The Carnegie Library at FAMU is a historic building on the campus of

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the U ...

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In ...

. Built in 1908, the two-story, white-columned building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1996. "It was part of a national building program by philanthropist

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

." The Black Archives was established by the Florida Legislature in 1971 and opened in 1975. It was one of many public and college libraries funded by

, which were named Carnegie Library after him. It is the oldest brick building on the campus and the first Carnegie Library to be built on a black land-grant college campus. Carnegie's library was built at what is today FAMU because the city of Tallahassee refused it, since under Carnegie's rules it would have had to serve black patrons (see History of Tallahassee, Florida#Black history). At the time, FAMU's predecessor, the State Normal and Industrial College for Colored Students, was in need of a new library. Its library had been located in the mansion of Florida Governor

William Pope Duval William Pope Duval (September 4, 1784 – March 19, 1854) was the first civilian governor of the Florida Territory, succeeding Andrew Jackson, who had been a military governor. In his twelve-year governorship, from 1822 to 1834, he divided Florid ...

, which burned in 1905. The Carnegie Library was built on the site of that mansion. It was designed by architect

William Augustus Edwards William Augustus Edwards, also known as William A. Edwards (December 8, 1866 – March 30, 1939) was an Atlanta-based American architect renowned for the educational buildings, courthouses and other public and private buildings that he design ...

and was built in 1908. On November 17, 1978, it was added to the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Carrie Meek-James N. Eaton, Sr. Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum

In 1976, the Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum, formally known as the Florida Black Archives, was founded and occupied the library at Florida A&M. The archives expanded to the nearby Union Bank building in 1996 and a new building in 2006. The museum's exhibits focus on African American history in Florida, including the contributions of the African-American church, educational and social life at Florida A&M University, important figures in politics, science, medicine, and inventors, military experience and more. The archives were "originally the Carnegie Library", and history professor and lecturer James N. Eaton "had the vision of not only collecting memorabilia but presenting it to the students and the public" in the early ‘ 1970s. By the fall of 1976, assembled the collection and arranged its exhibition. In 2007, the archives was officially named in honor of veteran Florida legislator, retired U.S. Congresswoman and FAMU graduate

Carrie P. Meek Carrie Mae Pittman Meek (April 29, 1926November 28, 2021) was the United States Representative for Florida's 17th congressional district, from 1993 to 2003. Having been elected in the September 1992 primary with no general election opponent, she ...

, who appropriated funds through Congress for the expansion of the facility, and Dr. James N. Eaton, D.H.L., Professor of History/Founder and first Director.

References

External links

Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum
- official site at FAMU

a
National Register of Historic Places

Leon County listings
a
Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
Carnegie Library at Florida A&M University Tallahassee, Florida

Carnegie Library at Florida A&M University Tallahassee, Florida

{{authority control Library buildings completed in 1908 Historic buildings and structures in Leon County, Florida Libraries in Florida Museums in Tallahassee, Florida Culture of Tallahassee, Florida African-American museums in Florida University museums in Florida National Register of Historic Places in Tallahassee, Florida Buildings and structures in Tallahassee, Florida Carnegie libraries in Florida William Augustus Edwards buildings Education in Tallahassee, Florida History of Tallahassee, Florida History museums in Florida Florida A&M University 1908 establishments in Florida African-American tourist attractions in Florida