Biographical Note

Herbert and Laura Beth Hearsey were longtime residents of Bellingham, Washington. Both were librarians, involved in the Bellingham Power Squadron, and had an active role in the community.

Herbert Hearsey was born November 27, 1910. His first experience in the library predated his education, working as a page at the Cambridge Public Library from 1923-1928 and from in 1927-1937 at the Harvard College Library. Between 1931-1935, Herb attended Tufts College and continued to work at Harvard. From 1937-1941, with the exception of a brief return to Harvard, Herb pursued graduate study at the school of Library Science at the University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana. Here he met Laura Beth Davis, who was also studying to be a librarian and they were married in 1938. Laura Beth Davis Hearsey was born August 9, 1908 in Neosho, Missouri. In September, 1926, Laura attended Cottey College in Nevada for girls, where she worked for two hours a day in the college library to reduce the cost of tuition and board. She transferred to Howard Payne College to complete her degree, working concurrently at her former high school in Neosho as a teacher for a series of terms. Finishing college, Laura Beth continued to work at both the Neosho Junior high school and her former high school for an additional six years teaching English and social studies.

In 1941, after Herb and Laura Beth were married, they moved to Bellingham, Washington where Herb worked until 1974 as both Reference Librarian and Head of Circulation at Western Washington State College. Laura Beth continued to work as both a librarian and teacher in the Bellingham public school system. Herb, being an avid boater served as the first Commander and founder of the Bellingham Power Squadron in 1958. Laura Beth was also an active member of the Bellingham Power Squadron. In addition to her extensive writings of family history, Laura Beth kept detailed records for the Power Squadron. Laura Beth was also known for her role as leader of the Women’s Study Club in Bellingham. This group of women met to discuss a variety of books and issues from 1942-1997. Herb was a prolific writer, whose memoirs comprise Boating in my Life: forty years & five boats in the Puget Sound, the San Juans, Canadian waterways & southeastern Alaska (2001), and Recollections of Herbert R. Hearsey: An Autobiographical Account (2003).