Anne Spencer and the Dunbar Branch of the George M. Jones Memorial Library (Lynchburg, Virginia)

Anne Spencer was Lynchburg's first African American librarian. She was the first librarian of the Dunbar Branch of the George M. Jones Memorial Library, where she served from 1923 until 1945. The branch was located inside Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and served the African American residents of Lynchburg. Ms. Spencer was also a poet and part of the Harlem Renaissance. She passed away in 1975.

Sources: Wright, Joyce C. " Black Librarians as Creative Writers." The Handbook of Black Librarianship. Ed. E.J. Josey and Marva L. DeLoach. 2nd ed. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 254-256. Print. ; Shockley, Anne Allen. "Librarians, Archivists, and Writers: A Perspective." The Black Librarian in America Revisited. Ed. E.J. Josey. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1994. 322. Print. ; Morrison, Ken. "A History of the Lynchburg Public Library." Virginia Libraries 52.4 (2006):2-3. Print. ; Doyle, Patricia K. "The Lynchburg Public Library Celebrates Its Fortieth Birthday." Lynch's Ferry (Fall 2005): 1. Print. ; Smith, Jessie Carney. "Black Women, Civil Rights, & Libraries." Untold Stories: Civil Rights, Libraries, and Black Librarianship. Ed. John Mark Tucker. Champaign: Board of Trustees of U of Illinois, 1998. 142-143. Print. ; Parkhurst, Erin. "Literary Luminary: Celebrating Poet Anne Spencer." Virginia Living 9.2 (2011): 17. Print.

Related Post:  Rachel Davis Harris and the Colored Branches of the Louisville Free Public Library, Louisville, Kentucky

Update 10/27/2019:

Anne Spencer will be one of several African Americans featured in the United States Postal Service's Voices of the Harlem Renaissance series of postal stamps to be issued in 2020:

https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2019/1022-usps-unveils-2020-stamps.htm

Sources: Associated Press. "New Stamp to Honor Virginia Poet, Civil Rights Leader." Washington Post. 25 Oct. 2019. Web. 27 Oct. 2019. ; Gillis, Casey. "Anne Spencer, Harlem Renaissance Poet and Civil Rights Activist, to be Honored on Postage Stamp." News & Advance 23 Oct. 2019. Web. 27 Oct. 2019. ; "2020 Forever Stamp Program Offers Something for Everyone: Love, Arnold Palmer, Hip Hop and Earth Day Among Subjects Feature." USPS.com.  United States Postal Service, 22 Oct. 2019. Web. 27 Oct. 2019.