THE ROOTS OF COMMUNITY

Segregated Carnegie Libraries as Spaces for Learning and Community-Making
in Pre-Civil Rights America, 1900-65

Project Director:
Dr. Matthew Griffis, rootsofcommunitycontact@gmail.com

Interior of a “colored library,” ca. 1920s. Courtesy of the Jackson Davis Collection of African American Educational Photographs, University of Virginia Special Collections, MSS-3072.

Abstract: Based on archival methods as well as newly completed oral history interviews, the Roots of Community project explores how twelve Carnegie-funded public libraries in the South served as places of interaction, learning, and community-making for African Americans in the days of Jim Crow. These institutions opened in eight states between 1908 and 1924 and were funded by Andrew Carnegie’s library development program of the early twentieth century.

Table of Contents:
Project Overview and Partners
Library Profiles and Resources
Oral History Archive
Publications and Other Resources
Communications

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, grant #RE-31-16-0044-16.
The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed on this project website, including but not limited to any of the publications or resources hosted herein, do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

© 2019-2021 Matthew Griffis

Website hosted by the Aquila Digital Community, part of the University of Southern Mississippi’s University Libraries, 118 College Drive #5053, Hattiesburg, MS 39406

All rights reserved. No part of this website, or any of its contents, may be reproduced without prior written permission of the Project Director. Any opinions expressed on this project website, including any of the related project materials, do not necessarily represent the opinions of any sponsor, publisher, or academic institution.

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Browse The Roots of Community Collections:

PROJECT OVERVIEW AND PARTNERS

Library Profiles and Resources

Oral History Archive

Communications

Publications and Other Resources