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                                 CLARA EGLI LEGEAR
                                     1896-1994
 
               Clara Egli LeGear, an employee of the Geography and Map
          Division, Library of Congress for 47 years; author/compiler of
          volumes 5-9 of A List of Geographical Atlases in the Library of
          Congress (1958-1992); United States Atlases (2 vol., 1950-1953);
          Maps: Their Care, Repair, and Preservation in Libraries (1949);
          and a founding member of the Geography and Map Division of the
          Special Libraries Association died November 8, 1994, at the age
          of 98.  Starting in 1914, her association with the Library of
          Congress spanned 80 years.  While with the Geography and Map
          Division, she was involved in every aspect of map librarianship
          (cataloging, reference, acquisitions, and administration),
          serving in a variety of positions including cataloger, reference
          librarian, assistant and acting chief (1931-1945), librarian in
          charge of cartographic acquisitions, bibliographer, head of the
          reference section, and honorary consultant in historical
          cartography.
               She was active in a number of professional organizations
          including the Special Libraries Association, Society of Women
          Geographers, Association of American Geographers, and the
          American Geographical Society.  She was honored with the
          Association of American Geographers' Meritorious Achievement
          Award in 1952, the Special Libraries Association's Geography and
          Map Division's Honors Award in 1957, the Library of Congress'
          Distinguished Achievement Award in 1961, and an American
          Libraries Association's Map and Geography Round Table's Special
          Recognition Award in 1989.  She was also the first recipient of
          the American Library Association's C.S. Hammond Company Library
          Award in 1961 and was designated an Honorary Fellow of the
          American Geographical Society in 1968.  Of her various
          professional associations, her most significant contributions
          were made to the Geography and Map Division of the Special
          Libraries Association.  She was one of the individuals involved
          in founding the Division, which was the first such professional
          organization for map librarians in the United States.