Meet Rose Farmer: WPA Pack Horse Librarian... and Great American

Above: Rose Farmer, WPA Pack Horse Librarian, checks out books to a colleague in Leslie County, Kentucky, ca. 1935-1940. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A closer view of Rose, from the previous photo.

Above: Here we see Rose, managing a WPA Pack Horse Librarian exhibit in Indianapolis, ca. 1935-1940. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A closer look at a section of Rose's exhibit, which includes the photo from the top of this blog post.

Above: An announcement that Rose had arrived in England, for Red Cross wartime service. From The Lexington Herald (Lexington, Kentucky), December 29, 1944, p. 5. Image from newspapers.com, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: From Rose's obituary in the Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Kentucky), April 27, 2005, p. 21. Image from newspapers.com, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Rose Farmer (February 3, 1910 - April 25, 2005)

I wasn't able to find out a lot about Rose's life, but we know that she attended Pikeville College and Berea College (both in Kentucky; see the "Arrived Overseas" announcement image above), and from her obituary we learn that she was a Pack Horse Librarian (thus verifying the photos) and worked for the Red Cross--both during and after World War II--for 37 years, serving at various posts around the world.

The obituary also tells us that her father was Felix Farmer (1877-1931) and her mother was Mollie Farmer (1885-1960) (see their Find a Grave web pages here and here, but note that the family information on these pages is incomplete, e.g, it shows Rose's sisters, Wanda and Anna, but not her brothers, Rex, Ed, and Bill). Rose's obituary does not mention a husband or children, but she has an additional surname "Rose Farmer Thomas," so we might assume that she was married at one time.

Rose died at the Mary Breckenridge Hospital (Hyden, Kentucky) and visitation services were held at the Dwayne Walker Funeral Home (also in Hyden). I don't know if she was buried or cremated, but it's possible she rests at the Brewer Cemetery where other family members are (I couldn't find her on Find a Grave, but I'm not sure if Brewer Cemetery has been completely inventoried).

Rose Farmer seems to have lived a life devoted to others, and in my book that makes her a great American. Let's remember her.