Phyllis Wheatley Branch of the Muskogee Public Library (Muskogee, Oklahoma)

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.

Lucille Smith and the Ballard Carnegie Library (Seattle, Washington)

In 1942, Lucille Smith (later Lucille Smith Thompson) became the first African American to receive an undergraduate degree in librarianship from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. Born in 1919 in Lewiston, Montana to Martin and Emma Riley Smith, Lucille Smith was the sister of Alma Smith Jacobs - the first African American to serve as state librarian for Montana.

While in library school, Ms. Smith became the first African American library science student to do a library practicum at the Ballard Carnegie Library in Seattle, Washington. The Ballard Carnegie Library was built with a grant of $15,000 from Andrew Carnegie and was in operation from 1904 until 1963 (it became a branch of the Seattle Public Library in 1907). George Hitchcock served as the first librarian. When the building ceased operation as a library, it became an antiques store, then later a restaurant (Kangaroo & Kiwi). The building is listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places.

In 1945, Lucille Smith married Morrell Thompson. She later helped organize libraries in Idaho and Montana, and was a school librarian and French teacher at Browning High School in Browning, Montana. In 1964, Lucille Smith Thompson was hired as a reference librarian at Montana State University-Bozeman. In 1970, she and her sister Alma co-wrote The Negro in Montana, 1800-1945.  In 1985, Thompson retired from Montana State University-Bozeman after 21 years of service. Lucille Smith Thompson passed away on February 7, 1996 in Bozeman, Montana.

Note: Emma Riley Smith, mother of Lucille Smith Thompson and Alma Smith Jacobs, was a well-known quilter. See:

"Churchwoman: Emma Riley Smith." African American Women Confront the West: 1600 to 2000. Ed. Quintard Taylor and Shirley Ann Wilson Moore. Norman: University of Oklahoma, 2003. 132-135.Print.

Hanshew, Annie. Border to Border: Historic Quilts and Quiltmakers of Montana. Helena: Montana Historical Society Press, 2009. 116-117. Print.

*Update 12/16/2012:

The Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) has a video on YouTube giving a brief history of the Ballard Carnegie Library:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeX4YBMUAGg

*Update 01/07/2013:

Larry T. Nix recently added a post, "Andrew Carnegie and A Library Fire in Seattle", to his Library History Buff Blog. The Ballard Carnegie Library is briefly mentioned:

Library History Buff Blog: Andrew Carnegie and A Library Fire in Seattle (posted by Larry T. Nix on Jan. 6, 2013)
http://libraryhistorybuff.blogspot.com/2013/01/andrew-carnegie-and-library-fire-in.html


Sources: "Montana, County Marriages, 1865-1950." FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. ; "Obituaries - Lucille W. Thompson." Great Falls Tribune 10 February 1996: 2B. Print. ; "Obituaries - Lucille W. Thompson." Bozeman Daily Chronicle 8 February 1996: 6. Print. ; "United States Census, 1930." FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. ; Jordan, Casper LeRoy and E.J. Josey. "A Chronology of Events in Black Librarianship." Handbook of Black Librarianship. Ed. E.J. Josey and Marva L. DeLoach. 2nd ed. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 8-9, 11. Print. ; Grant, George C. "Alma Jacobs Library Plaza, Great Falls Public Library, Great Falls Montana." In Honor of: Libraries Named for African Americans. Jonesboro: GrantHouse Publishers, 2011. 132. Print. ; Garner, Carla W. "Jacobs, Alma S. (1916-1997)." BlackPast.org. Black Past, n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. ;  Wilma, David. "Ballard Branch, The Seattle Public Library." HistoryLink - The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. 5 July 2002. Web. 19 Dec. 2010. ; Henry, Mary T. "Gayton, Willetta Esther Riddle (1909-1991)."  HistoryLink - The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. 29 Apr. 2010. Web. 19 Dec. 2010. ; Bryan, Zachariah. "Finally, Ballard Carnegie Library Officially a Landmark." Ballard News-Tribune. 7 Nov. 2012: n.pag. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. ; Wilma, David. "Carnegie Free Library in Ballard Opens on June 24, 1904." HistoryLink - The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. 20 June 2002. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. ; "Kangaroo & Kiwi Eatery to Open in Old Carnegie Library." Eater.  13 Jan. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2012;  Rook, Anne-Marije. "The Old Carnegie Building Welcomes New Tenant: Kangaroo & Kiwi Pub to Move into Ground Floor Space." Ballard News-Tribune 13 Jan. 2012: n.pag. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. ; "Churchwoman: Emma Riley Smith." African American Women Confront the West: 1600 to 2000. Ed. Quintard Taylor and Shirley Ann Wilson Moore. Norman: University of Oklahoma, 2003. 132-135. Print. ; Hanshew, Annie. Border to Border: Historic Quilts and Quiltmakers of Montana. Helena: Montana Historical Society Press, 2009. 116-117. Print. ; "To Replenish Library." The Seattle Star (Seattle,Washington) Night Ed. 21 Oct. 1904: 8. Print. ; "To Get Books." The Seattle Star (Seattle, Washington) Night Ed. 13 Dec. 1904: 3. Print.

