Archives West Finding Aid

Arthur Sydney Beardsley (1889-1950) was born in Aberdeen, Washington on July 21, 1889. Little is recorded about his childhood, but in 1916, Beardsley registered in the military for a short period of time. In 1918, he earned his Law Degree from the University of Washington after receiving his teaching degree. This led to his becoming the Law Librarian at the University of Washington in 1922. In addition to being the law librarian, he also taught legal bibliography courses and received his B.S. in Library Sciences and a Ph.D.

During his tenure at the University of Washington Law Library, Beardsley greatly expanded the collection elevating it to tenth largest in the country. Many of the volumes focused on law in Washington State which was particularly interesting to Beardsley. Using some of his newly acquired resources, he published The Bench and Bar of Washington: The First Fifty Years (1849-1900). Not all the materials, however, focused on Washington State, as many of Beardsley’s acquisitions also came from Russia, China, and Japan.

At the University of Washington, he began the first Masters in Law Librarianship program in 1939 after writing an early legal research textbook in 1937. Beardsley began working as the vice president of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) in 1937, later to serve as president from 1939-1940. Beardsley resigned as law librarian in 1944 and the following year joined the Domestic Relations Department of the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of King County. He died on October 6th, 1950.