1816 -- A school and library were organized for African Americans in Wilmington, Delaware.
1832 -- African Americans founded the Library Company of Philadelphia as a literary society.
1854 -- The Banneker Institute opened and housed a large portion of Benjamin Banneker’s papers as well as books and other documents related to the African diaspora. In 1930, these materials were donated to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
1884 – The Caleb Fiske Harris Collection on the Civil War and Slavery was purchased by Providence Public Library as a special collection.
1900 -- Edward C. Williams, the first professionally trained Afro-American librarian , graduated from the New York State Library School.
1903 – The earliest known independent African American Library with an independent board of governance was created by Charlotte Public Library in North Carolina.
Cossitt Library in Memphis, Tennessee partnered with Lemoyne Institute to provide services to African Americans.
1904 -- Carnegie Library buildings were established at Alabama A. & M. College, Atlanta University, Benedict College, Talladega College, and Wilberforce University.
Rosenberg Library of Galveston, Texas, founded a branch for African Americans. This was the first structure erected to provide public library quarters for exclusive use of the African Americans.
Edward C. Williams joined the library school faculty at Western Reserve University.
1905 - The Hampton Institute Library began special black collections with the gift of the George Peabody Collection on the Negro. The thousand-volume collection of Tucker A. Malone was bought for the institute by George Foster Peabody.
The Louisville (Kentucky) Free Public Library established the first public library in America solely for African Americans. It was supervised by the main library, yet operated and administered by African Americans.
1906 -- A Carnegie library was constructed at Wiley College, Marshall, Texas. Savannah, Georgia, began independent governance for Negro branch service, the second example of this type of action.
1907 -- Carnegie libraries were constructed at Howard University and Knoxville College.
1925 -- The Division of Negro Literature, History and Prints was established at the New York Public Library.
Hampton Institute (Virginia) Library School was established with Florence Rising Curtis as director.
1930 -- A conference for Negro librarians was held at the Morehouse-Spelman Summer school financed by the Rosenwald Fund.
A Negro Library Conference was held at Fisk University under the direction of Louis S. Shores, November 20-23.
1939 -- Hampton Institute Library School closed.
1941 -- The North Carolina Central University’s School of Library Science was inaugurated with Susan Grey Akers, dean of the Durham school and the library school at Chapel Hill.
The Carnegie Corporation and the General Education Board financed a library conference at Atlanta University, heralding the opening of the A.U. School of Library Science.
The Atlanta University School of Library Service opened with Eliza Atkins Gleason as dean.
1943 -- The School of Library Science, North Carolina College, Durham (now North Carolina Central University) opened.
1947 -- The Atlanta University School of Library Service held a six-day conference for 97 African American public librarians.
1949 -- The Atlanta University School of Library Service initiated a graduate program leading to a master’s degree.
Carnegie at Alabama A.&M. College
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Carnegie at Howard University
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