By Anusha, Crossroads Discovery Center Intern
“Oh, it doesn’t bother me to tell my age. I think I’m 84. I was born in 1898. Would that be right?” (Audrey Haworth in Interview by Lois Kaiser Customoris)
Born in Aroma, Indiana, on June 20th, 1898, to Olive “May” (Williams) Haworth and Emmett Terrence Haworth, Audrey Viola Haworth was a librarian at the Noblesville Public Library. Audrey lived in Aroma (where in 1836 her family had received a land grant) and attended Aroma Grade School until moving to Noblesville in 1913. There, she began attending Noblesville High School, from which she graduated in 1917. When Audrey graduated, she created a scrapbook detailing the social events of her and her friends as they went through their senior year.
Cover Page of Audrey’s Scrapbook, “My Graduation Days”
As a senior in high school myself, I was particularly invested in viewing Audrey Haworth’s scrapbook from over a century ago. As it documents her own experiences with her final year of high school, it was an opportunity to view that while different eras have different methods to catalogue memories, the feelings that accompany these memories are largely the same. Instead of taking senior year photos on her phone as many girls her age do today, Audrey compiled the important events and special mementos from her life in a scrapbook.
Each page of her “Graduation Days” scrapbook is made thoughtfully and artistically and contains a glimpse into the life of girls like Audrey- providing insight into how she and her peers enjoyed their high school experience amidst a time plagued by the fears of war. This duality in her life is apparent throughout her scrapbook- pages containing dance cards and ice cream shop menus are followed by the latest updates from the war, as well as photographs of young men from Indiana who were on the battlefront. At least two of these soldiers attended NHS concurrently with Audrey, graduating two years before her.
Page from Audrey’s scrapbook containing photos of the “Indiana Boys Du France”
While it contains items such as tickets for concerts, sports events, and photos of friends, “Graduation Days” has certain unexpected additions: a bar of unused soap sealed in an envelope, dried flowers of different varieties, and locks of hair. Beyond that, Audrey’s scrapbook is compiled carefully, and her creativity can be seen through each page.
“Every so often I read or hear of someone from around here who has done something outstanding. I remember that person when he came into the library and I knew him well – always thought he’d go far. I have such fond memories of my Library work and driving the bookmobile!” (Audrey Haworth in Interview by Lois Kaiser Costomiris)
Following her graduation from Noblesville High School, Audrey attended Earlham College and worked at Butler University for a short time. On November 1st, 1923, she began her work as an assistant librarian under chief librarian Lulu Miesse, who started the library, earning a salary of fifty dollars monthly. She described her interest in library work stemming accidentally after she was urged by Lulu Miesse and her father to join the library, as she was not doing “anything else”. At the time of her retirement, Audrey said that she “couldn’t have found anything I like any better”. In 1926, they would be joined by Catherine Cheeseman, who worked as an apprentice her senior year and later joined as a full-time assistant. She worked hard in the library- often arriving at nine in the morning and staying for twelve hours, and eating meals at her desk. Over her career, Audrey explained that she had done “everything” at the library, from scrubbing to the book work.
Image of the Bookmobile with students.
Between 1923 and 1930, Audrey ran the Bookmobile, “Parnassus”, for the Library. The Bookmobile was essentially a truck from the Dodge Brothers Company that fit around 300 books. She would make seven trips monthly, with each trip taking approximately eight hours, to visit families living in rural areas and seven Noblesville schools. She knew what genres each person enjoyed and selected books that she knew would interest people.
In 1945, after the passing of Lulu Miesse, Audrey Haworth took over as chief librarian. She completed an eight-week course in library sciences in Chautauqua, New York to take on this new role. She served as Chairman of District 4 Librarians for a period of time and was a member of the National Association of Librarians. Audrey retired as head librarian after fifty years of service on January 15th, 1973. Having visited Guyana and Hawaii, Audrey said that she would like to travel more during her retirement, stating, “I’m an island bum- I love the islands!”. She continued her involvement in the Library post-retirement, working as curator for the Indiana Room.
“‘If I can’t read,’ she said, a determined look on her face, ‘I might as well go out and bury myself in a hole.’” (Audrey Haworth in Interview by Donna Reynolds)
Audrey’s passion for books and reading extended beyond her work as the librarian; she was the president of the Helluo Librorum Club in 1960 and, for several years, was a key member. She played an active role in planning and hosting events such as “Around the World with Books” and received communications directed to the Club. Audrey stated that she did not enjoy non-fiction, preferring a good mystery novel instead. At club meetings, she would present reviews of books she had recently read.
She was also a member of the Ellivselbum Club as well as the Literati Club of Aroma. Outside of literary groups, she was also involved in social clubs focused on community service, such as the United States of Friends Women and the Noblesville chapter of the Tri Kappa Sorority. For Tri Kappa, she served as Chairman of the Flowers and Cards committee and as a bylaws committee member. Audrey and other members compiled a recipe book titled “Kappa Kitchen Kookery”, in which she authored a recipe for “Gumdrop Cookies”.
Photo of Audrey Haworth taken from the Daily Ledger, accompanied by the caption, “Miss Haworth completes her latest project, a design in crewel as Pixie, one of her three pet cats, rests nearby. Sewing, knitting, and adding to her collection of more than 300 glass, wooden, and ceramic cat figurines, occupies much of her leisure time since retirement.”
In her personal life, Audrey was a member of the First Friends Church. She was an ailurophile, or a cat person, having three pet cats and over 600 china cat figurines in her 1383 Cherry Street home. Audrey displayed her impressive cat collection on WFBM TV in 1952.
During the late 1980s, Audrey suffered from health issues and was frequently admitted to Riverview Hospital. In 1985, when asked what she would do if she were a teenager again, Audrey responded by saying that she would “travel throughout the United States”. She celebrated her ninetieth birthday with a big party hosted by cousin Carolyn Johnson, which was attended by family and friends in 1988. Audrey passed away at the age of ninety on February 11th, 1989. Since she was an only child and never married or had children, her obituary stated that her closest living relatives were three cousins: Carolyn Johnson, David Copple, and Basil Haworth.
Audrey’s scrapbook is defined as a collection of ordinary events framed in an extraordinary time, and although she and I are separated by centuries, we have many things in common. Audrey’s lifelong commitment to the library is one of the reasons we have access to it as a resource today. The Crossroads Discovery Center provides a chance to explore and preserve these ordinary stories, often left out of known history, so that you can learn more about people from years past- whether that be family or someone unrelated to you- and find these connections for yourself.
“Graduation Days” is housed in archivally safe materials in the CRDC archives. Recently, I worked on a project scanning the scrapbook so it would be digitized and preserved in its current form. Digital scans are available upon request, and you can view other archival collections online here.
Sources:
The Daily Ledger
Quotes taken from interviews of Audrey Haworth
- Interview by Lois Kaiser Costomiris
- Interview by Donna Reynolds
The Times– Paula Dunn “Kappa Cookies for Christmas”
HEPL Library Archives
About the Author
Anusha is currently a senior at Fishers High School. She is an intern at the Hamilton East Public Library’s Crossroads Discovery Center in Noblesville, where she works on research and archival organization. She is interested in history and reading and plans to major in Economics in the Fall.