Carnegie Library, 537 East Henry Street, Savannah

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-302. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Carnegie Library is located at 537 East Henry Street in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia. Situated on the south side of Henry Street in the middle of block 10 in the Waring Ward on lots 36 and 37, the building is flanked by early century residential structures. The library faces due north immediately across the street from Dixon Park. Henry Street is a tree lined, two-lane thoroughfare with on-street parking. The grounds of the library are sodded with shade trees surrounding it. The north perimeter is lined with a modern wrought iron fence and hedgerow. The coordinates for the library are N, W.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-302. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Erected in the Carnegie Library was Savannah s first African American library and was made possible by a donation from Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie was a self made millionaire and philanthropist who was inspired at a young age by the opportunities that libraries provide their patrons. A town in any English- speaking nation could apply for a construction grant by writing to Carnegie s secretary James Bertram. Bertram would send a questionnaire that had to be completed and returned before consideration was made. Upon acceptance of library funding, the city was required to follow Carnegie s stipulations which included establishing an ongoing maintenance fund and a requirement that the proposed lot must be large enough for later building expansion.

The Colored Library Association of Savannah completed these preliminary tasks and Carnegie accepted their application. Carnegie did not require his libraries in the southern states to be desegregated, but rather would assist in the building of a blacks only library so that everyone in the community had the same opportunities. The Carnegie Library on Henry Street is not only the first African American library in Savannah, but the first freestanding library in the city altogether. The building was designed by local architect and engineer Julian deBruyn Kops.

The interior plan follows Bertram s standards set forth in his book entitled Notes on Library Bildings [sic] that was provided to all grantees after The standards call for an open room with a grand, central desk that provides the librarian a view of the entire space. The floor plan was to include an area for adult reading and a separate section for children s reading. The standards suggested including a basement approximately 10 feet tall and 4 feet below grade. The main level was to be 12 to 15 feet in height with ample windows to provide natural light and ventilation. Bertram s standards were not intended to dictate architectural aesthetics but rather to recommend effective features of an up-to-date library.

The resulting freedom of design led to the library becoming the only example of Prairie Style architecture in Savannah, a style which stands out amongst the surrounding Victorian-era homes on the block. CARNEGIE LIBRARY HABS No. GA-302 (Page 2) The design of the building s exterior was left entirely up to the local architect, which was common practice for Carnegie libraries. The only requirement was that the style was to be practical and dignified. Wood was never used on the facade of any Carnegie library since the intention of the building was always to be a permanent fixture in the community.

Brick and sandstone were commonly used and can be seen in this library in the orbs atop the front columns, the stepped walls that connect the columns to the building, and the stairs leading to the front entrance. The placement of the main entrance at the top of a set of stairs was a common hallmark of many Carnegie libraries and was thought to be symbolic of the journey to wisdom that its young patrons would encounter through self-initiated learning within its walls. Description: The Carnegie Library on Henry Street is a two-story, red brick building resting on a raised basement. The main entrance to the library is announced with two ten foot tall, slightly tapered brick columns flanking the sandstone stairs.

The columns are each topped with a sizeable sandstone sphere that contrast with the dark brick outline of the columns as well as the strict linear design overall of the glazed brick accents. The bottom level can be accessed through a sub-grade double door tucked behind the main entry stairs or by a wheelchair accessible ramp and entry in the later addition of the west wing. At one point, the set of double doors at the rear of the building served as the entrance to what was then the downstairs children s area. It is now used as a service entry to a utility area and the original doors have been replaced with commercial steel doors. These two original entries suggest that there was never an interior staircase between floors but rather a separate exterior entrance for each floor.

Kops idea to design the first African American library in an architectural style not used anywhere else in Savannah truly made it stand out in style as much as it did in concept. The library has a water table running its entire perimeter consisting of contrasting black glazed brick. The water table runs just below the lower floor windows and the same black bricks continue around and between the windows in a one foot wide frame. A belt course of similar construction to the water table runs just below the windows on the upper level, though these windows are not framed on all sides with the black brick like the lower level. Another, slightly thinner black brick belt course runs above the upper floor window openings. .

The windows on the lower floor are a six-over-six-light sash and grouped in pairs on the east and west facades. The same type of window is repeated on the north facade, here as a singular window on either side of the centrally located front staircase. The original arched windows on the east and west sides toward the rear of the building have been filled in with brick to make way for the more recent addition of the wings. One type of window on the upper floor is a simple one-over-one sash and is used in sets of three with a transom over each window. There is a set of these windows centered above the lower floor windows on the east and west elevation and another set visible from the interior of the new wings that has been transitioned into an entry to the main library from each wing.

On the north facade, the same windows are used in sets of two flanking the main entry door. Another type of window on the upper floor is a set of two hopper CARNEGIE LIBRARY HABS No. GA-302 (Page 3) windows. This type of window provides ample lighting and ventilation that was necessity in the library s early history. These windows are repeated on the south face of the building at the same height in three sets of two, equally spaced along the original library building. The north side of the library is adorned with four sizeable torch-like metal sconces with large, opaque glass globes. The grand fixtures are found on either side of the main entry doorway as well as above the passageway leading to the lower floor entrance.

