CS Practice

We learned about one of the first African-American assistant librarians at the Library of Congress through our work with the Mary Baker Eddy Papers. Daniel Alexander Payne Murray (1852–1925) joined the Library’s staff in 1871, and by 1881 he had become an assistant librarian—a position he held for 41 years.

Mary Baker Eddy also corresponded with the Library of Congress to secure the copyright for her book, Science and Health. Her husband, Asa Eddy, researched copyright laws in the winter of 1882 when the Eddys spent time in Washington, D.C.

Did you know that The Mary Baker Eddy Library often uses the resources of the Library of Congress for important images associated with our articles and posts on social media? See if you can spot them in our posts!

https://www.marybakereddylibrary.org/research/from-the-papers-daniel-a-p-murray-pioneer-of-black-history-bibliography-and-biography/

📷©: Portrait of Daniel A. P. Murray (1853–1925), circa 1880. Unknown photographer. Courtesy of Library of Congress; Daniel Alexander Payne Murray to Calvin A. Frye, December 23, 1885, 947.93.045; Murray, Daniel Alexander Payne, and Daniel Murray Collection. Murray’s Historical and Biographical Encyclopedia of the Colored Race Throughout the World: Its Progress and Achievements from the Earliest Period Down to the Present Time (Chicago: World’s Cyclopedia Co., 1912).T