Hidden History of Memphis by G. Wayne Dowdy

Author:G. Wayne Dowdy [Dowdy, G. Wayne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, State & Local, South (AL; AR; FL; GA; KY; LA; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA; WV), Travel, South, East South Central (AL; KY; MS; TN), Reference, Trivia
ISBN: 9781614231943
Google: VHp0CQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2019-04-15T01:42:43+00:00

A Commitment to Innovation

Public Libraries in Memphis

The Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library is the largest facility in the Memphis Public Library and Information Center system. Although opened in 2001, the history of Memphis Public Library began in the 1880s, when the city received a $75,000 gift from the estate of merchant Frederick Cossitt to build a public library in honor of the city where he made his fortune. A section of public land near the Mississippi River was donated by city government, which agreed to provide operating expenses for the library. With the promise of city funds, it was decided that the entire $75,000 would be used for construction of the library building. As a result of this decision, Architect L.B. Wheeler designed an elaborate Romanesque red sandstone building that opened on April 12, 1893.

Thousands of citizens attended the dedication ceremonies and toured the building, but there was a problem: city government did not have enough funds for books and other research materials, so the people were treated only to a beautiful, but empty, library building. Undaunted by this, the citizens of Memphis held fundraising events while the Cossitt family and financier Phillip R. Bohlen donated funds to purchase books. As the library shelves were being stocked with books, the board of directors hired Mell Nunnally to serve as the first director of Cossitt Library. Serving until 1898, Nunnally oversaw the acquisition of the library’s book collection, which expanded circulation to an average of 150 books per day.

Inadequate public funding was the most important issue facing Nunnally’s successor, Charles Dutton Johnston, when he was named library director on September 1, 1898. Working assiduously with state and local government officials, Johnston was largely responsible for the Tennessee General Assembly passing a law that set aside a percentage of Memphis property tax revenue for library services. As a result of increased funding, Johnston established neighborhood libraries in storefront locations and public schools. An innovative librarian, Johnston created the children’s department in 1905, which expanded library services to young people. Due to Jim Crow segregation, Memphis African Americans were denied access to Cossitt Library, but Johnston provided rudimentary library services to black Memphians when he opened a branch at LeMoyne Institute. Johnston also expanded the library’s infrastructure by adding shelf space and a reading room overlooking the Mississippi River in 1906 and securing a $150,000 bond issue from city government in 1923 to build an additional wing. As the three-story addition was being built on the west side of the library, Johnston fell ill and died on November 24, 1924.

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