Some Early Librarians of Roosevelt High School, Gary, Indiana

Built in 1930, the Theodore Roosevelt High School of Gary, Indiana (now Theodore Roosevelt College and Career Academy) was established to educate the city's African American students. Some of the early librarians employed at the school: 

1931-1934 -- Wilhemina Turner was hired as a librarian at the Theodore Roosevelt High School where she worked until 1934. After receiving her library science degree in 1935, Turner became an assistant librarian at the Du Sable High School in Chicago, Illinois. 

1935-1936  -- Hortense Houston Young, was hired in 1935. A 1934 graduate of the University of Illinois Library School, Young remained at Roosevelt High School until 1936 when she became an assistant librarian at the Louisville Municipal College for Negroes (now Simmons College of Kentucky; Eliza Atkins Gleason and her sister, Ollie Atkins Carpenter once worked at the Louisville Municipal College for Negroes; Eliza became the first African American to earn a PhD in library science). 


1935-1937? -- Marjorie Adelle Blackistone Bradfield began working at Roosevelt High School (at that time she was Marjorie Blackistone). A native of Washington, D.C., Ms. Bradfield was the daughter of John Roger and Lucy Comfort Winston Blackistone. Bradfield was a 1935 graduate of the Columbia University School of Library Service (the school closed in 1992) and also attended the University of Michigan.  

In 1937, she became the first African American librarian hired by the Detroit Public Library in Detroit, Michigan. On June 29, 1938, she married Horace F. Bradfield.  Ms. Bradfield remained at the Detroit Public Library until 1968, when she left to accept a position as a school librarian for the Detroit Public Schools. 

In 1970, Ms. Bradfield was instrumental in the appointment of Clara Stanton Jones as the Detroit Public Library’s first African American female director (Ms. Jones would later serve as the first African American president of the American Library Association, 1976-1977). Also, in July 1970, Ms. Bradfield participated in a panel discussion, “Black History in Libraries”, given by the History Section of the American Library Association (now the Library History Round Table) at the 89th American Library Association Annual Conference held in Detroit.

Ms. Bradfield remained at the Detroit Public Schools until 1980. She passed away on November 19, 1999 at the age of 88.

Sources: A Directory of Negro Graduates of Accredited Library Schools, 1900-1936.  Washington: Columbia Civic Library Association, 1937. 7, 22, 25. Print. ; Jones, Reinette F. Library Service to African American in Kentucky: From the Reconstruction Era to the 1960s. Jefferson: McFarland, 2002. 91, 103, 126, 163. Print. ; Spradling, Mary Mace. “Black Librarians in Kentucky.” The Black Librarian in the Southeast: Reminiscences, Activities, Challenges. Ed. Annette L. Phinazee. Durham: NCCU School of Library Science, 1980. 50. Print. ; Audi, Tamara. "Marjorie Bradfield: Put Black History into Library." Detroit Free Press 20 Nov. 1999: 123. Print. ; "Marjorie A. Blackistone and Horace Ferguson Bradfield Papers: 1931-1978." Bentley Historical Library. University of Michigan. May 2017. Web. 23 Feb. 2019. ; Taliaferro, Trudy Bradfield. "Special Guest Column: Benjamin Brown, Buffalo Soldier, Family Hero." AAGSNC.org. African American Genealogical Society of Northern California. 2000. Web. 23 Feb. 2019.

Bernice Appleton Wilder: First African American Director of the Gary Public Library (Gary, Indiana)

Bernice Appleton Wilder (1923-1988) was the first African American director of the Gary Public Library in Gary, Indiana. Ms. Wilder, a native of Missouri, was a graduate of Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, and received her library science degree from the University of Southern California. She also was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. 

Ms. Wilder began her career at the Gary Public Library in 1954 at the Roosevelt Branch as the branch’s manager (now closed, the Roosevelt Branch was located at the corner of 25th and Jackson Streets --about a block and a half from the former home of the Jackson 5). In 1956, she became an assistant in the Gary Public Library's Extension Department.

