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Mrs. Fannie Crawford McCue in "History of the McCue Case" (1904)

Fannie Simon (April 15, 1891- October 20, 1980) was an American librarian, world traveler, and Smith College alumna.

Personal Life

Fannie Simon was born in New York City on April 15, 1891, the daughter of Julius and Bertha Gubner Simon. Her father emigrated from Germany in 1885 and was able to make a prosperous living for his family as a clothier. As a result, Fannie Simon grew up with her brother, Alexander, in Westchester and on the Upper West Side of New York City where they had live-in servants and enjoyed horseback riding in Central Park.

Education

She attended Smith College, graduating in 1914.

Work

She began working in 1916, first in advertising and then in the magazine industry, primarily as an on-staff librarian. In 1930, Simon moved to the Murray Hill section of Manhattan, where she lived for the next fifty years.

Professional and Philanthropic Organizations

In 1932, Simon joined the Special Libraries Association, an organization she remained active in until her death. Simon was an avid supporter of the Metropolitan Opera Guild and the New York Philharmonic Society. She was very active in the New York City Republican Club and the Smith College Alumnae Association. She was also involved with the Church of the Incarnation and her neighborhood association, the Murray Hill Committee. When she retired from McCall's Magazine in 1959, where she worked as librarian and associate editor, Simon devoted much of her time to even more causes. At the time of her death, she was serving as the coordinator of a conversational English program for the English-Speaking Union.

World Travel

Perhaps Simon's greatest passion was world travel, which began when she was a child, traveling to Europe with her family. Shortly before she died, Simon remarked to a friend that she estimated she had traveled to over 150 countries, often traveling alone. At age 89, she took what turned out to be her last trip, to Iceland, in September 1980. She published a few travel articles, but her full-length manuscript, Following Fannie in a Changing World, remains unpublished.

Death

Simon died in a traffic accident in New York City on October 20, 1980; she was eighty-nine years old.