Linda with mom Betty
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Herr’s Indexing Service was established in 1944, by my mother Betty Herr (Hallinger). Betty learned to index while working as an editorial assistant in the medical department of the J. B. Lippincott Publishing Company in Philadelphia. After completing several indexes there, she decided to try it on her own, with the help of contacts she had established with other publishing companies in Philadelphia and New York City.
Indexing in those pre-computer days meant that there were hundreds or even thousands of cards or slips of paper to file, and eventually retype, for each index. This lead to my first job and introduction to indexing, filing those slips in alphabetical order. My pay rate for this was 1¢ for each inch of the stack that I filed.
In the 1960s, our family took a trip across the country in our station wagon. In addition to our suitcases of clothes we took my mother’s portable office—a big electric typewriter, the pages of her current project, and shoe boxes of slips.
In 1976, my husband and I and my mother purchased some property in Vermont, and we built our homes next door to each other. At this point I joined Betty in the indexing business on a full-time basis. Our mother-daughter collaboration continued for nearly 30 years. Betty retired from indexing after 62 years, in 2006. I am now running the business as a sole proprietor.
In my local community, I was honored to receive the Town of Washington Citizen of the Year award, for my efforts in organizing a parade to celebrate the bicentennial year in Vermont. This was the first town parade in 75 years. I have also been elected to serve on the Washington Recreation Department since 1991. In addition, I served on the board of trustees of our local health center, the Chelsea Health Center, for 12 years and as treasurer of that board for 11 years.
In my indexing community, I am a member of Indexers Unlimited, the American Society of Indexers (ASI), the New England Chapter of ASI, and the Science and Medicine Special Interest Group of ASI. I have served as treasurer of that group since 1998.
My educational background includes courses at Butler University, the University of Arizona, Temple University, and the Community College of Vermont. My other interests, when I am not at my desk, generally involve being active outdoors. I enjoy gardening, and also swimming, biking, and running.
Linda Herr Hallinger
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