A Short History of Library Service to African Americans in North Carolina

December 2011 and March 2012, featured blog posts on two libraries in North Carolina that provided services to African Americans during the Pre-Civil Rights Era: The  George Moses Horton Branch of the Forsyth County Public Library (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) and the 51st Library of Camp Montford Point (Jacksonville, North Carolina). Below are some additional libraries that provided  services to African Americans in North Carolina during the Pre-Civil Rights Era:

The first public library for African Americans in North Carolina was the Brevard Street Library of Charlotte, North Carolina. It was in operation from 1905 until 1961. Allegra Westbrooks (1921- ), the first African American supervisor in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library System, served as the Brevard Street Library's manager from 1947 until 1961.

Sources: Ryckman, Patricia. Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County: A Century of Service. Charlotte: Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, 1989. n. pag. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. ; Battles, David M. The History of Public Library Access for African Americans in the South or, Leaving Behind the Plow. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2009. 30, 55. Print. ; Speller, Benjamin F. and James R. Jarrell. "Profile 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. 74, 78. Print. ; Bolling, Christina. "Our Living History." Charlotte Observer 15 Feb. 2005: 1B. Print. ; Ordonez, Franco. "Our Living History." Charlotte Obeserver 16 Feb. 2006: 1B. Print. ; Perlmutt, Davidi. "Allegra Westbrooks: Librarian." Charlotte Observer 4 Feb. 2009: 1B. Print. ; Perlmutt, David. "Black History Month: Crossing the Barrier." Charlotte Observer 1 Feb. 2009: 1A. Print. ; "Allegra Westbrooks: The First African-American Public Library Supervisor in North Carolina." All Things Amy. All Things Amy, 4 Feb. 2009. Web. 9 Jan. 2011. ; Nix, Larry T. "Allegra Westbrooks." Library History Buff Blog. Library History Buff, 4 Feb. 2009. Web. 9 Jan. 2011. ; "BCALA United Stateline News - North Carolina." BCALA Newsletter 37.3 (2009): 14. Print. ; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library. ; Du Mont, Rosemary Ruhig and William Caynon. "Education of Black Librarians." Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science. Ed. Kent Allen, Harold Lancour, and Jay Daily. Vol. 45, suppl. 10. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1990. 111. Print.

 

The Richard B. Harrison Library in Raleigh, North Carolina opened in 1935. The library was founded by Mollie Huston Lee (1907-1982), the first African American librarian in Wake County. The Richard B. Harrison Library is still in operation today, and is part of the Wake County Public Library.

Sources: "Richard B. Harrison Library History." Richard B. Harrison Library, Mollie Huston Lee Collection, 14 Apr. 2005. Wake County Government. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. ; 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. 78-81. Print. ; Battles, David M. The History of Public Library Access for African Americans in the South or, Leaving Behind the Plow. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2009. 74, 76, 88. Print. ; Grant, George, comp. "Richard B. Harrison Community Library." In Honor of: Libraries Named for African Americans. Jonesboro: Grant House Publishers, 2011. 155. Print.

 

In 1942, the Cumberland County Public Library of North Carolina established the James Walker Hood Library. Built with money from the Work Projects Administration (WPA), the James Walker Hood Library served the African American citizens of Fayetteville, North Carolina. In 1955, the branch was renamed the Gillespie Street Branch Library. The Gillespie Street Branch Library remained in operation until May 10, 1986.

Sources: "Library History & Timeline." Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center. Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center, 2007. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. ; "Selected Milestones in Cumberland County's History." Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center. Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center, 2007. Web. 31 Aug. 2013 ; "Gillespie Street Branch of the Cumberland County Library." Message from Local and State History Room, Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center. 8 Sept. 2013. E-mail.
 

In 1913, the Durham Colored Library was established in the basement of White Rock Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina. Three years later, the library moved out of the church and into its own separate building. Hattie Wooten was the first librarian (1916-1932). In 1940, the library was renamed the Stanford L. Warren Library. In 1962, Bragtown Branch Library, another library for African Americans, was opened. In 1966, both libraries were merged with the Durham County Public Library. They are still in operation today.

Sources: Jacobs, Jessica Harland. "This History of Public Library Service in Durham, 1897-1997." Durham County Public Library. Durham County Public Library, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. ; Grant, George, comp. "Stanford L. Warren Branch - Durham County Library." In Honor of: Libraries Named for African Americans. Jonesboro: Grant House Publishers, 2011. 147. Print.
 

 

The Market Street Branch Library (also known as the Asheville Colored Library) of the Buncombe County Library System served the African American citizens of Asheville, North Carolina from 1929 until 1961. In the fall of 1961, through the efforts of the Asheville Student Committee on Racial Equality (ASCORE), the library system was integrated.

Sources: "Special Events Recognize the 50th Anniversary of the Desegregation of Pack Memorial Library." Urban News 12 Oct. 2011: n.pag. The Urban News Publishing Co. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. ; Battles, David M. The History of Public Library Access for African Americans in the South or, Leaving Behind the Plow. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2009. 61, 127. Print. ; Hendrick, Irene O. "Annual Report of the Colored Public Library, 1946-1947." Transforming the Tar Heel State: The Legacy of Public Libraries in North Carolina. State Library of North Carolina, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. ; "Irene O. Hendrick." United States Census, 1920. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 3 Sept. 2013. ; "Irene O. Stewart Hendrick." North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 3 Sept. 2013.

The Carnegie Negro Library of Greensboro, North Carolina began service in 1905. In 1964, the library was renamed the Southeast Branch Library, and later in the 1990s was called the Vance H. Chavis Branch. The Chavis Branch is part of the Greensboro Public Library System and is still in operation.

Sources: Battles, David M. The History of Public Library Access for African Americans in the South or, Leaving Behind the Plow. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2009. 57, 127. Print. ; Grant, George, comp. "Vance H. Chavis Lifelong Learning Branch - Greensboro Public Library." In Honor of: Libraries Named for African Americans. Jonesboro: Grant House Publishers, 2011. 150. Print. ; "Carnegie Negro Library Report, 1946." Transforming the Tar Heel State: The Legacy of Public Libraries in North Carolina. State Library of North Carolina, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2011.
 

The Granville Street Library in Oxford, North Carolina began service in 1942. This library served the town's African American residents. The library merged with the Richard H. Thornton Library (main branch of the Granville County Library System) in the 1970s.

Sources: "Granville Street Library." Photo. Transforming the Tar Heel State: The Legacy of Public Libraries in North Carolina. State Library of North Carolina, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. ; "Oxford Public Library Negro Branch (Exterior)." Photo. Transforming the Tar Heel State: The Legacy of Public Libraries in North Carolina. State Library of North Carolina, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2011.
 

The 51st Library of Camp Montford Point (Jacksonville, North Carolina )

The 51st Library of Camp Montford Point in Jacksonville, North Carolina was a library that served the African American Marines that were stationed at the base during World War II. In the 1940s, Martha Darwin Roney Leathers, a 1935 graduate of the Hampton Institute Library School, was hired as an assistant librarian for the library (she once served as  the branch librarian for the Cherry Street Branch of the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Public Library in Evansville, Indiana). The camp was renamed Camp Gilbert H. Johnson in 1974.

Sources: "Montford Point Library, 1945 - Marines Make Good Use of the Library after Routine Duty Hours (Photo)." Montford Point Marines, 1942-1949 - Images. Library of the Marine Corps and the Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections, 12 Jan. 2012. Web. 2 Feb. 2012. ; "51st Library - Montford Point Marines - Camp Life (Photo)." Montford Point Marines Loyalty and Service in the Face of Prejudice and Discrimination. Randall Library, University of North Carolina-Wilmington, 13 Dec. 2006. Web. 2 Feb. 2012. ; Grant, George, comp. "Roney, Marth D." The Directory of Ethnic Professionals in LIS. Winter Park: Four-G Publishers, 1991. 194. Print. ; A Directory of Negro Graduates of Accredited Library Schools, 1900-1936. Washington, D.C.: Columbia Civic Library Association, 1937. 20. Print. ; "Mrs. Leathers Becomes Top Black Administrator." Indianapolis Recorder 20 Mar. 1971: 3. Print. ; Tuohy, John. "Pioneering Marines Get Their Badge of Courage." Indianapolis Star 25 Oct. 2011: n.pag. Web. 2 Feb. 2012. ; An Act to Grant the Congressional Gold Medal to the Montford Point Marines. Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O., 2011. Print.

