The Phyllis Wheatley Branch of the Muskogee Carnegie Library (now the Muskogee Public Library) was founded in 1913 in Muskogee, Oklahoma as the Muskogee Colored Library. The library was built through the efforts of the Frances Harper Club and served the African American residents of Muskogee. The library was housed in the Love Building until 1916 when it was moved to South 2nd Street. In 1920, the library moved to 503 North Fourth Street (this building was also the meetinghouse for the Negro Women's Federated Club). It became a branch of the Muskogee Carnegie Library in 1921. In 1931, the library was renamed the Phyllis Wheatley Branch. Librarians at the Phyllis Wheatley Branch included Ethel M. Tucker and Belzora A. Malvin.
In 1946, the branch moved a third time. The library's new location was 627 North Third Street (during World War II, this building was used by the United Service Organizations, Inc. (USO) -- a service organization founded in 1941 as an initiative encouraged by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to inspire morale among personnel in the armed forces). The Phyllis Wheatley Branch continued providing library services until it ceased operations in 1972. After the Phyllis Wheatley Branch closed, its materials were transferred to the newly built Muskogee Public Library. The former Phyllis Wheatley Branch is now the Martin Luther King Community Center and in 2010 became the headquarters of the Muskogee Chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).
*Update 01/07/2013:
Note: The Muskogee Carnegie Library opened in 1914 at 401 E. Broadway (corner of Broadway and D Streets) with a grant of $60,000 from Andrew Carnegie (his brother-in-law, Henry D. Whitfield, served as the library's architect). The Muskogee Carnegie Library remained in operation until 1972 when it was replaced with a new building, the Muskogee Public Library, at 801 W. Okmulgee Street (the new building was built with a grant of $465,000 from the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA); the city contributed an additional $750,000). The Carnegie building is now the headquarters for the Ark of Faith Foundation, Inc.
See related post: Judith Carter Horton and the Excelsior Library of Guthrie, Oklahoma.
*Update 04/13/2013:
The Muskogee Cimeter was a newspaper created for the African American residents of Muskogee, Oklahoma. This newspaper is briefly mentioned in a post made by Angela Y. Walton-Raji on April 9, 2013 on her blog, The African-Native American Genealogy Blog:
Old Muskogee Newspaper Reveals Indian Freedmen Population. Greater Need for Study Emerges
http://african-nativeamerican.blogspot.com/2013/04/muskogee-newspaper-reveal-indian.html
Sources: "Muskogee Public Library." OLA Celebrates the Oklahoma Centennial. Oklahoma Library Association, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2010. ; Totten, Herman L. "Put Sinews in the Wings of the Eagle." The Black Librarian in America. Ed. E.J. Josey. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1977. 216-217. Print.. ; Spaulding, Cathy. "NAACP, Ministers Union Began Management of King Center." Muskogee Phoenix 20 Sept. 2010: n.pag. Web. 25 Sept. 2010. ; "Muskogee Public Library." Muskogee Public Library - Libraries on Waymarking.com. Waymarking, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2010. ; Robbins, Louise S. The Dismissal of Miss Ruth Brown: Civil Rights, Censorship, and the American Library. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 2001. 39-40. Print. ; Reports of the Oklahoma Library Commission, Sept. 15, 1919-June 30, 1920 and Survey of Public Libraries of Oklahoma. Oklahoma City: Warden Company, 1922. 12-13, 20, 28-29, 43, 69-70, 86, 96-97. Print. ; Library Services and Construction Act: A Compilation As of February 11, 1964,
of the Library Services Act (p. L. 597, 84th Congress; 20 U.s.c. Chap. 16) As
Amended by P. L. 896, 84th Congress; P. L. 86-679; P. L. 87-688; and P. L.
88-269; and As Renamed the Library Services and Construction Act. Washington,
D.C.: U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education,
1964. Print. ; Bell, Roger. Images of America: Muskogee. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2011. 60. Print. ; "Carnegie Libraries: Oklahoma's Treasures." Trustee Talk (Oklahoma Dept. of Libraries, Office of Library Development) 8 (Sept. 2004): 12. Print. ; Ark of Faith Foundation, Inc. Ark of Faith, 2012. Web. 7 Jan. 2013. ; Eastern Oklahoma District Library System - Muskogee Public Library. Muskogee Public Library, n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2013. ; "The Circulating Library the Only One of Its Kind in the State." Muskogee Cimeter (Muskogee, Indian Territory, Oklahoma) 29 Jan. 1909:4. Print.
In 1908, Judith Carter Horton established the Excelsior Library, Oklahoma's first public library for African Americans. The Excelsior Library was located in the town of Guthrie, on Second Street, and was headed by Mrs. Horton. Born in 1866 in Wright City, Missouri, Mrs. Horton was an 1891 graduate of Oberlin College, and the wife of D.G. Horton (Mr. Horton was the principal of Favor High School, a high school for African Americans in Guthrie). The refusal of Guthrie's library, the Carnegie Circulating Library, to provide service to her husband was Mrs. Horton's motivation for starting the Excelsior Library. In 1910, the Excelsior Library became a branch of the Carnegie Circulating Library.
In 1904, Mrs. Horton founded Oklahoma's first women's club for African Americans, the Excelsior Club. She also served as president of the Oklahoma State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs for three terms. In addition, Mrs. Horton a was founding member of the Warner Street Congregational Church, and was active in the National Association of Colored Women (later the National Association of Colored Womens Clubs). Prior to her arrival in Guthrie, Oklahoma, Mrs. Horton was an educator in Columbus, Kansas.
