Frederick Morgan Crunden was born at Gravesend, England, September 1, 1847, the son of Benjamin Robert and Mary (Morgan) Crunden. Coming to St. Louis while a child, he was educated in the public schools of that city and graduated from its high school in 1865, with a scholarship in Washington university. In the latter institution he took a course in the arts and sciences, graduating in 1868 with the degree of bachelor of arts. Teaching in the public schools of St. Louis before graduation, and later in the college faculty of the same university, he received the degree of master of arts in 1872.

His marriage to Miss Kate Edmondson was in 1889. During his college course Mr. Crunden took a vital interest in library work, and in January, 1877, he became secretary and librarian of the St. Louis public (then public school) library, continuing as such until 1909.

Equally identified with many other societies, local and national, he had been a contributor to leading magazines upon educational and sociological subjects, and had attained international fame before he was stricken in 1906 with the malady which resulted in his death October 28, 1911.

Mr. Crunden's public services were by no means confined to the distinctively library interests of his community and the country. He was particularly interested in the mutual relations of schools and libraries, developing them in St. Louis in a manner which served as a model for others, and contributing largely to the evolution of the present official relations of the National Education Association and the American Library Association.

In his public writing he has expressed most clearly and happily the fundamental principles of these relations, and it is a great pleasure to his friends, as it was to him in the last days of his life, to know that his statement of the value of recorded thought has been carved in granite on the walls of his cherished institution. Nevertheless it was to library work that the greater part of his time and thought was given, and it is the success of his work as a constructive librarian that naturally we most fully recognize. He combined high executive ability with a comprehensive knowledge of the contents of the collections under his charge. He had that sense of the real librarian, which has been said to be "an intensive perception of the needs of the present, and a prophetic insight into the needs of the future."

He worked zealously and unceasingly, first for the broadening of the work of the St. Louis public schools library, then for its conversion into a free public library, and finally for its development into a strong institution ranking among the great libraries of the land. It is pleasant to know that even in the last years he was able at times to follow its course along the lines forecast by him, and that he could realize the high appreciation of his services so generally felt by his fellow citizens.

Almost in the beginning of his library career, he began also his services to the American Library Association, which were secondary only to the work he did for St. Louis.

He attended first the Boston conference of 1879, and rarely after that did he miss a meeting. Elected councillor in 1882, he served the association almost continuously until his illness. He was vice-president in 1887-88, and under his presidency the Fabyans conference of 1890 took rank as the largest and one of the most successful meetings held up to that time. When the association met at St. Louis, in 1889, and again in 1904, he was a most thoughtful host, whose care for our welfare contributed largely to the success of those meetings. He served also as one of the vice-presidents of the Chicago conference in 1893, and as vice-president of the international library conference at London in 1897, and was one of the chief spokesmen of the association party. This list of offices by no means measures the debt of the association to him. The much longer list of committees on which he served would indicate better the character and breadth of his work, but even this would leave unexpressed the professional knowledge and the personal pleasure gained from his companionship by the individual members.

This sense of personal loss must be felt by all who met him in the other library circles in which he was interested, especially the Missouri state library association, of which he was the first president, and the New York state library association, whose annual meetings he so often attended.

No member of the A. L. A. of his day had a wider and closer personal acquaintance among the membership than Mr. Crunden. He had a spirit of friendliness and human sympathy which prompted him to take hold upon the hearts of those with whom he was brought into contact in his profession. He had no ambition which inclined him to self-seeking, but was always quick to recognize the merits of others and to give acknowledgment freely and heartily. He was naturally of a modest and retiring disposition, but wholly without self-consciousness or reserve. He looked upon every question with frankness, unbiased by any consideration outside of its true merits as approved by his mature judgment. He held his views firmly, but he never undertook to force them upon others. His many fine qualities of mind and heart are a source of joy to all who recall the memory of him as he was in the midst of his long and brilliant career. His more intimate friends recall with wonder the patience with which he bore the strain of the years of ill health which preceded the final breakdown, and remember with gratitude his gracious hospitality.

The PRESIDENT: What is your pleasure, Ladies and Gentlemen?

Dr. BOSTWICK: I move that this memorial be spread upon the minutes of the association, that it be printed in the proceedings of this conference, and that copies of it be sent to Mrs. Crunden and to Mr. Frederick M. Crunden's brother, Mr. F. P. Crunden of St Louis.

The motion was unanimously adopted.

The PRESIDENT: The chair would like the support of the first vice-president on the platform, and in the meantime, while he comes forward, after the report of the tellers of the association, we have one additional treat which when the time comes I shall ask Mr. Burpee to announce. The report of the tellers of election is in order, which will be read by the secretary.

The SECRETARY: The report of the tellers states that you have elected the following officers: