Jessica Alden, born in Bainbridge in 1884, served as the librarian at the Oneonta Normal School for 32 years. She herself was an Oneonta Normal School graduate of 1906. She taught in Newton, Massachusetts and Santa Barbara, California before returning to Oneonta in 1912.
She was an active member and Elder of the First Presbyterian Church, a member of the Oneonta Woman's Club, the Oneonta Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), the Women's Guild of Fox Hospital, the Upper Susquehanna Historical Society, Boroughs Nature Club, and the Oneonta Federated Garden Club.
