Louisville Free Public Library, Western Colored Branch

Louisville Free Public Library, Western Colored Branch

Front of the library
Location 604 S. 10th St., Louisville, Kentucky
Coordinates 38°14′59″N 85°46′3″W / 38.24972°N 85.76750°W / 38.24972; -85.76750Coordinates: 38°14′59″N 85°46′3″W / 38.24972°N 85.76750°W / 38.24972; -85.76750
Area less than one acre
Built 1907
Architect McDonald & Dodd; Lortz & Frey Planing Mill Co.
Architectural style Beaux Arts
NRHP Reference # 75000771[1]
Added to NRHP December 6, 1975

The Louisville Free Public Library, Western Colored Branch is a Carnegie library, the first public library built for African-Americans. Also known as Louisville Free Public Library, Western Branch, it is a branch of the Louisville Free Public Library system.[2]

History

The library was opened in 1905, originally located at 1125 West Chestnut Street in three rooms rented from a private residence. Albert Ernest Meyzeek, principal of Central High School at the time, was concerned about the lack of adequate reading and reference materials at the school.[3] 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 branch to fill this need.

Industrialist Andrew Carnegie donated funds to build a new library building, designed by McDonald & Dodd, which opened in 1908. The library was well received by the community and was proclaimed successful by the librarians.[4] The library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[1]

Several prominent African-American librarians worked in the Western Branch and assisted in educating and outreach to the local black community. Of particular note is Rachel Davis Harris, a female African-American librarian who was influential in providing services to the Louisville African-American community during the Jim Crow era in the South.

In 2001 Prince anonymously donated $12,000 to keep the library from closure. [5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ 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 academic library which opened in 1902 at Tuskegee University (a historically black university)
  3. ↑ "The Record of Albert Ernest Meyzeek" (1947). Negro History Bulletin, 10(8)p.186-187
  4. ↑ "A Separate Flame". Retrieved 2011-12-12.
  5. ↑ Chipman, Melissa (April 21, 2016). "Prince made secret donation to support Louisville's historic Western Branch Library in 2001". Insider Louisville. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  6. ↑ Robert J. Cangelosi, Jr. (September 19, 1988). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Merrehope Historic District" (pdf). National Park Service.
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