The main entrance at the top of the stairs is a wide, wood frame door surround slightly recessed into the brick facade. This opening holds a set of double doors with sidelights and tall, fixed transom. The doors and sidelights each have a single, high placed light above a wide cross rail. Centered above the doorway is large sandstone plaque with a relief of an open book bearing the inscription Carnegie Library and the date of erection in Roman numerals. The interior of the upper floor of the library is one large, open room with six pillars and a perimeter of pilasters in the same style and trim. The trim is reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts movement and is depicted with stately but simple ornamentation of cornice, picture rail, wainscoting, chair rail and baseboards.

The ceiling is adorned with a series of beams that create a coffered ceiling grid between the columns and pilasters. Each face of the capital on all pillars and pilasters is carved into a repeating flower-shell motif and though it is simple, is the most ornate and only curvilinear trim design in the building. The main entry is adorned with a similar flower-shell carving in a pediment above the door and wide molding on either side. The librarian s desk is a permanent fixture situated directly inside the front door. The desk was designed to fit Bertram s standard of having an unobstructed view of all parts of the library to discourage theft and mischievous children. The desk was to serve as a physical and psychological barrier to its patrons through its prominence in the room.

From this desk, the librarian has a clear view of the adult s reading area, the children s area on the opposite side of the room and of most faces of the original bookcases still in place. The lower level of the library is similar in style to the upper floor but with simplified trim. Main entry to the lower floor is gained by the wheelchair accessible ramp that runs alongside the west elevation and into the west wing addition. The original central area of the lower floor is divided into a small working space with desks and a suspended ceiling, and a large gathering room with an employee kitchen and storage room dividing the two spaces. The working space, kitchen and storage room are all modern additions made with the division of the original space with new walls.

The gathering room in the front of the building still bears the original trim and pilasters. These pilasters do not bear the same shell motif as the upper floor, but rather a simpler, linear design. The cornice, chair rail, and base molding are of the same Arts and Crafts style of the upper floor, though they too are more simplified. This suggests that the space was originally designed to be used by the public, but perhaps in a less formal manner than the upstairs. The rear section of the lower floor is divided into CARNEGIE LIBRARY HABS No. GA-302 (Page 4) storage rooms and a utility room by the addition of modern construction interior walls.

The exterior style of the modern addition of the east and west wings very closely mimics the original library, with the exclusion of the glass and metal hyphens connecting the new to the old. The interior of the wings includes an elevator, a fire safe stairway, and restrooms in the west wing and an office space in the east wing. History: A group of people frustrated with the lack of a public library available to black citizens formed the Colored Library Association of Savannah (CLAS) in and began the quest for a suitable place to hold a library, even if temporary. The group rented a space from the office of physician Dr. Belcher at the corner of Hartridge and Price Streets and filled it with donated books and magazines.

The library s demand and collection of books quickly outgrew the space so the group began the process of seeking a grant from Mr. Carnegie. Carnegie s donations were never made with the intent of giving a library to a community, but rather as a means of helping a community that wants to progress. The CLAS most certainly did and raised the necessary to purchase the lot at 537 East Henry Street, and upon the return of Carnegie s application, was approved for a grant in the amount of Carnegie s system did not give the grant money all at once, but rather at stages in the progression of the building as a way to monitor all phases of the construction. Construction began in early and the library was dedicated on August 14 of that year.

Final construction was completed in early and the library was opened to black patrons shortly thereafter. Though the library was relatively small in comparison to other libraries across the nation at the time, it was a great achievement for the black community in Savannah. The library was a mainstay in the community for decades and served an innumerable amount of youngsters who would go on to become professionals and leaders in the community and the nation. The Carnegie Library provided an opportunity for self-improvement that would not have been otherwise available to African Americans in Savannah. The Carnegie remained the only library available to blacks until it was officially desegregated in and became part of the Savannah Public Library system.

The nearby and much larger Bull Street Library was now available to them however, journal entries from local patrons said it was a slow progress of desegregation. Eventually, the Bull Street Library became a welcoming place for the black community. Over time, the Carnegie Library on East Henry Street became less of a mainstay and more of seemingly-forgotten nostalgia piece. After years of neglect to the building, the roof collapsed in July and the library was subsequently closed. The building needed extensive and expensive repairs. The roof was stabilized using funding from state grants in to prevent further damage, but the library system did not have the required funding to complete the rest of the repairs.

In the library system started a campaign to finally revive and rehabilitate the Carnegie Library. A great deal of the funds acquired for the project were CARNEGIE LIBRARY HABS No. GA-302 (Page 5) made available by influential officials in the local and state government who used the library in their formative years growing up in Savannah. In August the fully restored and expanded new Carnegie Library was reopened to the public. Over the next few years, the building was awarded several state and national awards for historic preservation and is still in operation today. Historians: Jennifer Lowe and Ryan Arvay

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-302. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

"Carnegie Branch Library History." Live Oak Public Libraries. Accessed April 1, "Determining the Facts." Carnegie Libraries, Readings 1 and 2. Accessed April 1, Dickerson, Lou. "How Community Spirit - and Dollars - Are Saving Savannah's Carnegies." American Libraries, April 1, Lebos, Jessica. Years on Henry Street." City Notebook. August 19, Accessed April 1,