the school's chapter of the Sigma Kappa sorority.[5][6] In 1919 she was awarded a Juris Doctor degree, also from the University of California.[7][8]
Career
editParma taught school briefly, in Lompoc, California right after college.[9][10] She returned to the university to become the first law librarian at the UC Berkeley School of Law, running the library and developing the collection at Boalt Hall from 1911 to 1935. She taught law librarianship and law bibliography at Berkeley after 1922, and in 1925 was described as one of the only women teaching in a law school in the United States.[11] In 1928, she toured other American law libraries for her work.[12] She was manager of the California Law Review from 1928 to 1935.[7] She retired in 1935. "Neither the formal record of her titles nor the twenty-four years of service, however, reveal her intense devotion to the well-being of students, faculty, and alumni, and to the development of the law library," noted a colleague in the law review.[13]
From 1930 to 1932, she was president of the American Association of Law Librarians (AALL).[14] She was the first woman to hold that leadership position. In 1934, she traveled to the annual meeting of the Special Libraries Association in New York, and to Montreal for the AALL meeting that year; then extended her travels to Europe, including a visit to Rome.[15] In 1937, she was elected a life member of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). She was one of the first inductees into the AALL Hall of Fame in 2010,[8] and was inducted into the California Library Hall of Fame in 2016.[7]
Personal life
editParma took temporary leave of the university in 1914, returning to Santa Barbara to recover from complications following an appendectomy.[16][17] She died in 1946, aged 62, in Santa Barbara, California.[18][19]
References
edit- ^ "G. B. Parma Will Filed". Morning Press. January 16, 1913. p. 3. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "Award of Prizes". Morning Press. April 14, 1893. p. 1. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "Twelve Hundred People See Santa Barbara's Graduates". Los Angeles Herald. June 16, 1901. p. 10. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ The Blue and Gold. University of California. 1908. pp. 348–349.
- ^ "Cnoc Tara Club Secures Charter". San Francisco Call. April 23, 1910. p. 18. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "Cnoc Tara Girls to Hold Big Function". Oakland Tribune. October 28, 1908. p. 4. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "California Library Hall of Fame: Rosamond Parma". California Library Association. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
- ^ a b "Rosamond Parma, 1884–1946". AALL. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
- ^ "Personals". Morning Press. June 7, 1911. p. 5. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Two Hundred Teachers Here to Attend County Institute". Santa Barbara Weekly Press. October 21, 1909. p. 7. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "U. C. Boasts Only Women Law Teachers in the U. S." Oakland Tribune. December 2, 1925. p. 17. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Writes Article on Codes of California". Berkeley Daily Gazette. August 14, 1928. p. 5. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ Kidd, A. M. (November 1937). "Rosamond Parma". California Law Review. 26. doi:10.15779/Z38CZ1V.
- ^ "Californian Heads U. S. Library Group". Atlanta Constitution. June 28, 1931. p. 16. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Returns from Travels". Oakland Tribune. December 1, 1934. p. 17. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Miss Rosamond Parma Ill". Morning Press. July 11, 1914. p. 10. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "Miss Parma Improving". Morning Press. July 17, 1914. p. 10. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ California Law Review (1947-03-31). "Rosamond Parma 1884–1946". California Law Review. 35 (1): 91. doi:10.15779/Z38XB71.
- ^ "Rosamond Parma". Berkeley Daily Gazette. October 26, 1946. p. 2. Retrieved June 23, 2019 – via NewspaperArchive.com.