Saturday, May 27, 2023
The Carnegie Free Public Library of Georgetown, Guyana
Saturday, May 28, 2022
South Carolina State University Connections: Emily America Copeland and Rossie Brower Caldwell
Emily America Copeland became chair of the library science department at South Carolina State College (now South Carolina State University) in 1946. Ms. Copeland was a 1942 graduate of the library school at Atlanta University (Clark-Atlanta University). She held library positions at Spelman College, Atlanta University, Finley High School (Chester, South Carolina). Gammon Theological Seminary, the Woodstock Branch of the New York Public Library, Albany State College, and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Florida A&M University). From 1958 to 1976, Ms. Copeland was the chair of Florida A &M University Library Science Department.
Sources: Walker, Lillie S. "Black Librarians in South Carolina." The Black Librarian in the Southeast: Reminiscences, Activities, Challenges. Durham: NCCU School of Library Science, 1980. 94. Print.; Copeland, Emily America. "Lady Emily." The Black Librarian in America. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1970. 77-91. Print.; Caldwell, Rossie B. "South Carolina State Library Group." Handbook of Black Librarianship. Ed. E.J. Josey and Marva L. DeLoach. 2nd ed. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 73. Print.; "Emily A. Copeland." Florida A & M University. Blackbaud, Inc., 2022 Web. 28 May 2022.
Rossie Brower Caldwell was a librarian and professor at South Carolina State University from 1957-1983. Ms. Caldwell was also a librarian at Reed Street High School, Emmett Scott High School, and Wilkinson High School. She received her MLS from the University of Illinois.
Sources: Walker, Lillie S. "Black Librarians in South Carolina." The Black Librarian in the Southeast: Reminiscences, Activities, Challenges. Durham: NCCU School of Library Science, 1980. 96-97. Print.; Caldwell, Rossie B. "South Carolina State Library Group." Handbook of Black Librarianship. Ed. E.J. Josey and Marva L. DeLoach. 2nd ed. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 69-74. Print.; Clanton, Deborah. The Papers of Rossie B. Caldwell [Finding Aid]. South Carolina State University Historical Collection, Miller F. Whitaker Library, South Carolina State University, 2000. Print.; "Caldwell, Rossie Brower." The Directory of Minority Professionals in LIS (Library and Information Science). Comp. George C. Grant. Winter Park, FL: Four-G Publishers, Inc., 1991. 36-37. Print.
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
A Family of Librarians: The Gaytons of Seattle, Washington
This blog post focuses on three members of the Gayton family who were librarians:
In 1946, Willetta Esther Riddle Gayton (1909-1991) became the second African American to receive an undergraduate degree in librarianship from the University of Washington. Ms. Gayton was also the first African American librarian to work in the Seattle public school system. She passed away on March 29, 1991.
Sources: Henry, Mary T. "Gayton, Willetta Esther Riddle (1909-1991)." History Link - The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. 29 Apr. 2010. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.; Lewis, Peter. "Willetta R. Gayton, 81, Librarian." The Seattle Times 10 Apr. 1991: n. pag. Web. 13 Jan. 2011.
Guela Gayton Johnson (1927-2018) was the first African American librarian to manage a branch library in the eighteen-branch library system of the University of Washington. The branch was the University of Washington Social Work Library, which Ms. Johnson managed until her retirement in 1992.
Sources: "Guela Gayton Johnson, former School of Social Work Librarian and Community Leader, Dies." School of Social Work, University of Washington. 26 Oct. 2018. Web. 11 May 2022; Henry, Mary T. "Obituary - Guela Gayton Johnson." The Seattle Medium. 24 Oct. 2018. Web. 11 May 2022; Henry, Mary T. "Johnson, Guela Gayton (1927-2018)." History Link - The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. 28 June 2010. Web. 11 May 2022; "Guela Gayton Johnson, Retired Manager, Social Work Library, University of Washington, Seattle." African American Librarians in the Far West: Pioneers and Trailblazers. Ed. Binnie Tate Wilkin. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2006. 109-121. Print.; Henry, Mary T. "Gayton, Willetta Esther Riddle (1909-1991)." History Link - The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. 29 Apr. 2010. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.
John T. Gayton (1866-1954) of Seattle was the U.S. District Court Librarian from 1933-1953. He was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt. Mr. Gayton was the father-in-law of Willeta Esther Riddle Gayton and the grandfather of Guela Gayton Johnson.
