tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495295138304264877.post4590723440272864645..comments2024-03-29T07:49:35.932-04:00Comments on <center>The Shockoe Examiner<br><small>Blogging the History of Richmond, Virginia</small></center>: The Free Public Library in Quincy, Illinois - Why was this building featured in a Richmond newspaper in 1888?Shockoe Examiner Staff - see bottom of blog entry for the specific author.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02822340615768561691noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495295138304264877.post-84654968354059208552010-12-17T07:47:04.160-05:002010-12-17T07:47:04.160-05:00http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Richm...http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Richmond/127-0362_Oregon_Hill_HD_1991_Final_Nomination.pdScotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08185330355847710755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495295138304264877.post-66193675203797759652010-12-16T11:15:00.596-05:002010-12-16T11:15:00.596-05:00According to Charles Pool:
Hi Scott,
According to...According to Charles Pool:<br /><br />Hi Scott,<br />According to the nomination report for the Oregon Hill Historic District (on file at the Va. Dept. of Historic Resources):<br />In 1894 Grace Arents founded a library in the house at 230 S. Laurel Street. In 1899 in became the first free library in Richmond. In 1908, she built a larger library facility, the Arents Free Library at 224 S. Cherry Street [now the William Byrd Community House]... The library on Cherry Street became part of the city library system in May 1927, but oversight responsibility was turned over to the St. Andrew's Assoc. in June 1946 ...Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08185330355847710755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495295138304264877.post-43954596652260583942010-12-02T14:29:32.226-05:002010-12-02T14:29:32.226-05:00That's a good question. A real history of the ...That's a good question. A real history of the city's libraries needs to be written. The best thing I've seen online is this:<br /><br />http://www.richmondpubliclibrary.org/content.asp?contentID=54<br /><br /><br /><br />The Arents Free Library opened between 1903 to 1911 depending on your online source. We'll try to find something more definitive about this. The Arents library was not a public library in that it was not sponsored by any locality (like the City of Richmond)- it was more of a neighborhood private library. Like of all of Richmond, it was segregated and did not permit blacks (who at that time were not living in Oregon Hill).<br /><br />If you go to the link above you'll see there were other libraries operating in the city about the same time - but the city's first real public library, operating with city funds, began at the Ginter House before moving to the Dooley Library which is now encased in the Richmond Public Library on Franklin Street.<br /><br />From a book on Richmond postcards (co-authored by myself and Tom Ray) we learn:<br /><br />The (James H.) Dooley Memorial Library, 101 E. Franklin Street, was built 1929-1930. The library was an Art Deco style building designed by Baskervill and Lambert. A new and much larger Richmond Public Library building built in 1972 now surrounds the old building. The original entrance hall remains as the lobby of the eastern half of the new building. Funding for the Dooley Library originated from a $500,000 bequest by Sallie May Dooley (1846-1925), wife of Major James H. Dooley (1841-1922). The Dooleys gave their large estate, Maymont, to the City of Richmond to be used as a park after their death.Shockoe Examiner Staff - see bottom of blog entry for the specific author.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02822340615768561691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495295138304264877.post-42316148438622460512010-12-02T14:29:09.555-05:002010-12-02T14:29:09.555-05:00That's a good question. A real history of the ...That's a good question. A real history of the city's libraries needs to be written. The best thing I've seen online is this:<br /><br />http://www.richmondpubliclibrary.org/content.asp?contentID=54<br /><br /><br /><br />The Arents Free Library opened between 1903 to 1911 depending on your online source. We'll try to find something more definitive about this. The Arents library was not a public library in that it was not sponsored by any locality (like the City of Richmond)- it was more of a neighborhood private library. Like of all of Richmond, it was segregated and did not permit blacks (who at that time were not living in Oregon Hill).<br /><br />If you go to the link above you'll see there were other libraries operating in the city about the same time - but the city's first real public library, operating with city funds, began at the Ginter House before moving to the Dooley Library which is now encased in the Richmond Public Library on Franklin Street.<br /><br />From a book on Richmond postcards (co-authored by myself and Tom Ray) we learn:<br /><br />The (James H.) Dooley Memorial Library, 101 E. Franklin Street, was built 1929-1930. The library was an Art Deco style building designed by Baskervill and Lambert. A new and much larger Richmond Public Library building built in 1972 now surrounds the old building. The original entrance hall remains as the lobby of the eastern half of the new building. Funding for the Dooley Library originated from a $500,000 bequest by Sallie May Dooley (1846-1925), wife of Major James H. Dooley (1841-1922). The Dooleys gave their large estate, Maymont, to the City of Richmond to be used as a park after their death.