Cora Paul Bomar Papers

Collection

Identifier: MSS 0367

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Cora Paul Bomar Papers documents Bomar's personal and professional contributions to school librarianship and library education. Some correspondence also documents her personal life, family, and friends. The collection includes artifacts, Bomar's 1950 Masters thesis, news clippings, correspondence, photographs, plaques and awards, publications, and remembrances and memorials. Highlights of the collection include a 1964 invitation to visit the White House (Correspondence folder, Box 1), a photo of Bomar with President Lyndon B. Johnson, and a pen presented to Bomar by the president at a 1964 bill signing ceremony (both in Box 2).

Dates

1950 - 2008

Creator

Bomar, Cora Paul, 1913-2008 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information. Please see our Sensitive Materials Statement.

Biographical or Historical Information

Cora Paul Bomar was born in Memphis, Tennessee on September 8, 1913 and died in Greensboro, North Carolina on March 18, 2008 at the age of 94. She began her career as a teacher in rural Tennessee in 1932 and eventually became a leader and advocate for school libraries. Bomar was the recipient of numerous honors and awards on both the regional and national level. A strong advocate for libraries, she testified before the United States House of Representatives and Senate committees on six occasions. President Lyndon B. Johnson invited her to attend the signing of pro-library legislation in 1964.

Bomar served as president of the American Association of School Librarians from 1963-1964. In 1966 she was appointed the first director of North Carolina's Division of Educational Media. School libraries and school media programs grew tremendously under her direction and at the time of her departure in 1969, virtually every secondary and primary school in North Carolina had a central library.

In 1969, Cora Paul Bomar joined the faculty of the Library Science and Technology department at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she remained until her retirement in 1979. Bomar spent her retirement years in Greensboro, North Carolina where she remained actively involved with University and community arts and library organizations.

Extent

1.69 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Cora Paul Bomar (1913-2008) was a state and national leader in the library field and an active and well-regarded advocate for school libraries. Bomar was a library and information studies professor at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) from 1969-1979.

The Cora Paul Bomar Papers date from 1950 to 2008 and contain artifacts, awards, biographical material, clippings, correspondence, endowment information, membership cards, photographs, publications, remembrances and memorials, and speeches.

Arrangement Note

This collection is arranged alphabetically by folder and then chronologically within each folder.

Method of Acquisition

Gift of James V. Carmichael in February, 2009.

Offensive Language Statement

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