Vivian Davidson Hewitt (MM 1944), retired chief librarian, art collector and distinguished awards recipient received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at Carnegie Mellon University’s 120th Commencement, Sunday, May 21.
Hewitt has enjoyed an illustrious career as a prominent librarian and African-American art collector.
After earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Library Science in 1944 from the Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University, Hewitt became the first African-American librarian at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh’s Wiley Avenue Branch. She later moved to Atlanta and took a position as a librarian and instructor at Atlanta University’s School of Library and Information Science, where she taught and mentored other young African Americans entering the profession. Read more about Hewitt.
University Libraries was honored to host Hewitt at Hunt Library for a recording of her oral history and a viewing of select items from our special collections. View photos from her visit.