George Washington Carver Library (Jackson, Mississippi) and Its Role in the Tougaloo Nine Sit-in

The George Washington Carver Library was established in 1950 to provide library service to African Americans in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1951, it became a branch of the Jackson Library System (now the Jackson-Hinds Library System) and moved into a new building in 1956. The Carver Library played a pivotal role in the sit-in organized by the "Tougaloo Nine", a group of nine students from Tougaloo College:

Joseph Jackson, Jr.
Geraldine Edwards *
James Bradford
Evelyn Pierce
Albert Lassiter
Ethel Sawyer
Meredith Anding
Janice Jackson
Alfred Cook


On March 27, 1961, the "Tougaloo Nine" visited the Carver Library to ask for books that weren't in the library's collection and then went to the main branch of the Jackson Public Library which had the books they were looking for. After finding the books, the students decided to stay in the main branch of the Jackson Public Library and read them. At that time African Americans were not permitted to use the Jackson Public Library's main branch. When asked to leave, the students refused and were arrested. The following year, four other African American students attempted to integrate the library by organizing a sit-in. They unlike their predecessors were not arrested. Eventually the library system was integrated. The Carver Library ceased operation in 1976.

See related post: The Tougaloo Nine and the Sit-in at the Jackson Mississippi Municipal Library

Update 12/09/2012:
* Click on the link below for a video on YouTube of Geraldine Hollis (maiden name - Geraldine Edwards) speaking on her experience as one of the Tougaloo Nine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X43BU-I9qP4

Ms. Hollis also wrote a book about her life and experiences in Mississipi, called Back in Mississippi. It was published in 2011 by Xlibris Corporation.

Update 12/11/2012:
Twenty-two years earlier, five African American men were arrested for their attempt to receive service at the Barrett Branch of the Alexandria Public Library in Alexandria, Virginia:

The Robert Robinson Branch of the Alexandria Public Library (Alexandria, VA) and the 1939 Sit-Down Strike
http://www.littleknownblacklibrarianfacts.blogspot.com/2011/08/robert-robinson-branch-of-alexandria.html

Update 2/28/2013:

The George Washington Carver Library is briefly mentioned in the following article:

McAllister, Dorothy. "Library Service to the Colored Race." Mississippi Library News 17.2 (1953):112-113.Print.

The library sit-in by the "Tougaloo Nine" is briefly mentioned in the following article:

Cook, Karen. "Struggles Within: Lura G. Currier, the Mississippi Library Commission, and Library Services to African Americans." Information & Culture 48.1 (2013):136-137. Print.


Sources: Battles, David M. The History of Public Library Access for African Americans in the South or, Leaving Behind the Plow. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2009. 105. Print. ; Grant, George, comp. "George Washington Carver Municipal Library (1956-1976)." In Honor of: Libraries Named for African Americans. Jonesboro: Grant House Publishers, 2011. 119. Print. ; Lasseter, Cheryl. "Members of Tougaloo Nine Look Back at Historic Day." WLBT.com (Channel 3 - Jackson, Mississippi). WorldNow, 14 Oct. 2006. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. ; McBride, Earnest. "Hamer Forum Pays Tribute to Tougaloo 9." Jackson Advocateonline.com. Jackson Advocate (Jackson, Miss.), 13 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. ; "Remembering the Jackson Movement." Mississippi History Newsletter (Aug. 2006): 1-2. Print. ; "4 Young Negroes Integrate Mississippi Library." Jet 22.15 (1962): 24. Print.

