Edith Margaret Coulter was born in Salinas on October 30, 1880 to William Storey Coulter of Delaware County, NY and Elizabeth Mabel Coulter of Lilliesleaf, Scotland. Her interest in libraries and history developed while pursuing a Bachelor of Arts at Stanford University. After graduating in 1905, she returned to higher education for a Bachelor of Library Science from New York Library School at Albany. Coulter worked briefly in the Berkeley Public Library and became a member of the Stanford University Library Staff until 1911. That same year, she joined the University of California’s library staff and dedicated the next fifty-two years of her life as an esteemed community member.
From Senior Assistant Librarian to Head of the Reference Department, Coulter continued to shape librarianship education as lecturer in the newly established Department of Librarianship in 1918. While working in 1924, Coulter earned a Master of Arts in history and was named assistant professor. Her thesis was published in 1927 and remained relevant: Guide to Historical Bibliographies: A Critical and Systematic Bibliography for Advanced Students.
After the department became the graduate School of Librarianship, Coulter accepted a role as a full-time faculty member. She was promoted to associate professor in 1929 and full professor in 1946, retiring as Emeritus Professor of Librarianship in 1949. During these years, she was active in various professional organizations. For the Book Club of California, she served on the Board of Directors for ten years and chaired its Publications Committee for seven years. The Alumni Association of the School of Librarianship established and endowed the Coulter Lecture, an annual conference of the California Library Association, for her contributions to the field. In 1960, Mills College conferred on her the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters. The following year, she was awarded the Isadore Gilbert Mudge Citation for Reference Librarianship by the American Library Association in 1961.
In addition to advancing the scholarship of California history, Coulter was a beloved instructor and advocate of women’s professional advancement at Berkeley. She was a charter member of the Women's Faculty Club and treasurer of the Building Committee for many years. Her influence amongst students extended beyond the classroom, with many returning for advanced degrees after Coulter impressed the importance of reference work in the service of scholarship. Coulter passed away on January 27, 1963. To quote a former student, “the illumination of her learning” lives on through the legacy she left behind.
By Anne E. Markley, George P. Hammond, Fredric J. Mosher, and Donald Coney from Edith Margaret Coulter Oral History
Read more:
UC Press In Memorium: Edith Coulter
Origins of the School of Librarianship Under Sydney Mitchell and Edith Coulter