Lillian Sunshine Haydon Childress Hall:Pioneer in the History of Library Services to African Americans in Indiana

Born in 1889 in Louisville, Kentucky, Lillian Sunshine Haydon Childress Hall is the earliest known African American to receive a formal library science education in Indiana. In addition, Ms. Hall was the first African American graduate of the Indiana Public Library Commission Summer School for Librarians (later the Indiana State Library Summer School for Librarians), receiving her certificate on July 24, 1915.

She began her career at the Cherry Street Branch Library (1915-1921) of the Evansville Public Library (now Evansville-Vanderburgh County Public Library). Ms. Hall later became the first branch manager of the Indianapolis Public Library's Paul Laurence Dunbar Branch (1921-1927) and the first head librarian of its Crispus Attucks Branch (1927-1956). 

Hall also served as president of the Phyllis Wheatley Branch of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) of Indianapolis. During the Conference of Public Librarians held in 1947 at Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University), Ms. Hall gave a lecture, “Administrative Methods Which Tend Towards Better Services in the Combination School and Public Library.” After 41 years of library service, Ms. Hall retired in 1956. She passed away in 1958 and is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her son, William H. Childress, Jr. (1911-1993), served one term as a representative in the Kentucky Commonwealth House of Representatives in the early 1960s.

See related posts: Article on Evansville, Indiana's Former African American Library Branch ; ALA History: 1928 Annual Conference of the American Library Association, West Baden, Indiana ; and The Flanner Guild Deposit Station, Paul Laurence Dunbar Branch, Crispus Attucks Branch, and the George Washington Carver Branch of the Indianapolis Public Library (Indianapolis, Indiana).

Update 4/18/2014:
I wrote an article on Lillian Haydon Childress Hall that was featured in the latest issue of Indiana Libraries (v. 33, no. 1). The link is below:

Fenton, Michele T. "Stepping Out on Faith: Lillian Haydon Childress Hall, Pioneer Black Librarian." Indiana Libraries 33.1 (2014): 5-11. Print."

Update 12/06/2014:


In an article that was recently featured in Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, there is a group picture of staff from the Indianapolis Public Library. According to the article, the picture was taken in April of 1948. Marian McFadden, director of the Indianapolis Public Library from 1945 until 1956, is standing in the center of the front row. Lillian Haydon Childress Hall is standing to the left of Marian McFadden (Hall is wearing a light-colored dress and a light-colored hat with lace on top).  The citation for the article is below  (the group picture is on page 16):

Peer, Jean. "Marian McFadden: Hoosier Librarian." Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History 26.4 (2014): 14-23. Print.

Update 9/03/2015:

The University Press of Kentucky recently published "The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia". This reference and history resource contains a plethora of information on the history of African Americans in Kentucky. Several famous African American librarians who worked in and/or were from Kentucky are mentioned in this book:  Thomas Fountain Blue, Rachel Davis Harris, and Lillian Haydon Childress Hall (I contributed the entry on Lillian Haydon Childress Hall).

Here is the citation for the encyclopedia:

The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia. Eds. Gerald L. Smith, Karen Cotton McDaniel, and John A. Hardin. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2015. Print.

You can learn more about the encyclopedia at the University Press of Kentucky website:

http://www.kentuckypress.com/live/title_detail.php?titleid=3264#.VekTfE5RHIU


Sources: Evansville-Vanderburgh County Public Library; Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library; "Summer School 1915." Library Occurrent 4.4 (1915): 51. Print. ; Evansville Public Library. Report of the Evansville Public Library for the Year Ending 1915. Evansville: Evansville Public Library, 1916. Print. ; "Personals." Library Occurrent 6.2 (1921): 89. Print. ; "Among Librarians." Library Journal 46.19 (1921): 912. Print. ; "News from the Field." Public Libraries 27.1 (1922): 68. Print. ; "News from the Field." Public Libraries 27.7 (1922): 458. Print. ; "District Meetings." Library Occurrent 6.10 (1923): 386. Print. ; "Personals." Library Occurrent 8.2 (1927): 66. Print. ; "News of Indiana Libraries." Library Occurrent 8.3 (1927): 118, 122. Print. ; Crispus Attucks High School Yearbook, 1928. Indianapolis: Crispus Attucks High School, 1929. 24. Print. ; Crispus Attucks High School Yearbook, 1929. Indianapolis: Crispus Attucks High School, 1930. 28. Print. ; Crispus Attucks High School Yearbook, 1956. Indianapolis: Crispus Attucks High School, 1957. 42. Print. ; Fleming, George James and Christian E. Burckel, ed. Who's Who in Colored America: An Illustrated Biographical Directory of Notable Living Persons of African Descent in the United States, 1950. 7th ed. New York: Burckel, 1950. 234. Print. ; Cole, D.E. Who's Who in Library Service: A Biographical Directory of Professional Librarians of the United States and Canada. 3rd ed. New York: Grolier Society, 1955. 195. Print.; Williamson, C.C. and Alice L. Jewett, ed. Who's Who in Library Service. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1933, 197. Print. ; NAACP. "Along the Color Line: Social Uplift." Crisis 11.1 (1915): 8. Print. ; "Tea Party Sunday to Fete 4 Retiring Librarians." Indianapolis Star 25 May 1956: 8. Print. ; "Mrs. Hall Succumbs; Ex-Attucks Librarian." Indianapolis Star 25 Apr. 1958: 23. Print. ; "Necrology." Library Journal 83.12 (1958): 1895. Print. ; Downey, Lawrence J. A Live Thing in the Whole Town: History of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library. Carmel: Guild P of IN, 1991. 156-158, 160. Print. ; Warren, Stanley. Crispus Attucks High School: Hail to the Green, Hail to the Gold. Virginia Beach: Donning, 1998. 35. Print. ; Fenton, Michele T. "A Great Day in Indiana: the Legend of Lillian Childress Hall." Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Inc. Newsletter 39.2 (2010): 5-6. Print. ; Fenton, Michele T. "Building Spotlight: The Cherry Street (African American) Branch of the Evansville-Vanderburgh County, IN Public Library." Library History Roundtable Newsletter 10.2 (2011):6. Print. ; McPheeters, Annie L. Library Service in Black and White: Some Personal Recollections, 1921-1980. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1988. 11. Print. ; Hall, Lillian Childress. "Devotional Study for Missionary Societies." World Call Apr. 1939: 38. Print. ; Fenton, Michele T. "Way Down Yonder at the Cherry Street Branch: A Short History of Evansville's Negro Library." Indiana Libraries 30.2 (2011): 37-38. Print. ; "Youth Movement to Hear Russell Berg." Indianapolis Recorder 18 Jan. 1936: 1. Print. ; Fenton, Michele T. "Stepping Out on Faith: Lillian Haydon Childress Hall, Pioneer Black Librarian." Indiana Libraries 33.1 (2014): 5-11. Print. ; Fenton, Michele T. "Hall, Lillian Haydon Childress." The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia. Eds. Gerald L. Smith, Karen Cotton McDaniel, and John A. Hardin. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2015. 234. Print.