Amos Fortune and the Jaffrey Social Library

Amos Fortune, a former slave, helped found the Jaffrey Social Library of Jaffrey, New Hampshire in 1795.

Sources: “Yesterday in Negro History.” Jet 27.7 (1964): 15. Print. ; Dedication of the Clay Library Building at East Jaffrey, New Hampshire, Saturday, July 4, 1896. Concord: Republican, 1896. 34-42. Print.; “Amos Fortune (Citizen of Jaffrey).”  Freedom Train Theatre Works USA: A Study Guide. Keene: Colonial Theatre, 2008. 8-9. Print. ; Battles, David M. The History of Public Library Access for African Americans in the South or, Leaving Behind the Plow. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2008. 10. Print. ; Marshall, A.P. “The Black Librarian’s Stride Toward Equality.” Ed. Annette L. Phinazee. The Black Librarian in the Southeast: Reminiscences, Activities, Challenges. Durham: NCCU School of Library Service, 1980. 10. Print. ; Du Mont, Rosemary Ruhig and William Caynon. “Education of Black Librarians.” Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science. Ed. Kent Allen, Harold Lancour, and Jay Daily. Vol. 45, suppl. 10.  New York: Marcel Dekker, 1990. 110. Print. ; Ziyad, Dawud B. and George R. Johnson. “Amos Fortune and the Early American Library Movement.” The Negro History Bulletin 42.3 (July/Aug./Sept. 1979): 77-78. Print.

Update 11/01/2019:

There was a children's book written by Elizabeth Yates (Elizabeth Yates McGreal) about the life of Amos Fortune:

Yates, Elizabeth. Amos Fortune, Free Man. New York: Puffin Books, 1989. Print.