Constance Hill Marteena: Hampton Institute Library School Graduate and President of the North Carolina Negro Library Association

Constance Hill Marteena, a 1933 graduate of the Hampton Institute Library School, was president of the North Carolina Negro Library Association from 1952 until 1954 (note: Hampton Institute is now Hampton University). She received her master's degree in library science from the University  of Chicago in 1946.

Born August 24, 1897 in Richmond, Virginia, Ms. Marteena was the daughter of Reubin and Irene Hill, and the wife of Jerald Milton Marteena (Mr. Marteena once served as Dean of Engineering at North Carolina A & T State University; Marteena Hall, located on the university's campus, is named for him).

In addition, Ms. Marteena was a librarian at North Carolina A & T State University (1929-1937) and at Bennett College (1937-1967), both in Greensboro, North Carolina.  She also served on the editorial board of Library Service Review, the bulletin of the North Carolina Negro Library Association. Ms. Marteena was an author as well:

Marteena, Constance Hill. The Lengthening Shadow of a Woman: A Biography of Charlotte Hawkins Brown. Hicksville: Exposition, 1977. Print.

Marteena, Constance H. "Teaching the Student to Help Himself." Library Service Review 1.1 (1948): 8-10. Print.

Marteena, Constance H. A Bibliographic Technique Illustrated in the Compilation of a Selective Guide to the Literature of Afro-American Women of Achievement. Chicago: University of Chicago, Graduate School, 1946. Print.


In 1934, Ms. Marteena became one of six charter members of the Beta Iota Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority. She passed away on December 29, 1978.

The Thomas F. Holgate Library of Bennett College has a digital collection relating to Ms. Marteena: http://holgatedigitallibrary.bennett.edu/collections/

Update 12/09/2012:

See related post: North Carolina Negro Library Association.

Sources: Lee, Mollie Huston. "North Carolina Negro Library Association, 1935-54." Library Review 2 (1955): 10-32. Print. ; "Constance Marteena." U.S. Social Security Death Index. FamilySearch.org, n.d.Web. 14 Feb. 2012. ; "Constance Marteena." North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994. FamilySearch.org., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. ; Speller, Benjamin F. and James R. Jarrell. "Profiles of Pioneers: Selected North Carolina Black Librarians." The Black Librarian in the Southeast: Reminiscences, Activities, Challenges. Ed. Annette L. Phinazee. Durham: NCCU School of Library Science, 1980. 81-82. Print. ; Speller, Benjamin F. "Constance Hill Marteena." Notable Black American Women. Ed. Jessie Carney Smith. Book II. Detroit: Gale Research, 1996. 433-434. Print. ; A Directory of Negro Graduates of Accredited Library Schools, 1900-1936. Washington, D.C.: Columbia Civic Library Association, 1937. 17. Print. ; "Our Contributors." Library Service Review  1.2 (1948): 5. Print. ; "Editorial Board." Library Service Review 1.1 (1948): [3]. Print. ; "Beta Iota Omega Chapter History." Beta Iota Omega Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Charted in 1934 - Greensboro, North Carolina. betaiotaomega.org, 2012. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. ; "Jerald Marteena." U.S. Social Security Death Index. FamilySearch.org, n.d.Web. 09 Dec. 2012. ; "Jerald Milton Marteena." North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994. FamilySearch.org., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2012. ; Marteena, Constance H. "Teaching the Student to Help Himself." Library Service Review 1.1 (1948): 8-10. Print. ; Moore, Richard. "Mrs. Marteena Leaves $120, 371 to A&T Unit." The Afro-American (Baltimore, Md.) 23 Aug. 1980: 1. Print.

                                                      

Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo: Zulu, Writer, Educator, and Pioneer South African Librarian

Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo (also known as H.I.E. Dhlomo) was appointed the first librarian-organizer for the Carnegie Non-European Library Service (Transvaal) in 1937. A Zulu, Mr. Dhlomo was born in 1903 in Siyama Village in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa. In his role as librarian-organizer, Mr. Dhlomo helped promote library services to the black populations of South Africa. He left the Carnegie Non-European Library Service (Transvaal) in 1940. Mr. Dhlomo later served as librarian for the Ndongeni Bantu Library of the Durban Bantu Social Centre.

In addition to being a librarian, Mr. Dhlomo was a teacher, journalist, playwright, author, musician, and newspaper editor. He was part of the New African Movement, and wrote for the newspapers Umteteli wa Bantu and Ilanga Lase Natal. He was a member of the African National Congress (ANC) and co-founded the National Union of African Youth (NUAY). Mr. Dhlomo passed away in 1956 in Durban, South Africa.

According to the WorldCat database, Tim Couzens published a biography in 1986 on Herbert Dhlomo called The New African: A Study of the Life and Work of H.I.E. Dhlomo. Another biography on Herbert Dhlomo, The Cultural Modernity of H.I.E. Dhlomo, was written by Ntongela Masilela in 2007. In 1985, a collection of Herbert Dhlomo's literary works were published in H.I.E. Dhlomo: Collected Works (edited by Tim Couzens and Nick Visser).

In 1999, Pitzer College in Claremont, California established the H.I.E. Dhlomo Center for African Intellectual History.

See related post: Carnegie Non-European Library Service (Transvaal) of South Africa

Update 12/09/2012:

Rolfes Robert Reginald Dhlomo (also known as R.R.R. Dhlomo) was the brother of Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo. Born in 1901, Rolfes Robert Reginald Dhlomo was the author of An African Tragedy: A Novel in English by A Zulu Writer, UShaka (Chaka): A Zulu Historical Novel of the Life of King Chaka, and Ucetshwayo: A Zulu Novel.  He also published stories in the newpapers Bantu World and Sjambok, and worked with his brother for the newspaper Ilanga Lase Natal. Both brothers were members of the Bantu Social Centre in Durban, South Africa. Rolfes Robert Reginald Dhlomo passed away in 1971.

See: Gaylard, Rob. "R.R.R. Dhlomo and the Early Black South African Short Story in English." Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern African 17.1 (2005): 52-69. Print. ; Cele, Mwelela. "Consolidation of  Common Purpose: A Brief History of the Durban Bantu Social Centre." The Thinker: For the Thought Leaders 33 (2011): 35, 37. PDF file. ; Manus, Vicki, Briault. Emerging Traditions: Toward a Postcolonial Stylistics of Black South African Fiction in English. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2011. 6, 42-44, 47. Print.

*Update 01/13/2013:

Both Herbert Dhlomo and his brother Rolfes Dhlomo attended Adams College, a school created for the education of black South Africans. Adams College was founded by Dr. Newton Adams of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1853, and is located in Amanzimtoti, South Africa. The school is still in operation today.

Note: The town of Amanzimtoti is said to have received its named from King Shaka, who ruled the Zulu nation from about 1816 until his assasination in 1828. During one of his military journeys, King Shaka stopped to drink water from a nearby river and said "Kanti amanz'amtoti" (means "So, the water is sweet" in Zulu). Today, Amanzimtoti is a popular tourist attraction and is home of the Umdoni Bird Sanctuary.

See: "Deaths." The Missionary Herald 67 (1871): 28-29. Print. ; Dube, Ernest F. "The Relationship between Racism and Education in South Africa." Harvard Educational Review 55.1 (1985): 95-96. Print. ; "American Board of Missions." Missionary Register  Feb. 1848: 67. Print. ; "King Shaka Zulu." South African History Online: Towards a People's History. South African History Online, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2013. ; "Durban, South Africa (Amanzimtoti, UmKomaas)." South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal. Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2013. ; "Historical Background." Adams College.  Adams College, 2013. Web. 13 Jan. 2013. ; Virji, Sumaiya. "Herbert Ernest Dhlomo." South African History Online: Towards a People's History. South African History Online, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. ; Manus, Vicki, Briault. Emerging Traditions: Toward a Postcolonial Stylistics of Black South African Fiction in English. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2011. 6, 42-44, 47. Print.

