African American Pioneers in Library Science
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This document summarizes the contributions of several pioneering African American librarians in the early 20th century who overcame segregation and inequality to make significant accomplishments. It profiles Edward Christopher Williams as the first professionally trained African American librarian and others such as Thomas Fountain Blue who established the first apprenticeship program for African American library workers and Virginia Proctor Powell who was the first female African American professionally trained librarian. While progress has been made, the field of library and information science remains predominantly white and challenges of underrepresentation and discrimination continue today.
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African American Pioneers in Library Science
- 1. African American Pioneers in Library Science Shaundra Walker, MLS Assistant Professor of Library Science Georgia College February 17, 2015
- 2. Background • Historically, librarianship and libraries have been segregated and in most instances unequal • These individuals’ accomplishments may seem insignificant on the surface but when considered within the social norms of the day, they are extraordinary
- 3. Selected Pioneers • Edward Christopher Williams • Thomas Fountain Blue • Virginia Proctor Powell • Eliza Ann Gleason Atkins, PhD • E.J. Josey
- 4. Edward Christopher Williams (1871- 1929) • First professionally trained African American librarian • Received a certificate from the New York State Library School in 1900 • Served as a librarian at Western Reserve University and principal of the Paul L. Dunbar High School before becoming head librarian at Howard University Josey, E. J. (1969). Edward Christopher Williams: A librarian's librarian. The Journal of Library History, 4(2), 106-122.
- 5. Thomas Fountain Blue (1866-1935) • Founded the first apprenticeship program for African American library workers • Program operated from 1912-1926 out of the Louisville (KY) Free Public Library Branch for Negroes • Trained 37 African American women for work in segregated southern public libraries Wright, L.T. (1955). Thomas Fountain Blue, pioneer librarian, 1866-1935. (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from ETD Collection for Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center. (Paper 369). http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/369
- 6. Thomas Fountain Blue Speaks "As this was the first free public library for colored people with a colored staff, it was regarded as something new. It was an experiment and like so many new, untried things, its future was uncertain. Some said ... when the novelty and enthusiasm has subsided, it would die ... but it didn't die, it decided to live and how well, the records tell."
- 7. Virginia Proctor Powell (1897-1992) • First female African American professionally trained librarian • Trained at the Pittsburgh Carnegie Library School (1923) • Worked in public and school libraries in New York, Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA Gunn, A. C. (1989). The Struggle of Virginia Proctor Powell Florence: A Black Woman Wants to Be a Professional. American Libraries, 20(2). 154- 157.
- 8. Eliza Ann Atkins Gleason, PhD (1909-2009) • First African American to receive a PhD in library science (1940) • Dissertation: The southern Negro and the public library; a study of the government and administration of public library service to Negroes in the South Only 20% of southern African Americans were provided library services Disparity in the number of volumes provided to the races • First dean of the library school at Atlanta University Battles, D. M. (2009). The history of public library access for African Americans in the South, or, Leaving behind the plow. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press.
