"Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve an contribute to improving our quality of life."
Rosa L. Parks Library and Museum Montgomery, AL
Rosa L. Parks Library and Museum is located in Montgomery, Al and is owned by Troy University. The library opened December 1,2000, the 45th anniversary of her refusal of giving her seat on a bus to a white passenger in 1955.
She is known as the “mother of the civil right movement”.Â
Valencia Park/Malcolm X Branch Library and Performing Arts Center San Diego, CA
Valencia Park Branch Library at 101 50th Street opened to the public on April 17,1961. In 1991, residents of the 4th district renamed the the Valencia Park Branch Library to the Malcolm X Library and Performing Arts. This was the only public library in the United Stated named after Malcolm X. Malcolm was assassinated on February 21, 1965 at the Audubon Ballroom, Manhattan NY.
"My alma mater was books, a good library...I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity."- Malcolm X
Dorothy I. Height/Benning Library Washington, DC
The original library opened to the public on May 18,1862. It was renamed The Dorothy I. Height/Benning Branch Library in 2011.
Dorothy I. Height was a graduate of New York University and a social activist.
John H.Dickerson Heritage Library Daytona Beach, FL
The library was originally housed in the Dickerson Community Center until it moved to a new facility in 2001. It was named John H. Dickerson Heritage Library.
Mr. Dickerson was a school administrator and had an extensive career in community service.
Leontyne Price Library Holly Springs, MS
The Leontyne Price Library (1970) is a three-level, modern award-winning building, with 30,440 square feet of useable space, modern equipment and comfortable furniture. It is located at the center of the campus and was dedicated on December 4, 1969, in honor of the famous Metropolitan Opera Star, Mary Violet Leontyne Price.
She is an American soprano who was the first African American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first African American to be a leading performer.
"If you are going to think black, think positive about it. Don't think down on it, or think it is something in your way. And this way, when you really do want to stretch out and express how beautiful black is, everybody will hear you." - Leontyne Price
Frederick Douglas Community Center Library Champaign, IL
Fredrick Douglass born February,1818 in Talbot County, MD was a well-known Black orator, abolitionist, writer and stateman. The Douglas Center Library was formed in 1970 to serve Urbana-Champaign area, which was later named after Frederick Douglass.
In 1972, the library began to serve in the community as a branch of the Champaign Public Library. The existing branch library opened in June,1997 with space 10,000 items.
https://champaign.org/visit/hours-locations/douglass-branch-library
Alma Jacobs Library Plaza Great Falls, MO
Alma Jacobs played a major role in opening the library. In 1954, she served as head librarian for nearly 20 years, before being appointed Montana State Librarian in 1973.
Great Fall Library was the first public library in Great Falls after Montana attained its statehood in 1889.
https://www.greatfallslibrary.org/more-information/pages/alma-smith-jacobs
Paul Robeson Library Camden, NJ
Paul Robeson was born April 9, 1898 in Princeton, NJ. He graduated from Lincoln University and later Rutgers College. He later earned a law degree from Columbia University, where he was valedictorian of his class and Phi Beta Kappa.
In 1969, the Black Student Unity Movement submitted a list of demands for the Rutgers–Camden campus. Included in their demands was the renaming of the campus library for actor, singer, activist and Rutgers alum Paul Robeson, who lived the final decade of his life in Philadelphia. In 1991, the library was renamed the Paul Robeson Library in a ceremony featuring the actor’s son Paul Robeson, Jr.Â
https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/exhibits/50-years-robeson-library-rutgers-camden
"The answer to injustice is not to silence the critic but to end the injustice." - Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.
Sojourner Truth Library New Paltz, NY
Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) was an American abolitionist and women’s rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son in 1828, she became the first black woman to win such a case against a white man.
On March 12, 1971, the State University of New York at New Paltz dedicated the new library to Sojourner Truth for her connection to the region, and the powerful impact of her work. An influential abolitionist and women’s rights activist, Truth was born into slavery in Ulster County in 1797. The Sojourner Truth Library is one of the few public buildings in the United States named in honor of an enslaved person. Suny, New Paltz, New York
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sojourner-truth
It is the mind that makes the body.- Sojourner Truth
Langston Hughes Branch Cleveland, OH
Langston Hughes (1901–1967), poet, social activist, novelist, playwright and columnist was a native of Joplin Missouri. He was one of the most creative writers of the Harlem Renaissance. He was called the “People’s Poet” and “The Poet Laureate of Harlem.” He wrote specifically for children, young adults, and adults.
The Langston Hughes Branch opened in 1998. The facility includes 8,370 square feet designed by R.P. Madison International.Â
The Langston Hughes Branch has a special collection of original documents written by the author Langston Hughes. These documents include a letter to Cleveland Public Library, photos, and literature by and about Hughes.
Black History Month is coming and if you’re looking for activities to do during the month with the family, consider visiting an African American museum.
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