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On
February 5, 1947, twenty-nine year old Ruth McBirney set sail for
Europe. Ahead of her was a great adventure: six years in Paris and the
opportunity to witness the “City of Light” come back to life after the grim
experience of German occupation during World War II. The Paris that Ruth
McBirney found in 1947 was beset by food shortages, labor unrest, and political
instability, but the cultural life was vibrant, and the young librarian from
Boise, Idaho, took full advantage of all it afforded.
Ruth
McBirney already had four years of experience behind her working in New York at
Columbia University when she learned of an opening at the
American Library in
Paris, a private institution founded by the American Library Association in
1920. Its purpose was to be “the recognized center for information
about America for Europeans and to promote among students, journalists, and
men-of-letters in Europe a closer acquaintance with American literature,
institutions, and thought.” It also became a public library of sorts for
expatriate Americans and counted among its patrons some of the great American
writers of the twentieth century. After an interview with the library's
newly-appointed director, she was hired and soon on her way to France.
Miss
McBirney was part of a new management team sent over to Paris after the war.
Together with director Ian Forbes Fraser and librarian William K. Harrison III,
she built up the library’s collections and extended its outreach by establishing
branches across France. During their first year in Paris, the three of them
rented a house together in the Parisian suburb of St. Cloud, complete with a
maid left behind by the absent owners. That home was her base for exploring the
rich cultural life of Paris, an experience documented in weekly letters she sent
home to her parents in Boise. Those letters are preserved in the Special
Collections Department of Albertsons Library. So too are letters from her
French friends, many of whom remembered her as “Chère Mac.”
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After six years in France, the tug
of home and family brought Ruth McBirney back to Idaho. In 1954, she became
head of the Boise Junior College Library, a small collection of 20,000 volumes
housed in one wing of the Administration Building. By the time she retired
in 1977, the size of the book collection had increased tenfold, the junior
college had become a university, and the first two phases of the present
Albertsons Library building were constructed. Ruth McBirney died
in 1991. The Ruth McBirney Room commemorates her years of service
to Boise State University.
Ruth McBirney at her desk at Boise State,1969.
University archives photo
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Ruth McBirney's
experiences in France are best told in her own words, in letters she sent home to
her parents. Here are some excerpts
from her letters, with images (some
of them photos
she took herself) to accompany them.
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Click to enlarge |
It was a thrill to come ashore at
Calais. There is a great deal of bomb damage visible. All
along the way to Paris there were many places, just shells.
Bologne looked quite dead--or perhaps it was Amiens, I forget--just
blocks and blocks of rubble.
February 15, 1947 |
| I'm wondering now whether the idea of the three of us
[her friends and colleagues Ian Forbes Fraser and Bill Harrison] sharing
an apartment may sound a little too bohemian....Don't worry about my
morals--they are as straight as they ever were, even tho I may drink a
beer or glass of wine occasionally. February 26, 1947
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Ruth McBirney with Ian Forbes Fraser
MSS 113, Photo 231 |
MSS 113, Photo 212 |
Did I say my driving tactics have completely changed
since I have become a Parisian driver? I started out by being
polite & following the rules I grew up with, but found myself getting
stuck while everyone else went past or around me--so now I barge right
in & thru, honking my horn like a good Frenchman & let everyone else
look out for himself....
July 14, 1950 |
Again I am mad at Bill & Ian....I am told about their going to one of
the night clubs, that I would like to go to....I'd like to know how I'm
ever going to get to one of those dives if they don't take me. Of
course I quite understand why they didn't take me; they no doubt thought
I'd be shocked by the show because I'm a "nice girl", but I am also
curious....
September 14, 1947 |
Her colleague Bill Harrison
Photo 228 |
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Paris is beginning to suffer from a bread shortage which
Marthe says will probably last until July. The same thing happened
last year. It started a few weeks ago--the first manifestation was
requiring bread tickets for pastries. And now people are having to
queue up for bread.
April 23, 1947Breadline, Sunday, April 20, 1947
Ian coming out of door with a
bagette [sic] in his hand (bread
an inch to 2" thick & about a
yard long.) There were more in
line but they were told there was
no more bread & not to wait.
MSS 113, Photo 251 |
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A 1947 view of the
American Library in
Paris, then located at 9 rue de Teheran, not far from the Arc de Triomphe.
MSS 113, Photo 215 |
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Toasting the opening of a branch of the American Library in Toulouse,
1951. Ruth McBirney (on the right) with Ian Forbes Fraser (beside her) and
Philippe Ganeval (smoking).
MSS 113, Photo 320 |
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MSS 113, Box 9, Folder 10
Long before he achieved an international reputation, the mime Marcel Marceau perfected the
character "Bip" in small theaters in Paris. This image is from a
handbill for a 1949 performance found in Miss McBirney's papers.
She must have become acquainted with Marceau, because her papers
indicate that she lent him the
considerable sum of 10,000 francs. How did he use it? How
did she meet him? And did she contact him when he performed in
Boise State University's Morrison Center in 1989? We don't know.
Her papers are silent.
Go to Miss McBirney's
autobiography with
more information about her years in France Go to the
online finding aid for Ruth
McBirney's papers Return to Special
Collections homepage
For questions or comments about this page, contact the
Special Collections Department
This page last changed: 9 May 2005
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