Archives West Finding Aid

Miriam Snow Mathes was born on March 3, 1905, in Fall River, Massachusetts. She earned a BA from New York State College, Albany, an MA from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a BS and MS from the Columbia University School of Library Service. In 1934, following teaching appointments in New York State and at Peabody College in Tennessee, she began a long career at the Bellingham State Normal School in Bellingham, Washington (now Western Washington University), serving as Librarian of Children's Literature, Campus School Librarian, and professor of Library Science. She retired in 1971.

In 1951, Miriam married Homer B. Mathes, son of WWU’s first president, Edward Tilden Mathes. Homer died in 1956. Miriam’s hobbies included world travel and collecting figurines depicting the act of reading. She bequeathed her extensive figurine collection to WWU in 1999. Additionally, she established several scholarships, including the Nahbi Ram Joshi Scholarship. Awarded to Indian and Indian-American students, it honors the memory of one of WWU’s first international students, who studied at the university in 1907 and was befriended by Edward Mathes.

Miriam Snow Mathes died on January 31, 2003, in Lacey, Washington.