- 9. E.J. Josey: An Activist Librarian (1924-2009) • Former librarian at Savannah State College (now Savannah State University) • Challenged the American Library Association because it allowed its officers to participate in state associations that denied membership to African Americans • Forced the integration of state library associations in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi • Established the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, the first of the five ethnic caucuses • Publications include The Black Librarian in America, The Black Librarian in America Revisited and The Handbook of Black Librarianship
- 10. How Race Has(n’t) Changed in LIS • Profession remains overwhelmingly White Credentialed academic librarians are 86.1% white. African Americans make up 12.6% of the American population, but only account for 5.4% of credentialed academic librarians. • Only incremental changes Librarians of color remain underrepresented in leadership positions Only five African American presidents of ALA in its 136 year history African American and other librarians of color continue to report discriminatory practices that impede their retention and promotion. • Current focus Leadership Collections Recruitment, Retention and Progression
Editor's Notes
- Let me start off by thanking Jenny Harris for including me on the panel today. I’m really happy to talk about this subject because not only is it in my discipline, but it’s also very near and dear to my heart. I’m currently working on a PhD in higher education and my research focuses on leadership within libraries, so through that experience, I’ve learned a lot about the individuals that I’ll be discussing today. In many ways I feel very closely connected to these individuals because they played a role, some bigger than others, in
- Product of an interracial union; his mother was Irish, his father was African American Attended Western Reserve University Served as the librarian there before attending the New York State Library School Married to Ethel Chestnutt, daughter of Harlem Renaissance author, Charles Wadell Chestnutt Abruptly left his position at Western Reserve to serve as principal of the famed Dunbar High School in Washington DC, the first public high school for black students in the United States Left Dunbar to assume the leadership of the library at Howard University, where he worked from 1916 until his death in 1929 "he was white enough to go anywhere in the District, because of his Caucasian appearance and facility with languages, and he could have had many doors open to him, but he would not desert his people, when he knew that Negro citizens in the District were discriminated against economically and culturally." – Dorothy Porter to E.J. Josey
- Born in 1866 in Farmville, VA Graduate of Hampton Institute, a private school for African Americans in Hampton Virginia (1888) and Richmond Theological Seminary (1898) He was also a school teacher in Virginia In 1905 he was appointed the head librarian of the Colored Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library Louisville is significant because it was the first southern city to provide library services to its African American citizens. Libraries existed in Galveston, TX and Memphis, TN prior to Louisville, but those libraries were not free standing and were collaborations with the local high school and with a local college It was the first of the so-called “Carnegie Colored Libraries.” Andrew Carnegie is well-known for his contributions to American libraries. In addition to the numerous public libraries he established through the country, he also established separate branches for African Americans in cities such as Atlanta, Savannah, Louisville, Greensboro, NC, Houston, TX The library at Louisville had a black staff and was under black leadership which was virtually unprecedented at that time Blue was not a formally trained librarian; he received his training for the librarian at the Head Library (white) Cities from across the south sent individuals for training at the Louisville’s Western Colored Branch, as there were no other available options in the South
- Graduate of Oberlin College (1919) Powell had wanted to be a teacher, but was not allowed to teach in the Pittsburgh Schools; the schools were integrated as far as the students were concerned, but the staff was not After several failed attempts, she resigned to work as a beautician in her aunt’s hair salon Her fiancé, Samuel Powell, who was also a student at Pitt, encouraged her to pursue librarianship as an alternative career She was the first African American admitted; the school did so with hesitation and was concerned about how the white students would react and where she would work upon graduation, but could not come up with a reason to deny her In her practicum class, which involved a rotation through several branches of the Pittsburgh library system, she was not allowed to help white patrons. She could not participate in the story time activities, but was allowed to observe the white librarian interacting with the children She reflected in a 1980 interview that by the end of her classes at the school, she felt that some misconceptions about the abilities of African American to function on a professional level were dispelled. Reportedly, by the time her practicum was over the white children would crowd around her, sit in her lap, and kiss and hug her goodbye Interestingly, upon graduation, she approached both Edward C. Williams and Thomas Fountain Blue about work in their libraries, as well as in the NYPL. NYPL responded first and that is how she came to work there in the 135th Street (Harlem) branch, where she was able to rub shoulders with writers from the Harlem Renaissance. According to Arthur C. Gunn, Powell “opened the doors for other young men and women who wished to enter the mainstream of American librarianship.”
- A graduate of Fisk University in Nashville, TN Her dissertation served as a gauge for what cities and counties were provided or not providing in terms of library service to its large African American population Her appointment as the first dean of the library school at Atlanta University is significant.
- Graduate of Howard University and also held a master’s in history from Columbia and a master’s in library science from the University at Albany New York First black librarian accepted into the Georgia Library Association Frustrated with this embedded, institutionalized racism, a group of African American librarians, led by E.J. Josey, banded together in 1970 to form the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA), the first of the ethnic library associations. E.J. Josey, “Introduction,” in The Black Librarian in America, ed. E.J. Josey (Metuchen, N.J.: The Scarecrow Press, 1970), vii.
- A perfect example is the “watermelon joke” that was told at last year’s National Book Award. Author Daniel Handler, known for his Lemony Snicket books, thought it was “funny” to state that the winner, Jacqueline Woodson, was allergic to watermelon.