Sources: Henry, Mary. "John T. Gayton (1866-1954)." Black Past.org. 21 Jan. 2007. Web. 11 May 2022; Henry, Mary T. "Gayton, John T. (1866-1954)."History Link - The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. 8 Nov. 1998. Web. 11 May 2022; "Guela Gayton Johnson, Retired Manager, Social Work Library, University of Washington, Seattle." African American Librarians in the Far West: Pioneers and Trailblazers. Ed. Binnie Tate Wilkin. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2006. 109-121. Print.; Henry, Mary T. "Gayton, Willetta Esther Riddle (1909-1991)." History Link - The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. 29 Apr. 2010. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Educators and Libraries: Isaac Fisher (1877-1957)
Isaac Fisher (1877-1957), a native of East Carroll Parish, Louisiana and the son of former slaves, was the valedictorian of Tuskegee Institute's (Tuskegee University) graduating class of 1898. Fisher was also the first African American to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship. He was awarded the fellowship in 1926.
In addition to being a Guggenheim Fellow, Fisher was an educator, speaker, writer, editor, and conference organizer. He was often called upon to deliver speeches and keynote addresses at graduations, programs, conventions, and other events. Some of Fisher's speeches include:
- "Will America Absorb the Negro?" -- Delivered in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1893 to raise money for the train fare he needed to travel to Tuskegee, Alabama to attend Tuskegee Institute (Tuskegee University).
- "Has the Negro Kept Faith?" -- Delivered at the 1910 centennial celebration of the life of abolitionist Theodore Parker.
- "The Unfinished Task." Delivered in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1934 at Crispus Attucks High School.
Fisher served as editor of The Southern Workman (published by Hampton Institute (now Hampton University)), The Fisk University News (published by Fisk University), and The Negro Farmer (published by Tuskegee Institute). In addition, Fisher once served as Tuskegee Institute's official news correspondent and had the honor of interviewing George Washington Carver (ca. 1864?-1943), a professor of agriculture at the institute and the 1923 winner of the Spingarn Medal.
As an educator, Fisher taught at the Schofield School in Aiken, South Carolina; served as principal of the Swayne Public School in Montgomery, Alabama; was principal of the Branch Normal College (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) in Pine Bluff, Arkansas; taught journalism and argumentation (debate) at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee; and headed the Department of Research and Publications at Florida A & M College (Florida A & M University) in Tallahassee, Florida.
His connection with libraries:
- While a student at Tuskegee Institute, Isaac Fisher built his own private library with the assistance of Margaret Murray Washington (1865-1925) the wife of Tuskegee Institute founder Booker T. Washington (1856-1915).
- In 1904, seeking to improve access to books and other information sources for students at Branch Normal College, Isaac Fisher made a request to Andrew Carnegie for funds to build a library for the college. However, Fisher's request was denied. The reason given: "not a good business investment to give a library to a school which constructed only three buildings -- a classroom building, a girls' dormitory, and an industrial shop -- in twenty-nine years" (from page 1 of the Wednesday, June 6, 1906 issue of the Pine Bluff Daily Graphic, a local newspaper).
- On Friday, June 1, 1934, Isaac Fisher gave his speech "The Unfinished Task" at the graduation ceremony for Crispus Attucks High School, a high school for African Americans in Indianapolis, Indiana (the school is now integrated). Housed inside the high school was the Crispus Attucks Branch of the Indianapolis Public Library, one of three library branches located in predominately African American neighborhoods in Indianapolis. The Crispus Attucks Branch Library was in operation from 1927-1959.
Fisher passed away on Friday, August 23, 1957 in Minnesota.
Sources: "200 Attucks Graduates in Commencement Exercises ; Prof. Isaac Fisher Speaks." Indianapolis Recorder (Indianapolis, Ind.) 2 June 1934: 1, 3. Print. ; "Attucks Class Gets Diplomas: Need of Providing for Material Things Stressed by Virginian." Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Ind.) 2 June 1934: 12. Print. ; "Branch Normal: Closing Exercises of State Colored School One of Greatest Successes in History of the Institution --- The Great Work Accomplished by Principal Isaac Fisher." Pine Bluff Daily Graphic (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 6 June 1906: 1. Print. ; "Isaac Fisher Again Winner: Colored Man Awarded Prize in Magazine Contest : Nine Thousand Competed." Indianapolis Recorder (Indianapolis, Ind.) 19 Sept. 1914: 1, 4. Print. ; "Mr. Fisher Wins Again" The Advocate (Charleston, W. Va.) 24 Feb. 1910: 3. Print. ; "Changes Made at Hampton." The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 7 July 1934: 11. Print. ; "Hamptonians in N.Y. Hear Isaac Fisher on Gen. Armstrong: Founder's Day Program Draws Large Audience in Harlem." New York Age (New York, N.Y.) 2 Feb. 1935: 2. Print. ; "Hampton Commencement." New York Age (New York, N.Y.) 7 June 1917: 7. Print. ; "Moton Sketches Progress of Negroes on Ever of Tuskegee Anniversary." The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.) 12 Apr. 1931: 10. Print. ; "Fisher Hits 'Making the News'; Press Friendly, Cooperative When Program is Genuine." Indianapolis Recorder (Indianapolis, Ind.) 21 Aug. 1937: 13. Print. ; "Fisher Writes Moving Picture Drama." Indianapolis Recorder (Indianapolis, Ind.) 16 Oct. 1915: 4. Print. "Commencement Programs Announced by Manual, Broad Ripple, and Attucks." Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Ind.) 29 May 1934: 6. Print. ; Wheeler, Elizabeth L. "Isaac Fisher: The Frustrations of a Negro Educator at Branch Normal College, 1902-1911." The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 41.1 (Spring 1982): 3-50. Print.