<br /><br />Richmond was one of the last cities of its size in the nation to build and operate a public library. In 1901 Andrew Carnegie’s offer to donate $100,000 to the City of Richmond to erect a public library was initially accepted by City Council. Despite efforts by supporters of a public library, led by Robert Whittet, Sr. of the publishing firm Whittet and Shepperson, funding by the city was never allocated. Carnegie’s demands that the city find and purchase a site and allocate $10,000 a year for the maintenance for a library were considered too costly by the city.<br /> Those early efforts did lead to the formation of a citizens’ campaign for a library in the 1910s and 1920s. As public support grew, City Council finally agreed to fund a public library. Richmond’s first public library operated from 1924 to 1930 at 901 W. Franklin Street, the former residence of Major Lewis Ginter (1824-1897). In segregated Richmond African Americans could not use the library. In 1925 the city opened the Rosa D. Bowser Library for African Americans. Named for Rosa L. Dixon Bowser (1855-1931), a civic leader who was considered the first African American female school teacher in Richmond, the library was located in the Phyllis Wheatley Branch of the YWCA at 515 N. 5th Street.Shockoe Examiner Staff - see bottom of blog entry for the specific author.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02822340615768561691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495295138304264877.post-20866283677797018672010-12-02T14:29:00.614-05:002010-12-02T14:29:00.614-05:00That's a good question. A real history of the ...That's a good question. A real history of the city's libraries needs to be written. The best thing I've seen online is this:<br /><br />http://www.richmondpubliclibrary.org/content.asp?contentID=54<br /><br /><br /><br />The Arents Free Library opened between 1903 to 1911 depending on your online source. We'll try to find something more definitive about this. The Arents library was not a public library in that it was not sponsored by any locality (like the City of Richmond)- it was more of a neighborhood private library. Like of all of Richmond, it was segregated and did not permit blacks (who at that time were not living in Oregon Hill).<br /><br />If you go to the link above you'll see there were other libraries operating in the city about the same time - but the city's first real public library, operating with city funds, began at the Ginter House before moving to the Dooley Library which is now encased in the Richmond Public Library on Franklin Street.<br /><br />From a book on Richmond postcards (co-authored by myself and Tom Ray) we learn:<br /><br />The (James H.) Dooley Memorial Library, 101 E. Franklin Street, was built 1929-1930. The library was an Art Deco style building designed by Baskervill and Lambert. A new and much larger Richmond Public Library building built in 1972 now surrounds the old building. The original entrance hall remains as the lobby of the eastern half of the new building. Funding for the Dooley Library originated from a $500,000 bequest by Sallie May Dooley (1846-1925), wife of Major James H. Dooley (1841-1922). The Dooleys gave their large estate, Maymont, to the City of Richmond to be used as a park after their death.<br /><br />Richmond was one of the last cities of its size in the nation to build and operate a public library. In 1901 Andrew Carnegie’s offer to donate $100,000 to the City of Richmond to erect a public library was initially accepted by City Council. Despite efforts by supporters of a public library, led by Robert Whittet, Sr. of the publishing firm Whittet and Shepperson, funding by the city was never allocated. Carnegie’s demands that the city find and purchase a site and allocate $10,000 a year for the maintenance for a library were considered too costly by the city.<br /> Those early efforts did lead to the formation of a citizens’ campaign for a library in the 1910s and 1920s. As public support grew, City Council finally agreed to fund a public library. Richmond’s first public library operated from 1924 to 1930 at 901 W. Franklin Street, the former residence of Major Lewis Ginter (1824-1897). In segregated Richmond African Americans could not use the library. In 1925 the city opened the Rosa D. Bowser Library for African Americans. Named for Rosa L. Dixon Bowser (1855-1931), a civic leader who was considered the first African American female school teacher in Richmond, the library was located in the Phyllis Wheatley Branch of the YWCA at 515 N. 5th Street.Shockoe Examiner Staff - see bottom of blog entry for the specific author.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02822340615768561691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495295138304264877.post-74216525737537550422010-12-02T09:36:59.259-05:002010-12-02T09:36:59.259-05:00Where does Grace Arents' free library (now the...Where does Grace Arents' free library (now the William Byrd Community House) fall into the timeline?Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08185330355847710755noreply@blogger.com