White, M. Catherine (Mary Catherine), 1891-1986

Mary Catherine White was born September 2, 1891, in Kansas City, KS. After graduating from Montana State Normal School in Dillon, Montana, in 1914, she taught elementary school in Broadview and Billings, Montana, until 1925.

White received a certificate of librarianship from the University of Wisconsin Library School in 1926. The following year, she joined the faculty of Montana State University in Missoula. During her thirty years at the University, she worked as an instructor and assistant professor of library science, as well as reference librarian.

White received a Master in Arts degree from the University of Montana in 1940 for her thesis on David Thompson which appeared in book form in 1950 with the title David Thompson's Journals Relating to Montana and Adjacent Regions . David Thompson was a British explorer and geographer who has been credited with discovering the falls of the Clark Fork River (Thompson Falls) and opening the first trading post in what is now Montana.

White retired from the University in 1957. She died in July 1986.

From the guide to the M. Catherine White Papers, 1920-1952, (Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)