Elizabeth H. West

Elizabeth H. West (March 23, 1873 – January 4, 1948), was a librarian and archivist active in the United States during the early 20th century. West was appointed the Texas State Librarian in 1918, was two time President of the Texas Library Association, co-founder and first President of the Southwestern Library Association, and was the first Head Librarian of Texas Technological College (later Texas Tech University).

Early years West was born to Rev. James Durham West, D.D., and Mary Robertson (née Waddel) West in Pontotoc, Mississippi on March 27, 1873. West came from a family which not only held education in high regard but which was known for being educators. Her maternal great-grandfather was Moses Waddel, former President of the University of Georgia from 1819 until 1829. Her younger brother James R. West, was both a Presbyterian minister and faculty member at the now defunct Chickasaw Female College in Pontotoc, Mississippi.

West moved to Texas when her father, a Presbyterian minister, assumed duties at a church in Bryan when she was twelve years old. Upon completion of her master's degree, West initially worked as a school teacher. She first returned to Mississippi where she taught in a number of rural areas. Later, she would teach in both Bryan and Austin. At the time, the university consisted of only a handful of buildings and the library was limited to a single room on the first floor of the Administration Building; the total collection including all books, pamphlets, and other materials was roughly 11,000 works. West would persist in pursuing funds, and in June 1937, the state provided a $275,000 appropriation for the construction of a new library. An association of women faculty was also given its name by West: the “Quarterly Club” so named because the group met quarterly and whose membership dues were one quarter. Ms. West founded the Lubbock chapter of the American Association of University Women in 1926.

She would remain the head librarian at Tech until her retirement in 1942. She would later supplement her retirement income by working as a researcher with the Department of History there.

Later life and death After suffering a heart attack in 1946, West retired from Texas Tech in 1947 and moved to Pensacola, Florida. She died on January 4, 1948.