Bertha Mahony - Prelude To The Bookshop

Prelude To The Bookshop

In August 1915, Mahony read an Atlantic Monthly article titled “A New Profession for Women” by Earl Barnes, that gloriously painted bookselling as a profession for women. This article, combined with her work with children’s plays, prompted Mahony to create a bookstore for children.

Mahony enlisted the support of experts in children’s literature to fill in her information gaps. She talked to the Boston Public Library’s Alice Jordan as well as Frederic Melcher. She visited the Central Children’s Room in New York and met Anne Carroll Moore. Other icons in children’s literature whom she visited included Clara Hunt and Caroline Hewins. Mahony also gathered financial support from banks and the Women's Educational and Industrial Union.