After 11 years of service, Mrs. Horton left the Excelsior Library to accept a teaching position at Favor High School. She retired from Favor High School in 1936. Mrs. Horton passed away in 1948 in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
Mrs. Horton was one of four women profiled in "The First Ladies of Colored America -No. 6", an article featured in the February 1943 issue of the The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races. The Crisis is the journal of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and was founded by W.E.B. DuBois in 1910. It is still in publication after 103 years.
Note: The Carnegie Circulating Library was originally established as the Guthrie Public Library in July of 1900 by the Federated Women's Clubs of Guthrie. In 1901, the library was renamed the Carnegie Circulating Library, and in 1902 a new building was constructed with a grant of $26,000 from Andrew Carnegie (R.W. Ramsey, a friend of Carnegie helped initiate this effort). The City of Guthrie contributed an additional gift of $10,000. Adele Kesler was the librarian. The library provided services to the residents of Guthrie until its closure in 1972. A new library, the Guthrie Public Library, was built to replace the Carnegie Circulating Library. The Carnegie Circulating Library is now the Oklahoma Territorial Museum and Carnegie Library. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is the oldest surviving Carnegie Library in Oklahoma.
You can view a picture postcard of the Carnegie Circulating Library on the Library Postcards Blog: http://www.librarypostcards.blogspot.com/2008/12/carnegie-library-guthrie-oklahoma.html
See related post: Phyllis Wheatley Branch of the Muskogee Public Library (Muskogee, Oklahoma)
Update 11/03/2016:
Judith Carter Horton and the Excelsior Library are mentioned in an article in the November 2016 issue of Mistletoe Leaves, a publication of the Oklahoma Historical Society:
"OTM Collecting Artifacts and Stories Relating to the African American Experience." Mistletoe Leaves 47.10 (Nov. 2016): 5. Print.
Note: OTM is the Oklahoma Territorial Museum.
Sources: "Colored Library A Success." The Guthrie Daily Leader (Guthrie, Oklahoma) 18 Dec. 1908:9. Print. ; "For A Worthy Purpose." The Guthrie Daily Leader (Guthrie, Oklahoma) 5 O'Clock Ed. 15 July 1908:1. Print. ; Lucas-Thompson, Grace. "What Our Women are Doing!" The Freeman (Indianapolis, Ind.) 12 Dec. 1914:3. Print. ; "Men of the Month." The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races 15.6 (1918): 279-280. Print. ; "The First Ladies of Colored America - No. 6." The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races 50.2 (Feb. 1943): 48. Print. ; "Judith Carter Horton." Notable Oklahoma Women. Tulsa City-County Library, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2010. ; Stiefmiller, Helen M. "Horton, Judith Ann Carter Horton (1866-1948)." Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of History & Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society and Oklahoma State University Libraries Electronic Publishing Center, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2010 ; "Social Uplift." The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races 9.1 (Nov. 1914): 8. Print. ; "Carnegie Libraries: Oklahoma's Treasures." Trustee Talk (Oklahoma Dept. of Libraries, Office of Library Development) 8 (Sept. 2004): 10. Print. ; "Guthrie Public Library." OLA Celebrates the Oklahoma Centennial and the OLA Centennial. Oklahoma Library Association, n.d. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. ; Everett, Dianna. "Carnegie Libraries." Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of History & Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society and Oklahoma State University Libraries Electronic Publishing Center, n.d. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. ; "Carnegie Library." The Oklahoma Territorial Museum & Carnegie Library. The Oklahoma Territorial Museum & Carnegie Library, n.d. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. ; Guthrie Public Library. Guthrie Public Library, n.d. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. ; Reports of the Oklahoma Library Commission, Sept. 15, 1919-June 30, 1920 and Survey of Public Libraries of Oklahoma. Oklahoma City: Warden Company, 1922. 12-13, 20, 26-27, 43, 69-70, 86, 95-96. Print. ; "Hear This Musical Program and Address." The Oklahoma Guide (Guthrie, Oklahoma) 30.18 (Oct. 14, 1920): 1. Print. ; Rees, Margaret. "Guthrie's New Library: An Appeal to the Public to Assist the New Enterprise." The Guthrie Daily Leader (Guthrie, Oklahoma) 11 Nov. 1901:3. Print. ; "Building Site for Carnegie Library: Discussed Pro and Con by Members of Women's Clubs." The Guthrie Daily Leader (Guthrie, Oklahoma) 5 Nov. 1901:3. Print. ; "Public Library Notes." The Guthrie Daily Leader (Guthrie, Oklahoma) 7 Feb. 1902: 6. Print. ; "Total Gifts to Date of America's Two Wealthiest Money Kings." The Guthrie Daily Leader (Guthrie, Oklahoma) 7 Feb. 1902: 3. Print. ; "Carnegie Library Cornerstone Laid: Federation of Women's Club Fitly Celebrate the Event." The Guthrie Daily Leader (Guthrie, Oklahoma) 3 July 1902:1, 8. Print. ; "Carnegie Library Was Officially Dedicated Last Night." The Guthrie Daily Leader (Guthrie, Oklahoma) 21 May 1903:1, 4. Print. ; "OTM Collecting Artifacts and Stories Relating to the African American Experience." Mistletoe Leaves 47.10 (Nov. 2016): 5. Print.
