Timeline

Amos Fortune, a free man of color, establishes the Jaffrey Social Library In Jaffrey, New Hampshire.

Philadelphia Library Company of Colored Persons was established. “The main objective was to build up a collection of useful books on every subject for the benefit of its members.”

Citation: http://stillfamily.library.temple.edu/stillfamily/exhibits/show/william-still/people-and-places/philadelphia-library-company-o

James D. Roberts was the earliest known African American male librarian to work in the state of Indiana. Although not formally trained, Mr. Roberts served as the first librarian of the Mt. Pleasant Library in Rush County from 1842 until 1843. In operation from 1842 until 1867, the library was located inside the Mt. Pleasant A.M.E. Church and served the citizens of Rush County’s Beech Settlement. The Beech Settlement was a community settled by free African Americans who came North to Indiana from the southern United States.

William Howard Days is the first African American librarian appointed by The Cleveland Library Association, a subscription library.

Edward Christopher Williams was the first professionally trained African American librarian in the United.States. Williams worked as a librarian a the Hatch Library at Western Reserve University from 1892 to 1909. In 1898 Williams pursued his Masters Degree in Library Science at New York State Library School in Albany. Williams served as the University Librarian at Howard University from 1916 to his death in 1929.

The Colored Carnegie Library of Houston, Texas is established inside Booker T. Washington High School. After receiving a Carnegie Grant, the library obtained its own building in 1913.

The Norwood Library, an independent library for African Americans, is established in the Norwood neighborhood in Indianapolis, Indiana.The library was established and operated by African Americans.

Louisville Public Library offered a training program for Black Library assistants

The Cherry Street Branch of the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Public Library opens in Evansville, Indiana. It is the only Carnegie Library in Indiana built exclusively for African Americans. Fannie Porter was the branch’s first manager. Ms. Porter was trained at the Western Colored Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library in Louisville, Kentucky.

Eastern Colored Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library opens in Louisville, Kentucky.

The centralization of a large collection of Black materials based on the foundation of the private library of J.E. Moorland.

Lillian Childress Hall is the first African American graduate of the Indiana Public Library Commission Summer School for Librarians. Indianapolis, Indiana. Ms.Hall later served as the second manager of the Cherry Street Branch of the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Public Library in Evansville, Indiana. Note: The Indiana Public Library Commission Summer School of Librarians was not an accredited library school. Rather, the summer school was a six-week training program where graduates were given a diploma instead of a degree. The program ended in 1947 when Indiana University began offering library science degrees.

The Indianapolis Public Library establishes a deposit station at the Flanner Guild African American Settlement House (a social services agency for African Americans). Deposit stations were institutions and businesses authorized by the Indianapolis Public Library to lend its books to the public.

Catherine Latimer is the first Black librarian hired at the New York Public Library, at the 135th Street Branch and helps to usher in the Harlem Renaissance.

The Indianapolis Public Library opens the Paul Laurence Dunbar Branch. It is the library’s first branch to open in an African American neighborhood. The Dunbar Branch is located inside Indianapolis Public School #26, an elementary school for African American children in the Martindale-Brightwood area of Indianapolis. Lillian Childress Hall is the branch’s first manager.

Alice Dugged Cary was appointed the first librarian of the Auburn Carnegie Library. Auburn Branch Library opens in Atlanta, Ga. The library was the first free public library in Atlanta for African Americans. The building was funded by Andrew Carnegie.

The round table was begun to examine the state of equitable access to library materials for African-Americans. The round table continued for two years before being disbanded. Tensions flared between librarians in the north and the south causing the ALA to suspend the round table. (first African-American to speak at an ALA program – Thomas Fountain Blue)

1st African American woman to graduate from a professional library school (Carnegie Library School)

The New York Public Library establishes a Division of Negro Literature, History and Prints in the 135th Street Branch Library.

Arturo Schomburg’s personal collection became a part of the Division of Negro Literature, History and Prints at the New York Public Library

Dorothy B. Porter became the first African American to graduate from the Columbia University Library School

It is the library’s second branch to open in an African American neighborhood. The branch is located inside Crispus Attucks High School, a high school for African Americans near downtown Indianapolis. Lillian Childress Hall is the branch’s first head librarian.

Poet Countee Cullen speaks at a tea given in his honor by the Paul Laurence Dunbar Branch of the Indianapolis Public Library. Librarians Lillian Childress Hall and Hallie Beachem Brooks served as hostesses for the tea.

