The Marjorie and Horace Bradfield papers consists of autobiographical material and photographs.
In her autobiography, Marjorie Bradfield describes her first library jobs, and the events that led her to the Detroit Public Library. It highlights Bradfield's professional accomplishments, as well as challenges she faced as an African American woman in the library field. The autobiography includes an appendix with citations of essays and articles written by Bradfield.
Also contained within the collection are recordings of a 1978 interview with Horace Bradfield, facilitated by his daughter, Trudy Bradfield Taliaferro. The first part of the interview, Bradfield discusses his time as a student at the University of Michigan between 1931 and 1935. Throughout the interview, Bradfield describes his experience as an African American student at the University of Michigan during the 1930s. The second part of the interview covers his struggles finding a job as an African American physician in Detroit following his graduation in 1935.
The collection includes a small number of photographs in the collection, primarily portraits of the Bradfields, and a photograph from their wedding day in 1938. One of these photographs is available online as a digital file.
Marjorie Adele Blackistone Bradfield was born in Washington D.C. in 1911. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1934 with a Bachelor of Arts in French. As an undergraduate, Bradfield was a member of Delta Sigma Theta, Nu chapter, the first Black sorority on campus. Following her graduation, Bradfield attended Columbia University where she graduated in 1936 with a Bachelor of Science in Library Services. Her first job out of graduate school was as a librarian at Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana. In 1938 Bradfield became the first African American librarian hired by the Detroit Public Library, where she played a role establishing a collection of books by and about African Americans. While employed by the Detroit Public Library, Bradfield returned to the University of Michigan, graduating with a Master of Library Science in 1940. Bradfield left the library in 1950 to raise her children, but came back in 1964. In 1968 she worked for Detroit Public Schools as the head librarian. Bradfield retired in 1980.
Horace Ferguson Bradfield was born in Denver, Colorado in 1913. In 1919 his family moved to Detroit, where Bradfield attended the College of the City of Detroit. Bradfield transferred to the University of Michigan and graduated with a Bachelor and Master of Science (both in Chemistry) in 1934 and 1935, respectively. Following his graduation, Bradfield taught adult education in Detroit, but returned to school in the mid-1940s. He graduated from Wayne State University in 1948 as a Doctor of Medicine. Bradfield became the fifth Black intern at Detroit Receiving Hospital before coming to Providence and Hutzel hospitals in Detroit to work as a physician. He eventually moved to an office on East Grand Boulevard, where he remained until his retirement in 1989. Bradfield also served on the board of Wayne County Community College, and the board of directors for the Detroit Urban League in the 1960s-1970s.
