Frederick Morgan Crunden was born at Gravesend, England, September 1,
1847, the son of Benjamin Robert and Mary (Morgan) Crunden. Coming to
St. Louis while a child, he was educated in the public schools of that
city and graduated from its high school in 1865, with a scholarship in
Washington university. In the latter institution he took a course in
the arts and sciences, graduating in 1868 with the degree of bachelor
of arts. Teaching in the public schools of St. Louis before graduation,
and later in the college faculty of the same university, he received
the degree of master of arts in 1872.
His marriage to Miss Kate Edmondson was in 1889. During his college
course Mr. Crunden took a vital interest in library work, and in
January, 1877, he became secretary and librarian of the St. Louis
public (then public school) library, continuing as such until 1909.
Equally identified with many other societies, local and national,
he had been a contributor to leading magazines upon educational and
sociological subjects, and had attained international fame before
he was stricken in 1906 with the malady which resulted in his death
October 28, 1911.
Mr. Crunden's public services were by no means confined to the
distinctively library interests of his community and the country. He
was particularly interested in the mutual relations of schools and
libraries, developing them in St. Louis in a manner which served as
a model for others, and contributing largely to the evolution of the
present official relations of the National Education Association and
the American Library Association.
In his public writing he has expressed most clearly and happily the
fundamental principles of these relations, and it is a great pleasure
to his friends, as it was to him in the last days of his life, to know
that his statement of the value of recorded thought has been carved
in granite on the walls of his cherished institution. Nevertheless
it was to library work that the greater part of his time and thought
was given, and it is the success of his work as a constructive
librarian that naturally we most fully recognize. He combined high
executive ability with a comprehensive knowledge of the contents of the
collections under his charge. He had that sense of the real librarian,
which has been said to be "an intensive perception of the needs of the
present, and a prophetic insight into the needs of the future."
He worked zealously and unceasingly, first for the broadening of the
work of the St. Louis public schools library, then for its conversion
into a free public library, and finally for its development into a
strong institution ranking among the great libraries of the land. It is
pleasant to know that even in the last years he was able at times to
follow its course along the lines forecast by him, and that he could
realize the high appreciation of his services so generally felt by his
fellow citizens.
Almost in the beginning of his library career, he began also his
services to the American Library Association, which were secondary only
to the work he did for St. Louis.
He attended first the Boston conference of 1879, and rarely after
that did he miss a meeting. Elected councillor in 1882, he served
the association almost continuously until his illness. He was
vice-president in 1887-88, and under his presidency the Fabyans
conference of 1890 took rank as the largest and one of the most
successful meetings held up to that time. When the association met at
St. Louis, in 1889, and again in 1904, he was a most thoughtful host,
whose care for our welfare contributed largely to the success of those
meetings. He served also as one of the vice-presidents of the Chicago
conference in 1893, and as vice-president of the international library
conference at London in 1897, and was one of the chief spokesmen of the
association party. This list of offices by no means measures the debt
of the association to him. The much longer list of committees on which
he served would indicate better the character and breadth of his work,
but even this would leave unexpressed the professional knowledge and
the personal pleasure gained from his companionship by the individual
members.
This sense of personal loss must be felt by all who met him in
the other library circles in which he was interested, especially
the Missouri state library association, of which he was the first
president, and the New York state library association, whose annual
meetings he so often attended.
No member of the A. L. A. of his day had a wider and closer personal
acquaintance among the membership than Mr. Crunden. He had a spirit
of friendliness and human sympathy which prompted him to take hold
upon the hearts of those with whom he was brought into contact in his
profession. He had no ambition which inclined him to self-seeking,
but was always quick to recognize the merits of others and to give
acknowledgment freely and heartily. He was naturally of a modest
and retiring disposition, but wholly without self-consciousness or
reserve. He looked upon every question with frankness, unbiased by any
consideration outside of its true merits as approved by his mature
judgment. He held his views firmly, but he never undertook to force
them upon others. His many fine qualities of mind and heart are a
source of joy to all who recall the memory of him as he was in the
midst of his long and brilliant career. His more intimate friends
recall with wonder the patience with which he bore the strain of the
years of ill health which preceded the final breakdown, and remember
with gratitude his gracious hospitality.
The PRESIDENT: What is your pleasure, Ladies and Gentlemen?
Dr. BOSTWICK: I move that this memorial be spread upon the minutes
of the association, that it be printed in the proceedings of this
conference, and that copies of it be sent to Mrs. Crunden and to Mr.
Frederick M. Crunden's brother, Mr. F. P. Crunden of St Louis.
The motion was unanimously adopted.
The PRESIDENT: The chair would like the support of the first
vice-president on the platform, and in the meantime, while he comes
forward, after the report of the tellers of the association, we have
one additional treat which when the time comes I shall ask Mr. Burpee
to announce. The report of the tellers of election is in order, which
will be read by the secretary.
The SECRETARY: The report of the tellers states that you have elected
the following officers: