Gender Issues in "Ruth Brown"

Throughout the story of Ruth Brown, we see numerous females actively participating in community groups, the Library Board, and the self-designated citizen's committee whose purpose was to investigate allegations of "pro-communism" in the library. Most of these women were the wives of employees of the town's largest business, Phillips Petroleum, or their competition, Cities Service. While these women undoubtedly held influential positions on town committees, men always held the leadership positions and seem to have made the final decisions. Conservative groups such as the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), and Pro-America had members who were also part of decision-making in Bartlesville.

Ruth Brown was a member of the COPD (Committee on the Practice of Democracy), and, though other prominent women also were members, they seem to disappear when Brown is confronted with charges of pro-communism and attempting to integrate the library.

So, some questions to think about...Does what happened to Ruth Brown serve to perpetuate the stereotypical librarian (as opposed to her personally)? Thinking about the national state of library affairs at this time (loyalty oaths, etc.), does location have any bearing on her situation (i.e. what if she were a librarian in California)? Did female members of the various community groups (including the COPD, to which Brown belonged) do what they could to help her? Should they have done more? Was more female involvement in the decision to dismiss Brown even a possibility in a town run by a big oil business? What bearing does this case have on female librarians (and males, for that matter) today? Have gender roles changed enough in librarianship and in the composition of library boards?