Sources: Evers, R. Alain. "The Pioneers: Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo and the Development of Library Service to the African in South Africa." Third World Libraries 3.2 (1993):n.pag. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. ; Kalley, Jacqueline. Apartheid in South African Libraries: The Transvaal Experience. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 39. Print. ; Rochester, Maxine K. "The Carnegie Corporation and South Africa: Non-European Library Services." Libraries & Culture 34.1 (1999): 36-37, 39, 41-43, 45. Print. ; Jones, Reinette. "Kentucky Carnegie Colored Libraries International Influence." Notable Kentucky African Americans Database: Librarians. University of Kentucky Libraries, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2012. ; Bell, Fiona. "The Carnegie Corporation Decides on Racially-Segregated Libraries in South Africa in 1928: Negrophilist or Segregationist?" Library & Information History 25.3 (2009): 184-185. Print. ; Cele, Mwelela. "Edendale's Literary Pioneer." The Witness 25 Jan. 2012:n.pag. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. ; Language, Literature, and Intellectual History in South Africa: A Conversation about the New African Movement between Ntongela Masilela and Sandile Ngidi. Claremont: Pitzer College, 2005. PDF file. ; "A Brief History of the African National Congress." African National Congress: South Africa's National Liberation Movement. ANC, 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. ; Masilela, Ntongela. The New African Movement: The Early Years. Claremont: Pitzer College, n.d. PDF file. ; Cele, Mwelela. "Consolidation of A Common Purpose: A Brief History of the Durban Bantu Social Centre." The Thinker: For the Thought Leaders 33 (2011): 34-38. PDF file. ; Cele, Mwelela. "Turning Oppression into Power." The Witness 17 Jan. 2012:n.pag. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. ; "Africa." The Crisis 40.6 (1933):137. Print. ; Cobley, Alan G. "Literacy, Libraries, and Consciousness: The Provision of Library Services for Blacks in South Africa in the Pre-Apartheid Era." Libraries & Culture 32.1 (1997): 57-80. Print. ; Kalley, Jacqueline A. "Libraries and Apartheid, with Particular Reference in the Transvaal, 1948-1992." Third World Libraries 6.2 (1996): n.pag. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. ; Visser, N.W. "H.I.E. Dhlomo (1903-1956): The Re-emergence of an African Writer." English in Africa 1.2 (1974): 1-10. Print. ; Lopez, Steven. The Life and Times of HIE Dhlomo. Claremont: Pitzer College, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. ; Virji, Sumaiya. "Herbert Ernest Dhlomo." South African History Online: Towards a People's History. South African History Online, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. ; Terblanche, Erika. "Dhlomo, Herbert Isaac Ernest." Literatur im Kontext. Universität Wien, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. ; Manus, Vicki, Briault. Emerging Traditions: Toward a Postcolonial Stylistics of Black South African Fiction in English. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2011. 10, 41-42, 46, 161. Print. ; Olden, Anthony. Libraries in Africa: Pioneers, Policies, Problems. Lanham: Scarecrow, 1995. 23-25. Print.

Helen Price Sawyer Braxton: Hampton Institute Library School Graduate and Librarian at Lincoln University (Jefferson City, Missouri)

Helen Price Sawyer Braxton, a 1936 graduate of the library science program at Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), was once a librarian at Alabama State Teachers College (now Alabama State University) and at the War-Time Civil Service Library at Fort McClellan, Alabama during World War II. In addition, Ms. Braxton was a founding member of the Beta Nu Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Later, Ms. Braxton was a librarian at the Manual Training High School in Bordentown, New Jersey. In 1951, she was hired as a librarian at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. That same year, Ms. Braxton and three other librarians at Lincoln University (Albert P. Marshall, Gertrude Franklin, and Mary McAfee Turner) attended the American Library Association Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois (July 8-14, 1951).

Update 10/11/2012:

Ms. Braxton remained at Lincoln University until 1955. After leaving, Ms. Braxton served as a librarian at the Tompkins Square Park Branch of the New York Public Library.

The Helen Sawyer Braxton Student Library Award was later created at Lincoln University in her honor.