Friday, June 26, 2020
1928 Indiana Library Association Meeting and the Hotel Lincoln
Monday, June 1, 2020
Dr. Charles D. Churchwell (1926-2018): Second African American to Earn a Ph.D. in Library Science from the University of Illinois
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Bertha Pleasant Williams (1923-2008) and the Union Street Library, Montgomery, Alabama
Library service in Montgomery, Alabama began with the Montgomery Library Association, a small subscription library above a drugstore on Dexter Avenue in 1899. In 1904, with funds from the Carnegie Endowment (founded by businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie) the Carnegie Library of Montgomery, Alabama was built (later called the Montgomery City-County Public Library). However, library services were not extended to Montgomery's African American community. This changed in June 1947, when the Montgomery Negro Ministerial Association met to formulate plans to establish a library branch for the African American community. At the meeting, a task force, the Friends of the Library Association, was created and charged with making the library branch a reality. Members of the task force included:
Rev. Ralph A. Daley
Zenovia Johnson
Alice Martin
M. L. Pace
Dr. V. E. Daniel
A building was found on 409 South Union Street and was renovated for housing the library. The building was provided by the Sojourner Truth Club, an African American women's club. The name chosen for the library branch was the Union Street Library. Through the encouragement of library science professor Dr. Virginia Lacey Jones, Bertha Pleasant Williams applied for and accepted the position as librarian for the newly created library.
The Union Street Library opened for service on December 8, 1948. Ms. Williams was determined to provide patrons with the best service and resources possible. She promoted the library and it services on the local African American radio station and in the local African American newspaper. She worked closely with the city's African American teachers to promote reading in the classroom and loaned books for the schools to use. Williams also established deposit stations, authorized locations to lend library books for patrons to use. Williams had help from people in the community -- some would help transport books to patrons since the city refused to fund bookmobile service for African Americans; others would contribute funds in support of the library.
As time went by, the Union Street Library outgrew its space and needed to expand. In 1960, a new location for the library was secured and it was renamed the Cleveland Avenue Branch. In 1963, the entire library system of the Montgomery City-County Public Library was integrated. The Cleveland Avenue Branch was later renamed the Rosa Parks Avenue Branch. The branch was renamed again in 2012 as the Bertha Pleasant Williams Library at the Rosa L. Parks Avenue Branch.
Ms. Williams later worked at the library at Alabama State University. She was employed at the university for 14 years, 7 of which she served as head of the university's rare book collection and archives.
Bertha Pleasant Williams passed way on Monday, November 24, 2008 at the age of 85. Her funeral was held at the Dexter King Memorial Baptist Church, in Montgomery, Alabama. In 2012, a historic marker commemorating her work with libraries was placed at the Bertha Pleasant Williams Library at the Rosa Parks L. Avenue Branch.
Sources: Graham, Patterson Toby. A Right to Read: Segregation and Civil Rights in Alabama's Public Libraries, 1900-1965. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P, 2006. 56-62, 68, 75-80. Print. ; Battles, David M. The History of Public Library Access for African Americans in the South, or Leaving Behind the Plow. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2009. 94, 126. Print. ; Knott, Cheryl. Not Free, Not for All: Public Libraries in the Age of Jim Crow. U of Massachusetts P, 2015. 28, 143, 262. Print. ; Wiegand, Wayne A. and Shirley A. Wiegand. The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South: Civil Rights and Local Activism. LSU P, 2018. 51-53., 118-125. Print. ; Robinson, Carrie C. "Alabama Association of School Librarians." Handbook of Black Librarianship. Ed. E.J. Josey and Marva DeLoach. 2nd ed. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 51. Print. ; Blumenstein, Lynn. "Bertha Pleasant Williams Dies." Library Journal.com, Library Journal, 1 Dec. 2008. Web. 30 May 2020. ; Edwards, Brian. "Montgomery Officials Honor Recognition of Bertha Williams Library with Unveiling of Historic Marker." Montgomery Advertiser, USA Today Network, 28 June 2019. Web. 30 May 2020. ; "Council Reaches Compromise over the Renaming of Rosa Parks Library." WFAS.com, WFAS12 News, 18 July 2012. Web. 30 May 2020. ; "Bertha Pleasant Williams." Legacy.com, Legacy, 28 Nov. 2008. Web. 30 May 2020.