The Second Negro Library Conference was held November 20-23, 1930 at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Approximately 71 librarians attended the conference. Noted speakers at the conference included Arthur Schomburg, Monroe Work, and Wallace Van Jackson.1930

Founded at Shaw University by Mollie Huston Lee and A.P. Marshall for African American library professionals. It was the first Black library association in the United States.

First public library for African Americans in Raleigh, NC. Founded by Mollie Huston Lee, 1st African American librarian in Raleigh, NC.

Currently the HBCU with an LIS program, North Carolina Central University SLIS program “was authorized by the State Legislature in 1939 when the charter of the then North Carolina College for Negroes was amended for the purpose of allowing the establishment of graduate and professional programs at the College. That amendment established the program in library education and the mission of educating African American librarians for the state of North Carolina.”1939

The Stanford L. Warren Public Library opened on January 17, 1940. The branch was the first public library to serve the African American community in Durham, NC.

Eliza Atkins Gleason is the first Black American to serve on the ALA Council

Vivian Ann Davidson Hewitt was Pittsburgh’s first African American librarian, and became the first Black president of the Special Libraries Association. She is also well-known for her collection of African American fine art.

Virginia Lacy Jones became the second African American to earn a PhD in library science from the University of Chicago. Dr. Jones was also the second dean of the School of Library Science at Atlanta University. She served as dean from 1945-1981.

The Conference of Public Librarians was held at Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University) in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Virginia Lacy Jones was the conference chairperson. The conference was sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation and the Atlanta University Library School. The conference provided a space for Black librarians to explore ways to provide services to the communities they served. Poet Langston Hughes was the keynote speaker at the conference dinner.

Allegra Westbrooks becomes manager of the Brevard Street Library, one of only two branches that served African Americans in Charlotte, NC.

The Union Street Library, the African American branch of the Montgomery City-County Public Library (formerly the Carnegie Library of Montgomery, Alabama) opens at 409 South Union Street. Bertha Pleasant Williams served as the branch’s first librarian. Williams received her BLS (Bachelor of Library Science) from Alabama State University in 1943 and her MLS (Master of Library Science) from the Atlanta University Library School in 1946. The Union Street Library was later replaced with the Cleveland Avenue Branch in 1960.

Alma Smith Jacobs becomes the first African American head librarian in segregated Great Falls, MT

First integrated ALA conference takes place in Miami, FL

Charlemae Rollins becomes the first first black librarian to serve as president of the Children’s Services Division of the American Library Association

On March 7, 1960 15 African Americans staged a sit-in at the McKenney Public Library. Eleven of the participants were arrested.

Nine undergraduate students at Tougaloo College staged at sit-in, for which they were trained by Medgar Evers, President of the Jackson Branch of the NAACP. All nine students were arrested.

Dr. Annette Lewis Phinazee was both the first woman and the first Black American woman to earn a doctorate in Library Science from Columbia University. Her dissertation is entitled The Library of Congress Classification in the United States: A Survey of Opinions and Practices with Attention to the Problems of Structure and Application.

Jet Magazine publishes an article on segregation and libraries. Librarians interviewed for the article: Dr. Virginia Lacy Jones (Atlanta University School of Library School of Library Science), Milton S. Byam (Brooklyn Public Library), Miles M. Jackson (Hampton University), and Spencer G. Shaw (Nassau Library System, NY). Citation: “Top Negro Librarians Air Views on Library Segregation” Jet 20.5 (1961):24-25. Print.

A small group of African American attempt to use the segregated Albany Carnegie Library. They were observed by the police, but avoided arrest by leaving the library.

In Anniston, Alabama, African American ministers Rev. Nimrod Reynolds and Rev. William McCain are both attacked by a white mob for attempting to integrate the Anniston Public Library.

On March 7, 1964 the “St. Helen Four” attempted to enter the St. Helen branch of the Audubon Public Library in Greensburg, Louisiana. The librarian immediately locked the door. The students returned to the library every day even in the face of protests.

Civil Rights Act which outlawed discrimination in public facilities, including public libraries.

A lawsuit was filed against the Alabama Department of Education by the National Education Association (NEA) and the Alabama State Teachers Association on behalf of Carrie Coleman Robinson. Ms. Robinson, a Black school librarian, was passed over for a job by the Alabama Department of Education in favor of a less qualified white librarian.

