Robert H. Robinson Library was one of the earliest libraries for Colored People in the

United States 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 territorie ...

, during the

Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

era. Robert Robinson Library was located at 902 Wythe St.,

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

, and was operated since 1940 by the City of Alexandria.

History

The library was named in honor of Rev. Robert H. Robinson, an African American minister, educator, and activist. He was the grandson of Caroline Branham, a enslaved women held by

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

and Martha Washington. In 1939 sit-in at the new and "whites only" Alexandria, Virginia public library (Kate Waller Barret branch) organized by the lawyer

Samuel Wilbert Tucker Samuel Wilbert Tucker (June 18, 1913 – October 19, 1990) was an American lawyer and a cooperating attorney with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). His civil rights career began as he organized a 1939 sit-in ...

since the library's budget was collected from the taxes paid by every American citizen. The original goal of Lawyer Samuel Wilbert Tucker was to allow African Americans to use Virginia's Public Library, but instead of it was built a small and segregated library—Robert Robinson Library. Its construction was completed in 1940 and functioned as the first " separate but equal" library for African Americans in the segregated city.

Librarians and collection

Since the time of its foundation, its staff was formed by professional librarians who graduated from many American universities and the books were served to students of different levels from kindergarten up to university.

Importance

The city's project followed a 1939 sit-in by African Americans and arrests at the whites-only Alexandria Library. The 1939 event is commonly cited as the first non-violent protest by African Americans against

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

Current status

Since the libraries were desegregated, Robert H. Robinson Library became part of the Alexandria Black History Museum. The museum has changing exhibitions on local and national topics related to African Americans. The museum also operates the Alexandria African American Heritage Park, a park at 500 Holland Lane, which contains a nineteenth-century African-American cemetery that was buried under a city

landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

in the 1960s.

External links

Official Web site of the Alexandria Black History Museum

References

{{coord, 38.81206, -77.04803, format=dms, type:landmark_region:U-VA, display=title Museums in Alexandria, Virginia African-American history of Virginia Buildings and structures in Alexandria, Virginia Cemeteries in Alexandria, Virginia Tourist attractions in Alexandria, Virginia African-American museums in Virginia Parks in Alexandria, Virginia