This article traces historical uses of the phrase "why girls go wrong" to provide a context for analysis of Progressive Era reading guidance for girls and then turns to actual girls' responses to reading. The historic context depicts the milieu in which young women and the advisors who sought to guide them lived and read as a time of intense…

This document, which discusses the image of librarians in 20th century murder mysteries, suggests that the image initially evolved from an elitist spirit that was the result of the missionary zeal and cultural superiority of early librarians, and that the image of the old maid librarian was probably based on the reality that early women college…