Dudley Randall, librarian, poet, and founder of Broadside Press, was a co-worker of Ms. Braxton. She and Mr. Randall were both hired in 1951 by Lincoln University.

Update 12/26/2012:

Charles Wilbur Florence was president of Lincoln University from 1931-1937. His wife, Virginia Proctor Powell Florence was the first African American female to receive a degree in library science.

Update 04/12/2013:

See related posts: Annette Hoage Phinazee: Dean, Professor, Author, and Librarian and Bernice Appleton Wilder: First African American Director of the Gary Public Library (Gary, Indiana).

Sources: "Mrs. Helen Braxton Named Head of Journalism Library." Lincoln Clarion (Jefferson City, Mo.) 7 Feb. 1951: 6. Print. ; "Ill. [i.e., Illinois] Woman Takes Library Post at Lincoln U. (Mo.)." Indianapolis Recorder 17 Feb. 1951: 7. Print. ; A Directory of Negro Graduates of Accredited Library Schools, 1900-1936. Washington : Columbia Civic Library Association, 1937. 20. Print. ; "Librarians Attend Chicago Meeting." The Jefferson City Post-Tribune 5 July 1951: 10. Print. ; "Past Annual Conferences, 1876-Present." American Library Association. ALA, 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2o12. ; "History of Beta Nu Omega." Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated Beta Nu Omega Chapter, Montgomery, AL.  Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Beta Nu Omega Chapter, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. ; "Read Your Hometown Newspaper in J-Library." Lincoln Clarion (Jefferson City, Mo.) 23 May 1951: 4. Print. ; "Page Announces New Pamphlets." Lincoln Clarion (Jefferson City, Mo.) 7 Dec. 1951: 1. Print. ; "Page Has New Service System." Lincoln Clarion (Jefferson City, Mo.) 7 June 1952: 1, 3. Print. ; "Faculty Spends Holidays Both Near and Far Away." Lincoln Clarion (Jefferson City, Mo.) 7 Jan. 1955: 2. Print. ; "City News." Lincoln Clarion (Jefferson City, Mo.) 20 Jan. 1956: 4. Print.  ; "Haynes Wins Library Award." Lincoln Clarion (Jefferson City, Mo.) 29 Apr. 1966: 1. Print.

The E. Azalia Hackley Collection of Negro Music, Dance, and Drama (Detroit Public Library)

The E. Azalia Hackley Collection of Negro Music, Dance, and Drama was established at the main branch of the Detroit Public Library in 1943. The collection consists of sheet music, books, recordings, photos, and other materials relating to the history of African Americans in the performing arts. The collection is named for Emma Azalia Hackley (1867-1922), an African American singer, political activist, teacher, and lecturer. Ms. Hackley was active during the late 1800s and the early 1900s. She founded organizations such as the Hackley Choral Society, the Colored Women's League, and the Vocal Normal Institute of Chicago. Ms. Hackley passed away in 1922.

*Update 05/04/2015:

 The E. Azalia Hackley Collection was recently featured in the May/June 2015 issue of Michigan History:

Minor, Romie. "Preserving the Black Performance for Posterity." Michigan History 99.3 (2015): 50-55. Print.

See related posts: Clara Stanton Jones: ALA's First African American President ; The Mayme A. Clayton Library Museum and Cultural Center (MCL) ; and Arthur Alfonso Schomburg, 1874-1938: Noted Bibliophile, Collector, Curator,and Scholar.

Sources: Campbell, Dorothy Wilson. "Curators of African American Collections." The Black Librarian in the Southeast: Reminiscences, Activities, Challenges. Ed. Annette L. Phinazee. Durham: NCCU School of Library of Science, 1980. 193. Print. ; Kinney, Sylvia. "The E. Azalia Hackley Collection." Ethnomusicology 5.3 (1961): 202-203. Print. ; LaBrew, A.R., and E.A. Hackley. Fifty Years of Programs Given in Memory of the E. Azalia Hackley Collection, 1943-1944. Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 1999. Print. ; Peterson, Heather. "Hackley, Emma Azalia (1867-1922)." BlackPast.org. BlackPast.org, n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2012.

 

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