The Black Librarian in America is published (Scarecrow, 1970)

Clara Jones becomes the first Black director of Detroit Public Library making her the first African American and woman as a director of a major American library system.

Dr. Michael R. Winston was named director of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center combining the resources of Howard University’s Moorland Foundation and other collections including that of Arthur B. Spingarn

Dr. Mayme A. Clayton founded Western States Black Research Center, now named The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum. Located in Los Angeles, CA, her curated “collection contains over two million rare books, films, documents, photographs, artifacts, and works of art related to the history and culture of African Americans in the United States, with a special focus on Southern California and the American West.”

Daphne Rowena Douglas became head of the library science program at the University of the West Indies. Douglas served as head from 1976-1980 and 1982-1993. She received her MLS from the University of Pittsburgh in 1974.

Wallace Van Jackson becomes the first African American to receive the American Library Association’s Centennial Award. He received his BLS from the Hampton Institute Library School in 1934 and his MLS from the University of Michigan in 1935. In the aftermath of the 1936 ALA Annual Conference in Richmond, Virginia, Van Jackson wrote letters to Library Journal decrying the treatment of African American librarians at the conference. In addition, Van Jackson was a library science professor at the Atlanta University Library School from 1941-1947.

East Bay Negro Historical Society (EBNHS) merges with Golden Gate Branch of the Oakland Public Library, making it the first public library in Oakland with a predominantly Black focused collection.

Major Robert Odell Owens was the first elected Librarian in Congress, he served from 1983-2007.

Cynthia Jenkins, librarian at Queens Public Library was elected to the New York State Assembly where she served from 1983-1994.

Dr. E. J. Josey President of the American Library Association (1984/1985)

Ella Gaines Yates was appointed 1st African American State Librarian of Virginia by Douglas Wider, 1st African American Governor of the state.

Robert Wedgeworth elected as president of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Served from 1991-1997.

The First National Conference of African American Libraries (NCAAL) held in Columbus, Ohio

Hardy R. Franklin President of the American Library Association (1993/1994).

E.J. Josey updates his classic 1970 work The Black Librarian in America, two decades later.

Major Robert Odell Owens introduces H.R. 906, a bill requiring that the Librarian of Congress have specialized training in library science. The bill was introduced in Congress on February 16, 1993. Unfortunately, the bill was never voted on:

The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History opens in Atlanta.

African American Museum & Library at Oakland

Dr. Carla Hayden becomes the first African American to receive Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year Award.

The Indiana Black Librarians Network (IBLN) an affiliate chapter of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association is established.

Tyrone Cannon is elected president of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.

Dr. Carly Hayden is elected president of the American Library Association

Dr. Lucile Cole Thomas was awarded “Honorary Membership” the American Library Association’s highest honor.

Dr. Kay Raseroka of South Africa was elected 2003-2005 president of IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

Ellen Remona Tise of South Africa was elected 2009-2011 president of IFLA the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

The collection of essays was edited by Andrew P. Jackson (Sekou Molefi Baako), Julius C. Jefferson, Jr., and Akilah S. Nosakhere.

AfLIA is the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions.

Trevor Dawes elected president of the Association of College and Research Libraries

Dr. Carla Hayden is appointed to be the first woman, first African American, and first professional librarian to serve as Librarian of Congress

The American Library Association issues a release apologizing for the organisation’s compliance with Jim Crow laws in the past.

BCALA former president Wanda Brown elected president of the American Library Association.

Served as President of the American Library Association from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.

Appointed the first female African American Executive Director of the American Library Association on February 24, 2020.

Served as President of the Association of College and Research Libraries from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.

Elected as chair of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) North America Regional Division in August 2021.

In Spring 2022, Libraries: Culture, History, and Society (LCHS), the peer-reviewed journal of the ALA Library History Round Table (LHRT), publishes a special issue dedicated to contributions of Black women librarians to the library profession. BCALA member, Dr. Nicole A.Cooke served as guest editor.

The fourth volume in The Black Librarian in America series. Edited by BCALA President Shauntee Burns-Simpson, BCALA Vice President Nichelle M. Hayes, Dr. Shaundra Walker, and Dr. Ana Ndumu, this volume focuses on DEI, STEM, leadership, advocacy, history, racism, recruitment, and other topics of importance to African American librarians. The book will be published by Rowman & Littlefield.