"Dean Epstein overcame prejudice against working women and mothers, and African-Americans and their culture. Rising above poverty and family tragedy, she marshaled her love for music, her progressive roots and her research skills in a search for truth. Library science, in Dena's hands, became an heroic quest." --Jim Carrier, in the description to his documentary on Dean Epstein, The Librarian and the Banjo
Dena Julia Polacheck Epstein (1916-2013)
Dena Julia Polacheck Epstein (Wikipedia)
--Guide to the Dena J. Epstein Collection (Columbia University)
--Interview with Dean Epstein, Voices of Illinois, By Chris D'Arpa
--Submitted by Christine D'Arpa
------------------------------------------------------------------
In honor of the Sesquicentennial (150th Anniversary of ALA) in 2026, the Library History Round Table is hosting Librarians We Have Lost, Sesquicentennial Memories -1976-2026. This collage of tributes seeks to honor librarians who died between 1976-2026. The tributes are published to ALA Connect, a digital memorial on LHRT News & Notes, and ALA's institutional repository (ALAIR).
We invite tributes from anyone about any library worker who passed away between 1976-2026. To submit a tribute, please use the form at https://lhrt.news/librarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026-2/
For questions or comments, please reach out to Dr. Kathleen McCook (kmccook@usf.edu) or Brett Spencer (dbs21@psu.edu).
------------------------------
Brett Spencer
Reference Librarian
Thun Library, Penn State Berks
He/Him/His
------------------------------