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<\/a>Letters between ALA leaders reveal that Linderfelt\u2019s resignation as ALA President was immediately on their mind. Newberry librarian, William F. Poole, an intimate friend of Linderfelt, wrote to Melvil Dewey on May 1, \u201cI hope that Mr L[inderfelt] will send his resignation in the asso. before the 16th<\/sup>. That it will be quietly accepted and Mr. Fletcher be made full President.\u201d[2]<\/a> Dewey agreed with the idea and noted that it would be for the best if the topic of the \u201cdreadful episode\u201d was avoided at the ALA conference just weeks away.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n The ALA Executive Committee moved quickly on the matter and by May 2, convening at the house of the ALA Secretary, Frank P. Hill. There they would discuss \u201cMr. Linderfelt\u2019s trouble.\u201d[4]<\/a> Weeks later, on May 22, Hill reported that he had received Linderfelt\u2019s resignation and that it would \u201ctake effect from the time of election.\u201d W. I. Fletcher, the librarian of Amherst College and an ALA vice-president, was then recorded as ALA President for the entire term 1891-1892 term, thus erasing Linderfelt’s presidency. Professor Wayne Wiegand observed that, \u201cThe matter was handled so expeditiously that it was apparent the committee had already decided on a course of action at its \u2018unofficial\u2019 May 2 meeting at Hill\u2019s house.\u201d[5]<\/a> The consequences of these actions was that Linderfelt would not be documented as a past president and his name was stricken from ALA\u2019s official records.<\/p>\n Linderfelt and his arrest were not brought up in the proceedings for the 1892 annual conference, an event he would have presided over. Though Fletcher, his replacement, alluded to the incident in his presidential address, \u201cThe peculiar circumstances under which I assume this position will, I am sure, be sufficient to excuse the desultoriness of the few remarks which, on so short notice, I have been able to throw together for your consideration this evening.\u201d[6]<\/a> In his address, he mentioned a couple times that he had only a few days to assume the duties as president, but otherwise did not bring up his predecessor. While ALA had washed their hands of Linderfelt, outside of association business, his librarian friends had not given up on him. Leaders in the profession wrote letters on his behalf that would later be used in his defense, and he was offered a position at Library Bureau, a company founded by Dewey, in Boston, if he was cleared of his charges.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n ALA wasn\u2019t the only library association impacted by Linderfelt\u2019s disgrace. He also left the WLA leaderless only a year into its founding and caused the WLA to skip holding annual conferences in 1892 and 1893, putting the association in crisis.[8]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n That July, Linderfelt appeared in court for his embezzlement. However, despite his confession, he would see no prison time for stealing what ended up being over $9,000 (over $326,000 in 2026), over double what was previously estimated.[9]<\/a> Instead, the judge gave him a suspended sentence and Linderfelt walked out of the courthouse as a free man. There was immediate outrage in Milwaukee over the lack of punishment and the District Attorney quickly moved to file new charges against Linderfelt.[10]<\/a><\/p>\n On July 16, Linderfelt was in Boston to take the job offered to him at Library Bureau.[11]<\/a> A couple of days later, the order for his arrest was issued in Boston, but the librarian was nowhere to be found. By July 20, The Boston Globe<\/em> was asking \u201cWhere is Linderfelt? Visited Public Library Saturday and Has Since Disappeared.\u201d[12]<\/a> Somehow, Linderfelt discovered the orders for his arrest and this time decided to flee the country to Europe.<\/p>\n With his flight from justice, Linderfelt disappeared from the lives of his librarian friends and, with his name stricken from the record, he also disappeared from the memory of the profession. Almost.<\/p>\n To be continued.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For a more detailed and the most rigorously researched account of Linderfelt\u2019s trouble, read Wayne Wiegand\u2019s \u201cThe Wayward Bookman\u201d in American Libraries<\/em> volume 8, issues 3 and 4 (March and April 1977).<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> \u201cLinderfelt in a Cell,\u201d The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California), April 29, 1892, p. 1.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> William F. Poole to Melvil Dewey, May 1, 1892, W.L. Williamson – William F. Poole Research Papers, Midwest-MS-Williamson, Box 5, Folder: 1892 Correspondence, The Newberry Library – Modern Manuscripts and Archives Repository.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Melvil Dewey to William F. Poole, May 5, 1892, NL Archives 03\/01\/01\/01, Box: 7, Folder: 414 – Dewey, Melvil. Newberry Library Archives, NL-Archives. The Newberry Library – Modern Manuscripts and Archives.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Frank P. Hill to George W. Cole, April 30, 1892, George W. Cole Papers, series 2\/3\/20, Box 1, Folder: Correspondence, 1891-1893, American Library Association Archives.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Wayne Wiegand, \u201cThe Wayward Bookman,\u201d American Libraries<\/em> 8, no. 3 (March 1977): 137.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> W. I. Fletcher, \u201cPresident\u2019s Address,\u201d Papers and Proceedings of the Fourteenth General Meeting of the American Library Association<\/em> (Boston: 1892): 1.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Wayne Wiegand, \u201cThe Wayward Bookman, Part II,\u201d American Libraries<\/em> 8, no. 4 (April 1977): 198<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Larry T. Nix, \u201cDisaster Strikes the News Created Wisconsin Library Association,\u201d Wisconsin Library Heritage Center, March 24, 2016: https:\/\/heritage.wisconsinlibraries.org\/entry\/disaster-strikes-the-newly-created-wisconsin-library-association\/<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Wiegand, 197.<\/p>\n [10]<\/a> Ibid, 197-198.<\/p>\n [11]<\/a> \u201cMay Come to Boston,\u201d The Boston Globe<\/em>, July 14, 1892, p. 4.<\/p>\n![\"Group](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2026\/04\/ALA0003557-1024x656.jpg\")
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