Louisville Free Public Library, Western Colored Branch

Louisville Free Public Library, Western Colored Branch
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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°WCoordinates: 38°14′59″N 85°46′3″W / 38.24972°N 85.76750°W
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

• Carnegie Branch Library (Meridian, Mississippi), which has been asserted to be the only Carnegie library ever built for African Americans in the country,^[6] Although the assertion is contradicted by the Louisville Free Public Library, Western Colored Branch, there are not many known examples.

References

1. 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.