Mary Elizabeth Park Henderson - Mary Elizabeth Park Henderson

Biography

Mary Elizabeth Park Henderson (1921-1997)

Mary Elizabeth Park Henderson, or Betty, was born on 12 April 1921 to a family belonging to the United Church in Saskatchewan. Her father was named James Archibald Henderson (1884-?), who was from Lancashire, and her mother was Elizabeth "Bessie" Park (1890-1970), who was originally from Glasgow.

In 1909, Betty's father, James, immigrated to Canada, and her mother followed in 1917. However, records indicate that Bessie was in Canada earlier than that, as, in 1915, the pair got married in Calgary. In 1917, her parents had their first child, Grace Elizabeth Henderson. Another child followed in 1920: Thomas George Henderson was born on 25 July. In 1921, Betty was born, but devastation soon hit her family.

In 1921, Thomas passed away. It is unclear what or when, but he was no more than a year old. In 1922, Grace unfortunately followed. Betty became the only child of her parents. What is clear is that Thomas passed away before the time of the census, but there is no mention of Grace. Mary is the only child listed in the census within her family.

In the 1931 census, Betty is once again mentioned. By the time of the census, Betty was ten years old, going to school, and she could read and write. Her father is listed as a farmer, as he was also in the 1921 census. There was also her mother, who kept the house, and her mother's sister, Jessie Scott Park, a widow. She immigrated in 1926 and is listed as the sister's help. Their house was also owned, and their location description is listed as: "Township 29 in range 26, and Township 30 in ranges 25 and 26, west of the third meridian, exclusive of the village of Flaxcombe."

Many of the people on this page of the 1931 census for the district were farmers, and nearly everyone was not originally from Saskatchewan. If you do not know much about Canadian history, in a quick summary: after confederation (1867) up until 1911, there was a movement of immigration from England, Scotland, and other European countries to move into the west of Canada to establish farms in the prairies; to start a new life. If I were to make an inference here, I would believe the farming immigration movement was the idea for James and his wife during the early 1900s as they immigrated in 1909.

Throughout Betty's life, she went to numerous schools to get her education. For her primary education, she went to a rural public school, most likely a rural one-room schoolhouse, concerning the historical timeline of when she went to school, graduating in 1933. Betty also attended a school in Scotland, Airdrie Academy, graduating in 1938.


After attending the academy, Betty went on to higher education. Betty attended the University of British Columbia; she was active in the school community, joined the varsity women's grass hockey team, and got her BA in 1941. She then went on to earn her master's in 1943.

In 1944, Betty graduated from the University of Toronto. She achieved a BLS (bachelor of library science). From 1944 onwards, Betty worked a variety of different jobs in different provinces in Canada and Europe.

From 1944 to 1949, Betty worked as a junior cataloguer and reference librarian at the University of British Columbia Library.

From 1950 to 1951, Betty worked as a cataloguer at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth library.

From 1952 to 1959, Betty worked as a technical services librarian for the Government of Saskatchewan at the provincial library. During this time (1954-1957), Betty also served as the editor of the Saskatchewan Library Bulletin.

From 1960 to 1966, Betty worked at the University of Saskatchewan as the chief librarian at the Regina Campus. This University is now referred to as the University of Regina.

In 1967, Betty came east to PEI. She got a job at the Prince of Wales College, now known as the University of Prince Edward Island. She worked at PWC until 1969 as an Assistant Librarian in "I. C. tech services - experiments in Library Technology." Her photo is featured in the Welshman of 1967 as she was one of two librarians at the time before the new library was built in 1975 (The Robertson Library).

In 1960, Betty published a book called "Planning the Future by the Past." Unfortunately, we have not been able to locate this book by her.

In 1970, Betty moved back west. She moved to Alberta. She got a job at the University of Alberta as an Associate Professor in the faculty of Library science. She was a professor until 1974. In 1971, however, Betty became the acting director of the program until 1972, and from 1972 to 1976, she was the director/dean of the Library science faculty. She was also an active member of the University Senate at the University of Alberta from 1975 to 1977. She resumed teaching in 1976 at the University of Alberta.

From 1974 until 1975, Betty also served as the President of the Canadian Library Association.

On 27 September 1975, Betty was awarded an honorary degree, a Doctor of Laws, from the University of Prince Edward Island, formerly known as the Prince of Wales College. This award was awarded during the official opening of the Robertson Library and the fall convocation.

From 1977 to 1978, Betty was involved with the National Library Advisory Board.

From 1978 to 1980, Betty served as a judge for the Leacock Medal of Humour. This is an award that recognizes Canadian literary humour.

In the 1980 Canada's Whos Who, Betty is listed among others. At the bottom of her description it includes her phone number: "906-11111." It also lists her address: 87 Ave, Edmonton, Alberta TG6 0X9, with her office also in the province. It also lists all of the achievements that she had throughout her life.

In 1982, Betty retired. She was falling ill in health. She had served twelve and a half years at the University of Alberta as both a teacher, director and dean. She made a lasting impression on the school. Upon her retirement, she was named the first Professor Emitra of the library science faculty at the University of Alberta.

In 1994, Betty made a generous donation to the University of Alberta. The computer lab and library were renamed Henderson Hall in her honour. A new scholarship was also made in her name. The scholarship was named the M.E.P. Henderson Scholarship in Library and Information Studies.

In the same year, Betty was also awarded an honourary membership award LISAA. LISAA is the Library and Information Studies Alumni Association. It is an award awarded to someone who did not attend the school and has made outstanding achievements to the library science community.

