Seekers of Knowledge: The Development of Southern Public Libraries and the African American Quest for Library Access, 1898-1963

This dissertation argues that public libraries played an integral role in southern cities’ economic and cultural boosterism efforts during the New South and Progressive Eras. In particular, they acted as tangible evidence the South had recovered from the Civil War’s destruction. However, southern public libraries also helped institutionalize segregation during the early decades of the twentieth century. They did so by refusing to serve African Americans, or only to a limited degree. Yet, the Progressive Era’s emphasis on self-improvement and moral uplift influenced southern public libraries to the extent that not all embraced total segregation. It even caused southern public libraries to remain open to the idea of slowly expanding library service to African Americans. Later, libraries’ social mission and imperfect commitment to segregation made them prime targets for breaking down the barriers of segregation in the post-World War II era. This dissertation concludes that dealing with the complicated and unexpected outcomes of having practiced segregation remains a difficult and ongoing process for southern public libraries.
Three cases focusing on the Atlanta, Birmingham, and Nashville Public libraries (APL, BPL, and NPL) are used to examine the history of southern public libraries’ development, their role in institutionalizing segregation, the complex and protracted efforts to integrate these institutions, and the ongoing attempts to deal with the consequences of having practiced segregation. These three library systems were selected as case studies because the historical periods framing this dissertation, the Progressive Era, the New South Era, and the Civil Rights Movement, greatly influenced Atlanta, Birmingham, and Nashville’s development, which by extension significantly shaped the APL, BPL, and NPL’s institutional histories. Furthermore, due to each system’s unique development, for instance the APL started the first library school in the South, studying how the APL, BPL, and NPL developed, practiced segregation, eventually integrated, and dealt with the consequences of having practiced segregation is important to more fully understanding how the history of southern public libraries fits into the broader narrative of race and politics in the American South.