After working in the extension department, Wilder worked for the Louis J. Bailey Branch*, and in 1963, was appointed Children's Librarian at the John F. Kennedy Branch (formerly the Glenn Park Branch). Nine years later, Wilder was appointed manager of the Tolleston Branch. In 1977, she became Assistant Director of the Gary Public Library's Extension Department.

In 1978, Wilder was appointed director of the Gary Public Library. It was during Ms. Wilder's tenure that the W.E.B. DuBois Branch was built and the Gary Public Library began automating some of its services. She served as director until her retirement in 1983. On May 18, 1988, Ms.Wilder passed away at the age of 64.

*Notes:  

The Louis J. Bailey Branch was named for the first director of the Gary Public Library.  Louis J. Bailey, a former employee of the the New York State Library and the Library of Congress, was a graduate of the New York State Library School (Edward Christopher Williams, the first African American male to receive a formal library science education, was a 1900 graduate of the New York State Library School). Mr. Bailey served as director of the Gary Public Library from 1908 until 1922.

The Gary Public Library was originally housed in a rented facility on 33rd West 7th Avenue before receiving a grant of $65,000 in 1910 from Andrew Carnegie for a new building at the corner of 5th Avenue and Adams Street (Carnegie's brother-in-law, Henry D. Whitfield, served as the library's architect). The Carnegie building opened in November 1912 (Father John Cavanaugh of the University of Notre Dame gave the dedication address). The Carnegie building served as the location of the main branch of the Gary Public Library until 1962 when it was razed to make way for a new facility. The Gary Public Library's new main branch was opened in 1964 on the same spot on which the Carnegie building was built 52 years earlier.

See related posts: Etka F. Braboy Gaskin and the Gary Public Library (Gary, Indiana) ; Helen Price Sawyer Braxton: Hampton Institute Library School Graduate and Librarian at Lincoln University (Jefferson City, Missouri) ;  Annette Hoage Phinazee: Dean, Professor, Author, and Librarian ; and Dhrathula Millender: Librarian, Author, and Historian - One of Indiana's Own.

Sources: Gary Public Library. ; “Missouri Girl Is Appointed Gary Librarian.” Indianapolis Recorder 6 Mar. 1954: 9. Print. ; “Personnel Appointments.” Gary Library Bulletin 12.3 (1954): 2. Print. ; “Personnel Changes.” Gary Library Bulletin 14.2 (1956): 4. Print. ; “Bernice Wilder, Past Director at Gary Library Dies at 64.” Gary Post-Tribune (Ind.) 20 May 1988: B9. Print. ; “Final Respect Paid 10th Library Director.” Gary Post-Tribune (Ind.) 26 May 1988. Highbeam Research, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. ; “Certificates Issued by the Library Certification Board – All Permanent Certificates Issued February 1 – April 30, 1961.” Library Occurrent 20.6 (1961): 176. Print. ;  “Bernice Appleton.” United States Census, 1930. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2011. ; “Bernice Appleton.” United States Census, 1940. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. ; “Bernice L. Wilder.” Social Security Death Index. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. ; Peters, Orpha Maud. The Gary Public Library: 1907-1944. Gary: Gary Public Library, 1945. Print. ; “Roosevelt Branch Library.” Gary Library Bulletin 22.3 (1965): 2. Print. ; “History of the Alcott Branch Library.” Gary Library Bulletin 22.5 (1965): 2. Print. ; “New Library Buildings.” Library Occurrent 3.5 (1912): 93-95. Print. ;  “Bailey Honored by Librarians.” Indianapolis Star 8 Dec. 1933: 15. Print. ;  “State Library Activities Outlined by Indianan.” Indianapolis News 15 May 1929: 14. Print. ;  McPherson, Alan. Temples of Knowledge: Andrew Carnegie's Gift to Indiana. Kewanna, IN: Hoosier's Nest Press, 2003. 215, 227, 231, 234. Print.

