Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History
Sauer, Anne
Branco, Jessica
Bennett, John
Crowley, Zachary
2000
Hayes, Ethel Munroe, 1873-1950
Ethel Munroe Hayes (1873-1950), W1896, was a member of the first class of women admitted to Tufts and head librarian of the college for more than twenty years. Hayes House on the Medford campus was named in her honor, and a scholarship was founded in her name to benefit Jackson College students. | |
Born September 20, 1873, Hayes resided in Somerville, Massachusetts, in the same house on Medford Street, her entire life. Hayes entered Tufts after graduating from Somerville High School in 1892, as part of the first group of women who were admitted to the college. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with honors in 1896.Immediately following graduation, she began working for the college's library staff. She was made acting librarian in 1908, a promotion which coincided with the facility's relocation to Eaton Memorial Library from PackardHall. In 1917 she was made head librarian, a position she held for the next twenty years. From 1937 to 1943, she served as the college's reference librarian. She retired after forty-seven years of service in 1943 and was made reference librarian emeritus of the college. | |
At the time of her retirement, a scholarship was named in her honor by the Association of Tufts Alumnae. The Ethel M. Hayes Scholarship was to be annually presented to a Jackson College student working to support her studies, in recognition of high scholastic achievement. | |
She was also recipient of the Tufts Alumni Council's Distinguished Service Medal, and was made a member of the council in 1943.She was a charter member of the Association of Tufts Alumnae, organized in 1905. She served as its treasurer from 1927 to 1950. | |
Hayes was also a member of the Boston Branch of American Association of University women, the American Library Association , the Somerville Historical Society and the Women's Republican Club of Boston. | |
Hayes died at the Method Orthopedic Nursing Home in West Medford, Massachusetts, on July 16, 1950. | |
Source: VF | |
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