Lucia M. Tryon became Pensacola's first female city department head when she was appointed chief librarian of the Pensacola Public Library in 1938, which she helped establish and was dedicated to until the end of her life. During her time at the helm of the Pensacola system, the library grew twenty times its original size. Lucia created a library for the Black community during times of racial segregation as well as their first bookmobile program. When she was forced to retire on her 65th birthday, she described it as, "the saddest day of my life." She volunteered with the Friends of the Library for as long as her health allowed. Lucia Tryon passed away on November 30, 2000 at the age of 97.
--Submitted by Tori Ladd
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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 official 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).
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Brett Spencer
Reference Librarian
Thun Library, Penn State Berks
He/Him/His
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