Etka Braboy Gaskin and the Gary Public Library (Gary, Indiana)

Etka F. Braboy Gaskin (1888-1972), a native of Kokomo, Indiana and the daughter of Joseph A. and Alice McCoy Braboy, was the earliest known African American librarian in Gary, Indiana. She was hired as a librarian at the Alcott Branch of the Gary Public Library in 1924. In 1931, Ms. Gaskin began working as a librarian at the Roosevelt Branch of the Gary Public Library (now closed, this branch was located on the corner of 25th and Jackson Streets -- about a block and a half from the former home of the Jackson 5). She had previously worked at the Roosevelt Branch as an assistant before graduating from the Indiana Public Library Commission Summer School for Librarians in 1923. In 1928, Ms. Gaskin, Lillian Sunshine Hayden Childress Hall, Edward C. Williams, Rev. Thomas Fountain Blue, Rachel Davis Harris, Othella Roberts, Hallie Beachem Brooks, Rebecca M. Bond, and Elnora McIntyre Roy were among several noted African American attendees at the American Library Association's 50th Annual Conference held in West Baden, Indiana. Ms. Gaskin passed away in 1972 in Gary, Indiana.

See related posts: ALA History: 1928 Annual Conference of the American Library Association, West Baden, Indiana ; Bernice Appleton Wilder: First African American Director of the Gary Public Library (Gary, Indiana) ; and Dharathula Millender: Librarian, Author, and Historian - One of Indiana's Own.

Update 10/28/2012:

Two branches of the Gary Public Library (Gary, Indiana), the Carter G. Woodson Branch and the W.E.B. Dubois Branch, are featured in George Grant's book In Honor of... : Libraries Named for African Americans.  The book is published by Grant House Publishers.

Update 11/09/2012:

Additional articles about Ms. Gaskin, the Roosevelt Branch, and the Alcott Branch of the Gary Public Library:

"Roosevelt Branch Library." Gary Library Bulletin 22.3 (1965): 2. Print.
"History of the Alcott Branch Library." Gary Library Bulletin 22.5 (1965): 2. Print.

Update 2/15/2013:

Etka Braboy Gaskin was one of three African American females to graduate in the 1904 Class of Kokomo High School in Kokomo, Indiana. In July 1909, she was one of five African American women selected by the Indianapolis Recorder to participate in a 12-day vacation trip to Niagra Falls. Ms. Gaskin later wrote about her trip in an article, "A Trip to Niagra Falls", which appeared in the August 28, 1909 issue of the Indianapolis Recorder. She later married Edward R. Gaskin, also from Kokomo, and the couple settled in Gary, Indiana.

Etka Braboy Gaskin's father, Joseph Albert Braboy (also known as J.A. Braboy), was a native of Franklin County, Indiana. Mr. Braboy was a United States Civil War veteran, having enlisted in the Union Army at the age of seventeen and assigned to the 28th Regiment United States Colored Troops. After his service with the army ended, Mr. Braboy became a barber, a three-term member of the Kokomo City Council, and the owner of a furniture and music store in Kokomo, Indiana. In January 1879, he married Alice McCoy. 

Ms. Gaskin's brother, Otis Burgess Braboy (1882-1955), was a 1901 graduate of Kokomo High School. He worked as a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service. In 1918, he married Vashti McDonald. Otis Braboy later settled in Toledo, Ohio.

Update 5/18/2014:

Etka Braboy Gaskin is briefly mentioned in an I wrote an article on Lillian Haydon Childress Hall. The article 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."

