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In Memoriam

Page Ackerman, former UCLA university librarian, died of congestive heart failure on Feb. 28 at Royal Oaks Manor in Duarte, Calif. She was 93. She served as university librarian during 1973–77 and was the first woman in the United States to head such a large and complex library system.

“It was with great sadness that I learned of Page’s death,” said UCLA University Librarian Gary E. Strong. “Among her countless other contributions, the management structures and processes she put into place and the staff she hired and trained enabled the UCLA Library to grow into one of the top five research libraries in North America. As one of the nation’s leading experts in library management and personnel, she had a lasting impact both at UCLA and at libraries across the country, and she will be sorely missed.”

Born in Evanston, Ill., on June 30, 1912, Ackerman enrolled in the first class to attend the new Westwood campus of the then-named Southern Branch of the University of California in 1929. She transferred to Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga., on a physical education scholarship as a junior and earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 1933. She earned her bachelor’s degree in library science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1940, then worked as a cataloger at the Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur during 1942–43.

In 1943 Ackerman became the post librarian at the U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, where the atomic bomb was developed. While there she began a lifelong friendship with the eminent astronomer Edwin Hubble, who was head of ballistics, and his wife, Grace. When Ackerman left that position, she was given a full regimental review and a meritorious service citation.

Ackerman came to UCLA in 1949 from the Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., where she had been an assistant librarian since 1945. She was hired by then-Associate University Librarian Robert Vosper as a reference librarian to serve needs of students and faculty in the School of Social Welfare.

In 1954 Ackerman was appointed assistant university librarian, with responsibility for personnel and budget, and in 1965 she became associate university librarian. In 1973 she succeeded Vosper as university librarian, a position she held until her retirement in 1977.

Ackerman’s main focus was on staff development and personnel administration. She was a leader in developing the Library’s innovative administrative network, which became a model for library management systems across the country, and she played a key role in getting the UCLA Library staff covered by the public employees retirement system. One of the major developments during Ackerman’s tenure as university librarian was the increasing coordination of efforts by the libraries of all UC campuses, which was initially brought about by state budget problems. The issues she worked on then, including a universitywide catalog, coordinated selection strategies and regional storage facilities, are a reality today, and these shared efforts form one of the UC libraries’ great strengths.

The Library also acquired several significant collections during her tenure. Gilbert Harrison, a UCLA alumnus and longtime editor of The New Republic, gave his extensive collection of materials by and about Gertrude Stein, which he developed over the course of their lifelong friendship. The family of Ralph J. Bunche, UCLA alumnus and Nobel Peace Prize winner, gave his papers, tracing his remarkable career as a scholar and a United Nations peacemaker (an online exhibit of selections from the collection is available at http://www.library.ucla.edu/bunche). The papers of Anais Nin were acquired from Nin’s estate, joining those of her friends Lawrence Durrell and Henry Miller.

Following her retirement in 1977, UCLA chancellor Charles E. Young and the Friends of the UCLA Library commissioned “Usilia,” an ornamental tapestry by James Bassiler, in her honor, which today hangs in the lobby of the Charles E. Young Research Library.

Ackerman was a professor in UCLA’s Graduate School of Library & Information Science during 1973–77 and 1982–83, where she was instrumental in the creation of the Frances Clarke Sayers Lectureship. She was also a visiting professor at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, during 1978 and 1980 and a consultant for university libraries in Santa Cruz, Calif.; Arizona; Florida; and Hawaii.

While she was UCLA’s university librarian, Ackerman became very involved with the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Both during her years at UCLA and following her retirement, she served the association in a number of capacities, including as the first woman on its board of directors.

“Page was an integral force in the evolution of ARL’s capability to prepare talented librarians for leadership in research libraries,” said ARL Executive Director Duane Webster. “Almost thirty years after I first met her, I am struck by the still-resounding consequences of her  pertinence and poignancy of thought and wisdom.”

Mary Erickson, who served as general manager of the UCLA Faculty Center for nearly two decades, died of lymphoma Feb. 21 at the age of 85. She and her first husband, John Joseph Sellwood, were both graduates of UCLA: she with a bachelor’s degree in 1958, and he, an Ed.D. in 1952. They had two sons, Michael and Jeffrey.

After her husband died in 1956, Erickson worked her way through UCLA and supported her two young sons by teaching high school from 1958 until 1964. She married Lawrence W. Erickson, a UCLA alumnus and professor in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, in 1962 and taught at El Camino Junior College in Torrance from 1964 to 1970. She divorced Erickson in 1970 and came to UCLA in 1972 to serve as general manager of the Faculty Center, which she did until her retirement in 1991. A longtime member of Gold Shield Alumnae of UCLA, Erickson was also a former president of the Faculty Women’s Club and was active in UCLA’s Design for Sharing. She remained in Westwood until 2003, when she moved to Palm Desert, Calif.

“Mary was a true Bruin in every sense of the word,” said her longtime friend, Mimi Perloff. “She was the kindest person and a dear friend. She was big-hearted and generous, but also tough because she had high standards. She always saw the glass as half-full.”

Erickson is survived by her son, Michael Ed.D. ’76, and his wife, Signe; son Jeffrey ’70, M.A. ’78 and his wife, Carol; grandson Scott ’93 and his wife, Laurie ’93; grandson Greg and his wife, Vicky; granddaughter Laura and her husband, Adam; grandson Michael and his wife, Kelly; granddaughter Kelly Rose; and four great-grandchildren.