Dorothy M. Crosland Photograph Collection

Dorothy Murray Crosland was born on September 13, 1903 in Stone Mountain, Georgia, the daughter of Robert and Lena Jones Murray. She graduated from Girls' High School in Atlanta and earned her library degree in 1923 from the Library School of the Carnegie Library of Atlanta (later Emory University School of Library Science).

After completing her education, she worked as an assistant cataloger and branch librarian at the Carnegie Library (nowAtlanta-Fulton Public Library). In 1925, she became assistant librarian at the Georgia Institute of Technology, serving as acting librarian during Frances Newman's leaves of absence. She was appointed librarian in 1927, a position she held until 1953 when her title was changed to director of libraries. She retired from Georgia Tech in 1971.

Crosland belonged to numerous professional organizations and received many honors. In 1945, she was named Atlanta's Woman of the Year in Education, and in 1969, was named Woman of the Year in Professions. Georgia Tech made her an honorary alumna in 1961, and in 1962, the library staff association and friends presented an oil portrait of Crosland to the library. The governor proclaimed April 13, 1971 as Dorothy M. Crosland Day.

Through her work at Georgia Tech and in the library community, she earned a national reputation. She actively participated as a member and frequently officer of both local and national library associations. She served as executive secretary (1950-1952) and president (1952-1954) of the Southeastern Library Association and president of the Georgia Library Association (1949-1951). As a member of the Association of College and Research Libraries,she served on the following committees: program planning, serials, nominating, organizing, organization and management, engineering section, building, and foundation grants, acting as chair of the latter three committees. She was also a trustee for local organizations, including the Atlanta Historical Society,Atlanta Art Association, and the Atlanta Library Club.

Crosland assumed responsibility for building the library's collection, determined that it should rival those of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other leading technological institutes. In 1946, she made a purchasing trip to Europe, visiting rare book dealers and university libraries, where she acquired rare and out-of-print books. She also made frequent trips to rare book dealers in New York and cultivated contacts around the world so that duplicate and discarded books would be offered to Tech.

During her long tenure at Georgia Tech, she acquired many responsibilities beyond those directly related to library administration. Her skill at acquiring in-kind donations from textile and furniture manufacturers enabled Tech to beautify many of its buildings with custom draperies, carpeting, and furnishings. In addition, as a licensed interior decorator - though she worked only for Tech - she received discounts at retail establishments. Buying gifts for faculty and staff celebrating anniversaries with Tech and occasionally acting as hostess at social functions were among her other responsibilities.

Crosland was instrumental in the founding of a graduate program in information science (now the College of Computing) in 1963. She also played a key role in securing the admission of women to Georgia Tech. At President Blake Van Leer's request, she surveyed colleges and universities to determine which offered engineering and architecture degrees to women. Discovering that Georgia was the only state that did not have a private or public engineering or architecture school for women, she wrote a persuasive letter to Rutherford Ellis, Education Committee chair for the Board of Regents, urging them to permit women to attend Tech. As a result, Georgia Tech admitted its first women students. Crosland also became responsible for furnishing and decorating the women's dorm, then a house on Fifth Street.

She married James Henley Crosland,who worked for Norfolk Southern Railway, on August 18, 1928. They had one daughter, Dorothy Evelyn Crosland, born September 13, 1934. Dorothy Evelyn Crosland married Ben Daugherty in November 1955 and they had four children. Dorothy Murray Crosland died on March 24, 1983 in Monroe, Georgia.