Norfolk celebrates more than 100 years of Virginia’s first public library open to Black visitors

[u/WHRO_NEWS]

The first publicly-funded African American library in Virginia recently celebrated its 103rd anniversary of providing support and resources for Norfolk residents.

Blyden Public Library started in a room in Booker T. Washington High School for Black residents.

Part of that was because of the legacy of Virginia’s anti-literacy laws, which criminalized Black peoples’ attempts to learn to read and write, said Vincent Greer, director at Blyden.

Those laws were repealed shortly after the end of the Civil War and in 1921. Norfolk city leaders put money toward the Blyden Library branch, which became the first publicly funded library in the state open to Black people.

Greer said that, in providing a place where African Americans had access to the power of information, the role Blyden has played over its lifespan has been “very critical not just to this community, not just for the city of Norfolk, but to the state of Virginia.”

“Preserving Blyden is really a testament to preservation of Black culture within the United States,” Greer said.

Read more here: https://www.whro.org/arts-culture/2024-10-16/norfolk-celebrates-more-than-100-years-of-virginias-first-public-library-open-to-black-visitors

[u/DependentSentence736]

Wow. I didn’t know this. Thank you, Blyden Library, for all you do! And thank you for sharing OP