East Henry Street Carnegie Library
East Henry Street Carnegie Library, also known as the Savannah Carnegie Library, and historically as the Carnegie Colored Library, is a public library established for and by African Americans in Savannah, Georgia during the segregation in the United States|segregation] era. The historic building has been preserved and renovated. It is now a branch in Savannah's Live Oak Public Libraries system. The library is an example of Prairie style architecture and is one of only two Carnegie library projects for African-Americans in Georgia. It was the local library for James Alan McPherson, who became the first African American writer to win a Pulitzer Prize and for Clarence Thomas who went on to become a judge on the United States Supreme Court. The building has won honors for its renovation and historical preservation. It is a contributing property of the Savannah Victorian Historic District.
History
On November 1, 1903, the city of Savannah and the Georgia Historical Society partnered to open a public library on a three-year basis in Hodgson Hall on the north side of Forsyth Park in Savannah. The Black citizens of the Savannah community were prevented from using the new library. This prohibition provided the impetus for the formation of the Colored Library Association of Savannah. The Colored Library Association of Savannah formed in 1906 and operated the Savannah Colored Public Library out of the basement of Dr. Jamison, one of Savannah's prominent Black dentists of the time. Another prominent member of the association was Richard R. Wright Sr., President of Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth. The Association's twelve founding members included many of Black Savannah's professional, business, and cultural leaders. The Colored Library Association of Savannah relied on contributions of books from their founding members, and money from local supporters to open their own library to the public.In 1909, Andrew Carnegie offered the city of Savannah $60,000 for a new main library on Bull Street. This donation encouraged the Colored Library Association to approach the philanthropist themselves.
Carnegie had already shown interest in funding the building of libraries for Black colleges and communities, which he saw as a contribution to solving the problems of the South. Donations from the Black community and the twelve founding members facilitated the purchase of land for a building on East Henry Street across from Dixon Park; which at that time, was home to a thriving Black middle class. The neighborhood was home to many Black teachers, doctors, lawyers and business owners. Once the land was secured, the Carnegie Foundation awarded the Colored Library Association a sum of $12,000 to build a small library.
The Carnegie Colored Library opened on August 14, 1914. Its inaugural librarian was Charles A.R. McDowell. Though its opening day collections consisted of only 3,000 volumes, the library immediately became an indispensable community institution among Savannah's African Americans. It provided them with reading materials by Black and White authors, programs to attend, clubs to join, and space for public meetings. While the library received support from the city, it remained supervised by a separate board until 1963, when Savannah desegregated its libraries. The Carnegie Library reopened as an integrated branch of the Savannah Public Library but continued to serve a predominantly African American clientele.
Julian deBruyn Kops, a local Savannah architect and engineer, was commissioned to design the new library. The building itself is significant not only because of the part it plays in the social history of Black Savannah, but also because of the style of which deBruyn Kops chose for it. It is one of the only examples of Prairie Style architecture within the city.
In 1915 the building was officially completed and came to be known locally as the "Carnegie Colored Public Library" because it was reserved for the African-American community, who were excluded from the other public library in town. In respect and appreciation of the assistance they received from the Carnegie grant, the name of the library was also officially changed when it was moved into Kops' building on East Henry Street. The Carnegie Colored Library which existed after this move helped to foster and support a growing Black community in downtown Savannah through the two world wars and struggles for civil rights. The Carnegie Library became a refuge and educational center for local Black children, some of whom grew up to become local representatives. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in his memoirs that he frequently used it as a boy, before the library system was desegregated. During a time of social, class, and racial segregation, the Carnegie Colored Library helped to publicize the need for education in segregated areas.