Open AccessProving the proverbial gadfly: situating the historical and racial context of Southern medical works by Mary Louise Marshall
Author(s) -
Aidy Weeks
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of the medical library association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.102
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1558-9439
pISSN - 1536-5050
DOI - 10.5195/jmla.2021.1261
Subject(s) - redress , cognitive reframing , context (archaeology) , outreach , library science , indigenous , sociology , representation (politics) , medical library , history , media studies , law , political science , psychology , politics , archaeology , biology , social psychology , ecology , computer science
Health sciences librarianship has historically benefited from avoiding critical conversations around the role of race in the profession, reflected through a select few number of articles on the topic. The purpose of this study was to add to this body of literature and apply a critical librarianship framework on the early scholarly record of health sciences librarianship and the legacy of integration within the Medical Library Association (MLA). Three Southern medical works and the integration views of Mary Louise Marshall, the longest-serving president of MLA from 1941 to 1946, were thematically and textually analyzed to redress the profession's long-standing legacy with Whiteness and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) representation. In reframing the historic past of MLA both through Marshall's works and her views, the goal is to acknowledge ways in which the profession has impeded progress and present steps to remedy appropriate outreach for the future.