BWHT President
Sylvia McDowell
mcdowellsa@earthlink.net
Sylvia McDowell, a retired librarian, attended Simmons College where she received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees. Her plan was to return to Washington after graduating. She got her first professional job as a medical librarian at Boston University and over a half century later she is still in Boston.
In her youth, she could not decide whether to pursue a career as a librarian or a historian. She has succeeded in working in both fields. She worked as a librarian throughout her professional life working at Boston University, MIT and Harvard. She became interested in women's issues while working at MIT, of all places, because of its Women's Studies Program. This interest culminated in a highly successful tenure at the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University.
In retirement, she continues to use her interest in research conducting historical research among her tasks as president of the Boston Women's Heritage Trail, which is steadily gaining attention nationally and internationally. She continues her professional affiliations as a member of the Massachusetts Black Librarians Network, the American Library Association, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and the Association of Black Women Historians.
She is active in community and civic activities. In 1996, she received the Crystal Stair Award granted by the Simmons College African American Alumnae Association for "her dedication to community service via her sorority and her professional affiliations." She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority which has chapters in Africa, the Caribbean and Europe. She serves as historian of her local chapter. She is a member of several other community and educational organizations in the hope of making the world better.