Sources: "West Baden, Ind." Indianapolis Recorder 9 June 1928: 7. Print. ; Peters, Orpha Maud. The Gary Public Library: 1907-1944. Gary: Gary Public Library, 1945. 21, 53. Print. ; "New Library Buildings." Library Occurrent 6.10 (1923): 401. Print. ; "Summer School Students 1923." Library Occurrent 6.11 (1923): 411-412. Print. ; "In Local Society: Librarians in City." Indianapolis Recorder 11 Dec. 1926: 5. Print. ; "Free Vacation Trip, 12 Days Sightseeing for the Five Most Popular Colored Women: The Recorder's Second Popular Contest Closes and Names of Winners Announced." Indianapolis Recorder 24 July 1909: 1. Print. ; "Free Vacation Trip." Indianapolis Recorder 7 Aug. 1909: 1. Print. ; Braboy, Etka F. "A Trip to Niagra Falls." Indianapolis Recorder 28 Aug. 1909: 1-2. Print. ; "Roosevelt Branch Library." Gary Library Bulletin 22.3 (1965): 2. Print. ; "History of the Alcott Branch Library." Gary Library Bulletin 22.5 (1965): 2. Print. ; "Etka Gaskin." Social Security Death Index. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2011.  ; "Etka Gaskin." United States Census, 1920. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2011. ; "Etka Gaskin." United States Census, 1930. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2011. ; Fiftieth Annual Meeting Advance Attendance Register, May 27-June 2, 1928, West Baden, Indiana. [Chicago]: American Library Association, 1928. 4, 14. Print. ; "Colored Circles." The Kokomo Daily Tribune 16 Nov. 1918: 4. Print. ; "Summer School Students 1923." Report of the Public Library Commission of the State of Indiana for the Year Ending September 30, 1923. Indianapolis: Wm. B. Buford, Contractor for State Printing and Binding, 1924. 6. Print. ; "Braboy, Eletka [i.e., Etka]." Kokomo City Directory and Howard Co. Gazetteer For the Years 1910-1911. Anderson, Ind.: Union Directory Co., 1910. 59. Print. ; Thornbrough, Emma Lou. The Negro in Indiana: A Study of a Minority. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1957. 314, 362. Print. ; "City and Society." The Freeman (Indianapolis, Ind.) 18 Sept. 1909: 8. Print. ; "Annual Banquet of I.U. Graduates." Indianapolis Recorder 11 June 1910: 1. Print. ; "Otis B. Braboy." Kokomo Tribune 23 Nov. 1955: 2. Print. ; "1904." Sargasso 1905. Kokomo, Ind.: Kokomo High School, 1905. 129. Print. ; "Kokomo High School Alumni: 1875-1905." INGenWeb. INGenWeb Project, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. ; "J.A. Braboy." United States Census, 1910. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013; "Joseph A. Braboy." Indiana Marriages, 1789-1992. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. ; "Edward Gaskin." United States Census, 1940. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. ; "Edward R. Gaskin." United States Census, 1900. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. ; "Edward Gaskin." United States Census, 1880. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. ; "Otis B. Braboy." United States Census, 1930. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. ; "Otis B. Braboy." United States, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. ; "Otis Burgess Braboy." Indiana Marriages, 1789-1992. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. ; "Edward R. Gaskin." Kokomo Tribune 9 Sept. 1946: 7. Print. ; "Our Class." Sargasso 1901. Kokomo, Ind.: Kokomo High School, 1902. 36. Print. ; "Braboy, Otis, Mail Agent." Kokomo City Directory and Howard Co. Gazetteer For the Years 1910-1911. Anderson, Ind.: Union Directory Co., 1910. 59. Print. ; "Senior Class of '01." Sargasso 1901. Kokomo, Ind.: Kokomo High School, 1902. 36. Print. ; "Braboy, J.A. (Alice M.), Pianos, Organs, Sewing Machines, Etc." Kokomo City Directory and Howard Co. Gazetteer For the Years 1910-1911. Anderson, Ind.: Union Directory Co., 1910. 59. Print. ; "Joseph Braboy." United States, Civil War Service Records of Union Colored Troops, 1863-1865. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. ; Millender, Dharathula. Gary's Central Business Community. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2003. 47. Print. ; Fenton, Michele T. "Stepping Out on Faith: Lillian Haydon Childress Hall, Pioneer Black Librarian." Indiana Libraries 33.1 (2014): 5-11. Print.