Zena Sutherland: reviewer, teacher, and author - Imagination and Scholarship: The Contributions of Women to American Youth Services and Literature

Library Trends, Spring, 1996 by Ann D. Carlson

Abstract

Zena Sutherland is a woman highly regarded in the field of children's literature. She was associated with the University of Chicago Graduate Library School throughout her career. Sutherland was the editor and sole reviewer of the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books from 1958 to 1985; wrote monthly columns for the Saturday Review from 1966 to 1972; and has been the author of several editions of Children and Books since 1969. The Zena Sutherland Lecture, established in 1983, is just one recognition of her contributions to the profession. This is a professional biography of Sutherland, containing her recollections of men and women in children's book publishing and assessing her impact on the field.

Introduction

A strong and influential voice in diverse aspects of the field of literature for children, Zena Sutherland is a woman who has professionally influenced others through the quality of her writing, astute and discerning critical ability, and her genuine love of, and respect for, the tradition of children's literature. In her lifetime, Sutherland has exhibited a unique independence in what she was willing to take on and has not failed to accept challenge as an opportunity.

In the words of Sophie Silberberg, a luminary in children's publishing, Zena Sutherland is "one of America's most respected reviewers of books for children, an admired teacher of children's literature, a prominent anthologist, and a leader of considerable influence within the many professions concerned with children and their reading" (Hearne & Kay, 1981, p. ix).

Born in Winthrop, Massachusetts, a small town across the bay from Boston, Sutherland describes her childhood:

I had a lot of problems as an only child, a child whose parents were divorced at a time when divorce was very rare, and this made me a particular oddity. I was five when my parents separated, and probably a year later the divorce came through. My mother decided to leave Boston, which was her home, and probably for very good reasons, went to another city. She chose Chicago because she had a friend here, a former Bostonian, who was able to put us up until my mother found an apartment and got a job. So I was a latchkey child; that was also very rare, of course, in those days. Because in those days every time you moved and signed a lease for twelve months, you got one month free, plus free decorating, and my mother liked to be in cheerful newly painted places, and to get a free month, we moved a great deal. I went to fourteen different elementary schools. (Z. B. Sutherland, personal communication, March 18, 1995)

Sutherland's mother had remarried by the time Zena was in high school, which offered her some rest after all the moving around as well as a very gentle and loving stepfather. Even though she had a kind and caring father, he was living in Boston. The family lived on the north side of Chicago near Lake Michigan at Sunnyside Avenue within walking distance of the old Edgewater Beach Hotel. Zena went to Carl Schurz High School.

Referring to herself as having been "an industrious sort of drone in high school," Sutherland nonetheless remembers it as a pleasant, albeit lonely, time. She excelled academically and particularly enjoyed English, mathematics, French, and German courses. By the time she graduated in June 1933, she was offered several college scholarships and, attracted by Robert Hutchins's reputation, decided to attend the University of Chicago that Fall. She began a pre-med course of study with the intention of becoming a physician. However, the Depression forced Sutherland's father, who was paying for the college expenses that were not covered by the scholarship, to realize that he could not afford four years of medical school. Both of them were disappointed: "He was really very, very unhappy because he wanted me to become a doctor," says Sutherland.

The University of Chicago was an exciting place to be in the 1930s. Almost all of the courses for the underclassmen were very large lecture courses given by the "stars" of the university. Sutherland recalls:

Arthur Holly Compton, I can't remember how many awards he won nationally and internationally. Louis Wirth, who was a great sociologist. There was one who became Hutchins's sidekick, Mortimer Adler, called for no reason that I know, Mert - probably somebody said it to be funny once and other people picked it up. Anton Carlson gave a biology course. He was wonderful. He was articulate, warm, and funny. He looked sort of bumbly, but he sounded very sharp, and the whole class fell in love with him, I'm quite sure. (Z. B. Sutherland, personal communication, March 18, 1995)

When Sutherland's interest turned to English literature, she took courses from Robert Morss Lovett and James Thurber, among many other distinguished teachers. In addition to a stimulating academic life, she learned to play bridge. As an only child, she had been very isolated. Living in Beecher Hall dormitory was a joy to her, and she made many friends. Another of her extracurricular activities was singing in the Rockefeller Chapel Choir, which she continued for many, years after graduating.