Gertrude Hill Muir Papers

Gertrude Frances Hill was born to Edwin Bliss and Clara Ella (Hood) Hill in Phoenix, Arizona on October 26, 1909. She earned her B.A. in Anthropology with a minor in Geology (1937) and her M.A. in Anthropology with a minor in Art (1938) from the University of Arizona followed by her B.S. in Library Science (1945) from the University of Denver. Hill also completed a Library Certificate at the Riverside Library Service School in Riverside, California (1929).

Hill began her career as an Assistant Cataloger at the El Paso (Texas) Public Library (1928-1933). After completing her degrees at the University of Arizona, she worked as the City Librarian at the Flagstaff Public Library (1938-1945). Hill returned to the University of Arizona in 1945 and served as Head of the Circulation Department until becoming a Cataloger and First Assistant Librarian at the Dean Hobbs Blanchard Memorial Library in Santa Paula, California in 1949. She moved to the Museum of New Mexico Library in 1951, where she served as Assistant Librarian (1951-1953) and Head Librarian (1953-1960).

Hill was appointed Special Collections Librarian at Arizona State University in 1960 but left this post to become Head of Technical Services at the New Mexico State Library in 1962. She returned to Arizona State University as Special Collections Librarian in 1963 and married Robert Muir in approximately the same year. Despite her failing health, Muir continued to work at the Library until 1973 by arranging car pools with other library employees. She formally retired in 1975 and died in Phoenix, Arizona on May 6, 1981.