Margaret Herrick

{{Infobox person

| name = Margaret Herrick

| image =

| caption =

| birth_name = Margaret Florence Buck

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1902|9|27|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Spokane, Washington, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1976|6|21|1902|9|27}}

| death_place = Woodland Hills, California, U.S.

| other_names = Margaret Gledhill

| education = University of Washington

| occupation = Librarian

| years_active = 1929–1971

| known_for = {{Plainlist|

Academy Librarian
(1936–1943)
Executive Director, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1945–1971) }}

| spouse = {{Plainlist|

{{marriage|Donald Gledhill|1931|1945|reason=divorced}}
{{marriage|Philip A. Herrick|1946|1951|reason=divorced}} }}

}}

Margaret Florence Herrick (September 27, 1902{{spaced ndash}}June 21, 1976),{{cite web|title=Margaret Herrick – United States Social Security Death Index|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JB3R-FQQ|website=FamilySearch|access-date=February 3, 2016|url-access=registration}}{{cite web|title=Margaret Herrick – California Death Index|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VGT7-9VS|website=FamilySearch|access-date=February 3, 2016|url-access=registration}} also known professionally as Margaret Gledhill, was an American librarian and the executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 1971, the academy's library was named the Margaret Herrick Library in her honor.{{cite news|title=Margaret Herrick, Film History Trailblazer|url=http://www.oscars.org/news/margaret-herrick-film-history-trailblazer|access-date=February 3, 2016|work=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|date=September 22, 2015}}

Early life

She was born Margaret Buck in Spokane, Washington, to Nathan K. Buck, an attorney, and Adda M. Buck (née Morie).{{cite web|title=Florence M Buck – United States Census, 1910|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGJF-3M1|website=FamilySearch|access-date= February 3, 2016|url-access=registration}}{{cite web|title=Margaret F Buck – United States Census, 1920|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHN5-8ZR|website=FamilySearch|access-date=February 3, 2016|url-access=registration}}

In 1929, Herrick graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in library science.

Career

In 1929, Herrick became head librarian at the Yakima Public Library in Yakima, Washington. She moved to Hollywood, California, with her husband and became the academy's first librarian. She served in that capacity until 1943, during the war, when she became the interim executive director of the academy, replacing her husband.{{cite magazine|title=Academy Gets Femme Boss As Gledhill Joins Army|magazine=Daily Variety|date=January 20, 1943|pages=1, 4|url=http://www.varietyultimate.com/archive/issue/DV-01-20-1943-1|access-date=February 3, 2016|url-access=subscription}} In 1945, she was offered the executive director position permanently and held that position until her retirement in January 1971.{{cite web|last1=Waterman|first1=Nichole Maiman|title=Alumni: Margaret Herrick ('29) and the Academy of Motion Pictures|url=https://ischool.uw.edu/alumni/timeline/margaret-herrick-29-and-academy-motion-pictures|work=University of Washington Information School|access-date=January 18, 2016}}

In the mid-1960s, Herrick went on international tours to promote the tenth anniversary of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.{{cite news|last=Nepomuceno|first=Luis|title=People:AMPAS Executive Feted|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5fN4HbC65E |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/s5fN4HbC65E |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|access-date=February 4, 2016|work=FAME Newsreel|date=1966}}{{cbignore}} Between 1963 and 1968, she visited many international film institutions.

The Academy's extensive library in Beverly Hills, California, of material on films is named in her honor.{{cite web|title=About: Margaret Herrick|url=http://www.oscars.org/library/about#field-tabbed-content-tab-4|work=Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences|date=2014-07-30}}

= Oscar moniker =

Herrick is generally credited with naming the Academy Award an "Oscar", declaring the statuettes "looked just like my Uncle Oscar".{{cite web|title=Oscar Statuette|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/statuette|work=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|access-date=January 18, 2016|date=July 26, 2014}} However, others, including Academy President Bette Davis and Hollywood gossip columnist Sidney Skolsky, have claimed they invented the name.{{cite book|last1=Dodd|first1=Philip|title=What's in a Name?: From Joseph P. Frisbie to Roy Jacuzzi: How Everyday Items Were Named for Extraordinary People|date=2007|publisher=Gotham Books|location=New York|isbn=978-1-59240-432-2|chapter=Chapter 7: When Oscar met Tony|oclc=233549283|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/whatsinnamefromj00phil}}{{cite news|last1=Lewis|first1=Hilary|title=Oscars: Who Came Up With the Name 'Oscar' and More About the Statuette's History (Video)|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-who-came-up-name-774775|access-date=February 3, 2016|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=February 18, 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Osborne|first1=Robert|title=The Origin of Oscar|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_thW3N98cFQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/_thW3N98cFQ |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|access-date=February 3, 2016|work=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|date=February 17, 2015|format=video}}{{cbignore}}

Bette Davis said that the statue reminded her of her husband Harmon Nelson's derrière. Nelson's middle name was Oscar.{{cite book|last1=Sikov|first1=Ed|title=Dark Victory: the Life of Bette Davis|date=2007|publisher=Holt|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8050-7548-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/darkvictorylifeo00siko/page/68 68–84]|edition=1st|chapter=Chapter 5: The First Oscar|quote=Bette later claimed to have christened Oscar Oscar|oclc=76961180|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/darkvictorylifeo00siko/page/68}} However, Davis later relinquished this claim.{{cite book|last1=Stine|first1=Whitney|last2=Davis|first2=Bette|title=Mother Goddam: The Story of the Career of Bette Davis|year=1982|page=74|quote=I relinquish once and for all any claim that I was the one...|publisher=W.H. Allen|location=London|isbn=978-0-352-31142-9|oclc=16600617}}

Columnist Sidney Skolsky, who had a syndicated column for over 50 years,{{cite news|title=Sidney Skolsky is Dead at 78; Hollywood Reporter 50 Years|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/05/obituaries/sidney-skolsky-is-dead-at-78-hollywood-reporter-50-years.html|access-date=February 3, 2016|work=The New York Times|date=5 May 1983}} referred to the nickname, "Oscar," in his March 17, 1934, column, which is believed to be the first time the award was called the Oscar in print.

Personal life

In 1931, Herrick married Donald Gledhill, an assistant to the executive secretary of the academy.{{cite web|title=Margaret Gledhill – United States Census, 1940|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XC8Q-4X3|website=FamilySearch|access-date=February 3, 2016|url-access=registration}} She and Gledhill divorced in 1945. She married Philip A. Herrick in 1946, and continued to use his name professionally following their divorce in 1951.

On June 21, 1976, Herrick died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, after a lengthy illness.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43544867/valley-news/ |title=Margaret Herrick, former head of motion picture academy, dies |work=Valley News |date=June 23, 1976 |access-date=August 28, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}

Works and publications

{{cite book|last1=Gledhill|first1=Margaret Buck|last2=Christeson|first2=Frances Mary|title=Classification Scheme for Motion Picture Collections|date=1941|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Library|location=Hollywood, Calif|oclc=613712320|hdl=2027/uc1.b3926458}}
{{cite book|last1=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|last2=University of California, Los Angeles|last3=Gledhill|first3=Margaret|title=A Series of Papers on University Training for Motion Picture Work. A Project of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Collaboration with the University of California at Los Angeles|date=1944|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles|location=Hollywood, Calif|quote=University training for motion picture work; assembled by Margaret Gledhill|oclc=7851448|author1-link=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|author2-link=University of California, Los Angeles}}