Carnegie Library

Carnegie Library

The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.

Andrew Carnegie

A photograph of one of the many Carnegie Libraries. It was built in Houston, located at the corner of Travis Street and McKinney Avenue.
 
Andrew Carnegie was a rich philanthropist who helped create over 2,000 libraries between 1883 and 1929. 1,689 were built in the United States, 660 in Britain and Ireland, 125 in Canada, and even more were made around the world. At the time of their creation, segregation was still an ongoing issue, as many white libraries forbade African-Americans from entering. Carnegie didn’t want to deprive anyone of knowledge, so he created some libraries specifically for African-Americans. Today, 1,554 of the 1,681 original buildings in the United States still exist, with 911 still used as libraries.

Historic Houston Photographs

1904

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Houston_Carnegie_Library_1904.jpg/753px-Houston_Carnegie_Library_1904.jpg

Link: Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries. UH Digital Library

Source: Carnegie library. (2012, October 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:49, October 12, 2012, from http://bit.ly/RCHBU7

Historic Houston Photographs

Historic Houston Photographs

Medium: Photograph.

English

Library

Carnegie Library, Andrew Carnegie, Houston, Philanthropy, Public Libraries, African-Americans

Texas