David C. Mearns

David Chambers Mearns (December 31, 1899 – May 21, 1981) was an American librarian and scholar of Abraham Lincoln. He held multiple positions at the Library of Congress over 58 years of service, including director of the reference department, chief of the manuscript division, and Chair of American History. Mearns wrote the first authoritative book on the Library's collection of Lincoln's papers, along with twelve other books. Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish described Mearns as "the rarest treasure in the Library of Congress".

Early life and education

David Chambers Mearns was born December 31, 1899, in Washington, D.C.

He was a student at St. Albans School beginning in 1914, graduating in 1916. Mearns attended George Washington University from 1916 to 1917 and the University of Virginia in 1918, but graduated from neither school. From 1920 to 1943, he served in a number of increasingly responsible roles within the Library's Reading Room, including chief assistant of the Reading Rooms Division and Superintendent of Reading Rooms. He was also instrumental in shepherding a program to process and microfilm the presidential papers collection.

Associate Librarian of Congress John C. Broderick wrote about his career: Mearns became interested in the Library's Lincoln collection while working in the reference room in the 1920s, and especially after seeing Robert Todd Lincoln at the Library. Professor James I. Robertson Jr., director of the American Civil War Centennial Commission, contacted Mearns to research what those ceremonies had entailed. He served on multiple other commissions, including several Civil War centennial commissions and the Lincoln Sesquicentennial Commission. He was elected as a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1966. Mearns was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Personal life and death

Mearns was married twice. He married Mildred Sellars Haines in 1929, and they had one daughter together, Anne. Mildred died in 1945. He married Mary Hume Richardson in 1951; they were married until Mearns's death.

He died in Alexandria, Virginia on May 21, 1981.