Dorothy Amann was born on February 20, 1874, in Ripley, Mississippi. She attended Thomas Arnold Academy in Salado, Texas, and trained as a businesswoman at Old Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Hired as one of the first staff members of the newly formed Southern Methodist University, she traveled from Midland, Texas, to Dallas in October 1913 to serve as President R.S. Hyer's secretary. She became SMU's first librarian when the responsibility for the collection and disposition of books fell to her in 1915. Miss Amann's zeal for the job led her to study library science at Columbia University. Her contribution to the library field included presiding as President of the Texas Library Association (1921-22), President and founder of the Southwest Library Association (1938-40), and organizer and President of the Dallas Library Club.
Her devotion to SMU and library science was legendary. An oral history interview of Miss Amann captured the early days of SMU. Interested in every facet of the university, she organized and attended various organizations and events. To encourage the scholarship of young women, she founded Decima, the SMU Mortar Board Chapter, in 1932. The library, though, remained her highest priority, and the opening of the Fondren Library in 1940 marked the pinnacle of her career. Miss Amann retired as head librarian at SMU in 1949. She died on July 14, 1967.
From the guide to the Dorothy Amann papers SMU 1991. 0016., 1913-1967, (Southern Methodist University Archives, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University)