Update 05/14/2012:

You can learn more about the story of the Montord Point Marines at:

http://www.lifeasamarine.com/marines/story/bhm-montford-point

Update 07/30/2012:

   On November 23, 2011, the United States Congress approved an act to grant the Montford Point Marines the Congressional Gold Medal:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-112publ59/pdf/PLAW-112publ59.pdf

Update 08/12/2012:

   The Montford Point Marines are briefly mentioned in the article below:

Meadows, Bob and Kelsie Bonaparte. "10 Things We're Talking About." Essence 43.5 (2012): 94. Print.

George Moses Horton Branch of the Forsyth County Public Library (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)

The George Moses Horton Branch of the Forsyth County Public Library was established in 1927 inside the Chestnut Street YWCA in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Mary Hairston was the library's first manager. Later, Nell Brooks Wright Alford served as branch librarian from 1941 until 1964. On November 14, 1954, the library received its own building and was renamed the East Winston Branch Library. L. Quincy Mumford, then the Librarian of Congress, was the keynote speaker at the new building's dedication ceremony. The East Winston Branch was also a recipient of the John Cotton Dana Publicity Award from the Wilson Library Bulletin. The library's named was changed again in 2004 to the Malloy/Jordan East Winston Heritage Center Library.     

Update 12/11/2012:
Nells Brooks Wright Alford served on the editorial board of the Library Service Review, the bulletin of the North Carolina Negro Library Association.

Mary Hairston served as the chair of the committee responsible for compiling a handbook for the North Carolina Negro Library Association (the handbook was published in 1940).

See: Lee, Mollie Huston. "Development of Negro Libraries in North Carolina." North Carolina Libraries 3.2 (1944): 1-3, 7. Print. ; Marshall, Albert P. "North Carolina Negro Library Association." Handbook of Black Librarianship. Ed. E.J. Josey and Marva L. DeLoach. 2nd ed. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 63-68. Print. ; Library Service Review 1.1 (1948); Library Service Review 1.2 (1948).

See related posts:
North Carolina Negro Library Association and Annette Hoage Phinazee: Dean, Professor, Author, and Librarian.


Sources: 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. 76. Print. ; "History." Eliminating Racism, Empowering Women: YWCA Winston-Salem. YWCA Winston-Salem, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. ; Grant, George, comp. "Malloy/Jordan East Winston Heritage Center Library - Forsyth County Library." In Honor of ... : Libraries Named for African Americans. Jonesboro: Grant House Publishers, 2011. 156. Print. ; Balance, Paul S., Mary C. Wiley, Jessie M. Stroup, and Mae K. Tillman. First Fifty Years of Public Library Service in Winston-Salem, 1906-1956. [Winston-Salem]: Public Library of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, North Carolina, 1956. 14, 16-17, 19-20, 27-28, 30, 32-33, 37-41. Print. ; Carnegie Public Library of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. Annual Report, July 1, 1949-June 30, 1950. Winston-Salem: Carnegie Public Library of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, 1950. 5-8, 10-11, 13-15. Print. ; Dedication and Open House: East Winston Branch, Public Library of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, Winston-Salem, N.C.: Sunday, November 14, 1954. Program. [Winston-Salem: Public Library of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, North Carolina, 1954]. Print. ;  Franklin, Hardy R. "The Black Public Librarian in the Southeast." The Black Librarian in the Southeast: Reminiscences, Activities, Challenges. Ed. Annette L. Phinazee. Durham: NCCU School of Library Science, 1980. 214, 218-219. Print.

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