In 1997, Betty was awarded the "PEI ACSW Equality Recognition Awards, celebrating the achievements and dedication of Islanders toward improving the status of women." She was considered to be a "Lifetime Achiever" who: "worked in service, paid or voluntary, toward the advancement of Prince Edward Island women; demonstrated a strong commitment to women's equality within her community or organization (e.g. advocacy/lobby work for groups and services); and/or, assumed a leadership role to improve the status of women by challenging the status quo of patriarchy."

On 7 October 1997, Betty passed away. She was 76 years old. After Betty passed away, many people got in contact with the University of Alberta to make contributions in her name. They put out a statement indicating that it was welcomed and would be put towards the scholarship already established. The article from 1994 explaining the Honourary membership mentions that Betty was residing on PEI when she was nominated. It can be assumed then that at the time of her death, she was residing in PEI.

In 2006, a list was compiled of 100 legends in Alberta's Public Library Service; Betty was named one of the legends within this list, showing that she left her mark on the public for service and dedication to her community.

Unfortunately, no records indicate if Betty ever married or had children, but she made a lasting impact and impression in the world of library science in Canada. She also contributed to numerous articles, books, newspapers, professional journals, art, books, and record collecting.

What Betty was most passionate about was "the history of books and libraries, academic libraries, bibliography and literature of the humanities, comparative librarianship, and communications."

The book that we found Betty in is called: Souvenirs d'enfance et de Jeunesse by Ernest Renan. On the page before the title page, she wrote this: 'Betty Henderson "Cairngorm Airdrie.' Based on the research done, the connection to Airdrie throughout her life is connected to when she went to school in Airdrie, Scotland, at Airdrie Academy when she graduated in 1938, giving the published date of the edition of the book being around 1930.

Upon further inspection of the book, it says on page 287 that it was printed in Great Britain. It was purchased from the A. B. C. Company, Educational Booksellers Both New and second-hand. They were located at 80 West Regent Street (Nr. Renfield St.) in Glasgow. Upon looking into this bookshop it closed after 100 years in business. The stamp on the inside page of the book says: Prince of Wales Feb 2 1967 College Library, which suggests as she started working at PWC in 1967, she donated the books to the library on her own behalf.

Throughout the Robertson Library you can find her name in a variety of different books besides the one mentioned above.

References
"100 Legends in Alberta’s Public Library Service." Accessed 10 December 2023.
1921 Census of Canada. Item Number: 68237806; Image Number e003117500; Line Number 36; Kindersley, Saskatchewan.
1931 Census of Canada. Item Number: 83755549; Image Number e011724011; Line Number 45; Kindersley, Saskachewan.
"Alumni Awards - Distinguished Alumni Award - Honorary Alumni Award." University of Alberta- Faculty of Education - School of Library and Information Studies. Accessed 9 December 2023.
<"Fall Convocation/Robertson Library Opening: A Significant Milestone." Topics Newsletter 1975. Accessed through Island Archives at the University of Prince Edward Island. Accessed 5 December 2023.
Gagnon, Erica. "Settling the West: Immigration to the Prairies from 1867 to 1914." Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. Accessed 1 December 2023. (If you want to know more about Canadian history and settlement in the west).
Faculty of Education - School of Library and Information Studies. Accessed 2 December 2023.
"Individual Lifetime Achiever."PEI ACSW EQUALITY Recognition Awards. Accessed 5 December 2023.
"MARY ELIZABETH PARK HERDERSON in Genealogy Index Searches." eHealth Saskatchewan. Accessed 1 December 2023.
"News - Honourary Membership in LISAA 1994." Library and Information Studies Alumni Association - University of Alberta - Edmonton Newsletter 1994. Accessed 25 November 2023.
"News - In Memorium." Library and Information Studies Alumni Association - University of Alberta - Edmonton Newsletter 1998. Accessed 25 November 2023.
"News - New Scholarship Fund at U of A - M.E.P. Henderson Scholarship." Library and Information Studies Alumni Association - University of Alberta - Edmonton Newsletter 1995. Accessed 5 December 2023.
"Past Honorary Degree Recipients - University of Prince Edward Island - 1975 - Fall Convocation." University of Prince Edward Island - About UPEI - Governance - Senate - Past Honorary Degree Recipients. Accessed 25 November 2023.
"Responses to the Commemorative Issue - Ralph Nwamefor, Nigeria." Spring 2009 Newsletter LISAA - University of Alberta. Accessed 4 December 2023.
Simpson K, editor. Canadian Who's Who 1980: Volume XV. Orillia: University of Toronto Press; 2000. (See page 437).
"The Founding of the School." Accessed through the University of Alberta Library and Information Studies. Accessed 8 December 2023.
"Special Convocation Set for Robertson Library Opening." Topics Newsletter. Accessed through Island Archives at the University of Prince Edward Island. Accessed 5 December 2023.
"Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour." Wikipedia. Accessed 5 December 2023.
The Totem 1939. Accessed through the UBC Library Open Collections: UBC Publications. Accessed on 2 December 2023.
The Totem 1942 Accessed through the UBC Library Open Collections: UBC Publications. Accessed on 2 December 2023.
The Tower 1964 Accessed through the Regina Campus Special Archives - University of Regina, Dr. John Archer Library & Archives. Accessed on 14 December 2023.
The UBC Alumni Chronicle. Accessed through the UBC Library Open Collections: UBC Publications. Accessed on 2 December 2023.
Welshman 1967. Accessed through Island Archives at the University of Prince Edward Island. Accessed 5 December 2023.

Other Credits
Ancestry.ca