1917
Etta
2007
Etta Falkner
May 30, 1917 — October 29, 2007
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. â?? Etta Falkner, 90, former Director of the Research Library at Old Sturbridge Village, a position she held for 25 years and a former longtime resident of Southbridge and Sturbridge, died Oct. 29 at Sunbridge Health Care in Portsmouth after a long illness. She has resided in Portsmouth for the past nine years.
Survivors include her sister, Stella F. Barnette of York, Maine; her niece, Okanta Leonard of Halifax, Nova Scotia and a great-nephew, Neahga Leonard of California.
Born in New York City where she attended public schools, she received a Bachelor of Arts from Hunter College and a Master of Arts in Adult Education from Teachers\' College, Columbia University.
In the 1960\'s she accepted as offer to be the Director of the Research Library at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, a position she held for 25 years until her retirement in 1982. She was well-known in the area communities.
Various previous occupations involved working for the New York City Public Library system and the American Museum of Natural History where she won acclaim for arranging special exhibits, including traveling exhibits for schools. Other positions included programs for the Munson Williams Proctor Institute in Utica, N.Y., after which she worked in York, Maine, as director of the Old York Historical Society (OYHS).
At the three-museum complex which became the OYHS, she was the first professional; as such, she organized the collections along recognized parameters, rendering them available to others in the museum field. Through her efforts the impressive collections became well known in museum circles. Additionally, Etta Falkner was the first person to catalog the museum\'s book collections and to commence the work of setting up a library, making books in the collection accessible to those interested in York, Maine, history. Her work was such that it set standards for the first-rate museum that the Old York Historical Society has since become.
Along with membership in various museum and library associations, Etta Falkner was a member of the Southbridge Garden Club. In addition to library and museum work which she enjoyed, her hobbies included gardening, reading and ornithology. Her friends knew her as a true naturalist. She enjoyed participating in these various activities during her retirement.
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