310:, who served as the children's library specialist and chief assistant. Blue and Harris were influential in providing services to Louisville's African American community during the Jim Crow era. In 1917, about 12,000 people attended 498 meetings at both branches. Blue created a community outreach strategy, he said the library was much more than a place to store books. “With its reading and study rooms, its lecture and classrooms, it forms a center from which radiate many influences for general betterment. The people feel that the library belongs to them, and that it may be used for anything that makes for their welfare.”
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The two branches (Western and
Eastern) became community social centers and regional models for other libraries like it. The library included a Children's Department, which developed story time, debates, and special events. The library also held an annual spelling bee with Cup winners and cash rewards
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The
Western Colored Branch library first opened in September 1905 and was originally located at 1125 West Chestnut Street. At the time it was common for black libraries to be housed in rented or converted private facilities; when the Western Colored Branch first opened it was operated in three rented
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The library also helped set up forty classroom collections at eleven
African American city and county schools. By 1935 this had expanded to eighty classroom collections as well as library services administered at two junior high schools and the development of 15 deposit stations. From 1912 to 1931,
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at the time, was concerned about the lack of adequate reading and reference materials at the school. He challenged the 1902 legislation that created the
Louisville Free Public Library system, on the basis that it did not adequately serve African Americans, and persuaded the city council to open a
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Today, the library is home to the
African-American Archives, a collection of great historical documents and resources focusing on African-American narratives and experiences. Also within the Archives are documents belonging to Reverend Blue and Joseph S. Cotter Sr., as well as his son, the poet
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The library was well received by the community. It marked a new level of civic engagement by "the emerging, turn-of-the-century, southern black middle class" which was determined to "build positive community infrastructures for purposes of racial uplift."
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donated funds to build a new library building. As a result, the
Western Colored Branch became the first public library for African Americans in the American South that was housed in a Carnegie-funded facility. The new library building was designed by
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Blue also organized and held an apprenticeship librarian class, which was the "only opportunity for formal training for prospective black librarians" until the
Hampton Library School was opened in 1925 in Virginia.
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has been asserted to be the only
Carnegie library ever built for African Americans in the US. There are in fact 12 Carnegie libraries that were built to serve black residents. Louisville's Western branch was the
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Several prominent
African-American librarians worked in the Western Branch and assisted in education and outreach programs for the local black community. Of particular note are Reverend
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It is not however the first
Carnegie library built for African-Americans. Built in 1907 and opened the following year, it is predated by an
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branch to fill this need. Meyzeek later pushed for a second black library, the Eastern Colored Branch (which opened in 1914).
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The building is 75 by 45 feet (23 m × 14 m) in plan, and is built of brick with stone trim.
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Fultz, Michael (Summer 2006). "Black Public Libraries in the South in the Era of De Jure Segregation".
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Fultz, Michael (Summer 2006). "Black Public Libraries in the South in the Era of De Jure Segregation".
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Fultz, Michael (Summer 2006). "Black Public Libraries in the South in the Era of De Jure Segregation".
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582:"Louisville Western Branch Library (1905- ) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed"
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548:"The Record of Albert Ernest Meyzeek" (1947). Negro History Bulletin, 10(8)p.186-187
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University and college buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places
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List of jails and prisons on the National Register of Historic Places
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Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky
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anonymously donated $ 12,000 to keep the library from closure.
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library which opened in 1902 at the institution now known as
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National Register of Historic Places in Louisville, Kentucky
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staffed entirely by African Americans. Previously known as
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Louisville Free Public Library, Western Colored Branch
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Louisville Free Public Library, Western Colored Branch
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History of the National Register of Historic Places
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729:Robert J. Cangelosi, Jr. (September 19, 1988).
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223:Louisville Free Public Library's Western Branch
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237:and is the first public library built for
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1274:Library buildings completed in 1907
692:Chipman, Melissa (April 21, 2016).
651:Libraries & the Cultural Record
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508:Libraries & the Cultural Record
465:Douglas L. Stern (April 11, 1975).
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385:historically black university
249:system. It is listed on the
104:Show map of the United States
1279:Public libraries in Kentucky
484:accompanying photo from 1975
16:United States historic place
298:Early success (1910s-1930s)
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1211:Historic Preservation Fund
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262:rooms in a private home.
199:NRHP reference
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189:Architectural style
278:In 1908, industrialist
229:is a public library in
1128:Minor Outlying Islands
1111:Lists by insular areas
825:Keeper of the Register
274:Carnegie's involvement
830:National Park Service
810:Contributing property
663:10.1353/lac.2006.0042
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520:10.1353/lac.2006.0042
471:National Park Service
422:National Park Service
146:38.24972°N 85.76750°W
1185:District of Columbia
696:. Insider Louisville
316:Joseph S. Cotter Sr.
304:Thomas Fountain Blue
231:Louisville, Kentucky
119:Louisville, Kentucky
79:Show map of Kentucky
52:Front of the library
381:Tuskegee University
326:Recent developments
308:Rachel Davis Harris
285:McDonald & Dodd
267:Central High School
182:McDonald & Dodd
151:38.24972; -85.76750
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559:"A Separate Flame"
334:in 1975. In 2001,
165:less than one acre
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586:www.blackpast.org
436:"Western Library"
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344:Joseph Cotter Jr.
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233:. It is a
149: /
125:Coordinates
1268:Categories
1087:Washington
1007:New Mexico
1002:New Jersey
877:California
657:(3): 341.
592:2018-08-22
564:2011-12-12
514:(3): 340.
395:References
193:Beaux Arts
134:38°14′59″N
1097:Wisconsin
1062:Tennessee
967:Minnesota
942:Louisiana
700:April 22,
679:142811711
636:142811711
536:142811711
178:Architect
137:85°46′3″W
1253:Category
1082:Virginia
1032:Oklahoma
1012:New York
987:Nebraska
977:Missouri
962:Michigan
952:Maryland
937:Kentucky
917:Illinois
892:Delaware
882:Colorado
872:Arkansas
671:25549344
628:25549344
528:25549344
476:June 29,
445:June 29,
377:academic
349:See also
206:75000771
114:Location
1199:Related
1102:Wyoming
1077:Vermont
982:Montana
922:Indiana
902:Georgia
897:Florida
867:Arizona
857:Alabama
257:History
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992:Nevada
932:Kansas
907:Hawaii
862:Alaska
798:Topics
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336:Prince
1169:Palau
1067:Texas
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912:Idaho
734:(PDF)
675:S2CID
667:JSTOR
632:S2CID
624:JSTOR
532:S2CID
524:JSTOR
482:With
363:Notes
170:Built
1123:Guam
1072:Utah
1027:Ohio
927:Iowa
702:2016
478:2018
447:2018
221:The
173:1907
162:Area
659:doi
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383:(a
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
