Mearns, David C. David Chambers 1899-1981

Librarian and historian.

From the description of Papers of David C. Mearns, 1918-1979. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71132260

Biographical Note

• 1899, Dec. 31: Born, Washington, D.C.
• 1914 - 1916 : Student, St. Albans School, Washington, D.C.
• 1916 - 1917 : Student, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
• 1918: Student, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
• 1918 - 1920 : Library of Congress, reference assistant, Order Division
• 1920 - 1930 : Successively, Reading Rooms Division stack inspector, special assistant, chief assistant, acting superintendent
• 1939 - 1941 : Superintendent of Reading Rooms
• 1941 - 1943 : Chief reference librarian
• 1943 - 1949 : Director, Reference Department
• 1947: Published The Story Up to Now: the Library of Congress 1800-1946, Washington, D.C.
• 1948: Published The Lincoln Papers, New York: Doubleday, 2 vols.
• 1949: Member, White House Library Selection Committee of the American Booksellers Association
• 1949 - 1951 : Assistant librarian of Congress
• 1951 - 1967 : Successively, assistant librarian for American collections, incumbent of the chair of American History and chief, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
• 1954: Member, Cooperating Committee for the Papers of Benjamin Franklin
• 1954 - 1967 : Member, National Historical Publications Commission
• 1955: Published with Arthur Bestor and Jonathan Daniels, Three Presidents and Their Books, Urbana: University of Illinois Press (paperback edition, 1963)
• 1959: Fellow, Society of American Archivists
• 1961: Published Largely Lincoln, New York: St. Martin's Press
• 1962: Appointed to Special White House Library Committee Vice president, Ulysses S. Grant Association
• 1964: Member, Editorial Advisory Board for the Papers of Woodrow Wilson
• 1966: Elected to membership in American Antiquarian Society
• 1967: Retired from the Library of Congress
• 1967 - 1976 : Honorary consultant in the humanities, Library of Congress
• 1981, May 27: Died, Alexandria, Va.

From the guide to the David C. Mearns Papers, 1830-1979, (bulk 1940-1967), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)