As I collect more cards of a state, that state gets its own
page. Pennsylvania's Public
Libraries
have been removed to a new page in July, 2007.
Minnesota libraries were moved in
August, 2007.
I hope you enjoy the improvements!
14 Alabama Carnegie buildings were built. 4 were demolished
before 1969.
There is a general
history of Alabama libraries. Also, some information has been taken from
Bobinski (1969).
Built in 1905 after a 1903 grant. Card by Tichnor Quality Views; published by Knoxville Engraving.
1901 Carnegie grant.
Per the E.C. Kropp card reverse:
This building was erected in 1904. It was made possible by a gift of $50,000.00 from Andrew Carnegie. It is a free library and is used daily by hundreds of citizens. It contains thousands of valuable books and maintains a reading room well equipped with current magazines.
Hardly lyrical, but it gets the facts across.
This particular card bears the number 28 and the notation:
Chamber of Commerce/Montgomery, Ala./Aug. 10, 1940.
All I can offer up are two Tucson cards. That's not too bad considering there were only 4 grants given to the territory/state.
The righthand card is older than the lefthand card.
(L) Although it's a Curt Teich 'C.T. American Art' postcard,
it seems undateable.
(R) Note the xeroscaping on the older card. This is a Detroit Publishing Co.
card.
The Tucson-Pima Public Library site states only that the current building dates from 1989.
The Carnegie roots are never mentioned.
Glenn A. Walsh's web site gives a grant date of 1899, as does Bobisnki.
As Arizona was not admitted as a state until 1912,
this demonstrates that grants were extended into U.S. territories.
Arkansas ranked 36th among the states in successful grant monies.
1906 Carnegie grant.
Card by Tichnor Quality Views; published by
A. Karcher Candy Co. of Little Rock. Notice the two pickup trucks
on the right side of the building. Today one doesn't really
think of Little Rock as rural.
There were 35 Carnegie buildings. Obviously I have a ways to go.
Rip-off 'Blue sky' card by H.H.T.Co. This card seems to be one of the most plentiful in the postcard collecting universe.
1903 Carnegie grant. Building completed in 1905. 2002 renovation.
Library part of the
Pikes Peak Library District. It contains another Carnegie building, the West End Carnegie Library.
Carnegie grant, 1906; Building built, 1908. The new
building was supposed to open in 2004 according to this
site, but it hasn't been
updated in ages.
This is the first library website I've seen that combines the county
public and the community college's libraries' website. Interesting sharing
of resources.
2000 magazine article on the Florida Carnegie library movement. 11 Carnegie libraries were built; 7 remain.
A whole lot of history goin' on here. This is the third building: the second went up in flames in the Great Fire of 1901. Carnegie came to the rescue with a grant in 1902. Finally, the building was built in 1905. It was replaced in 1965 by the Haydon Burns Building. That took only 40 years to become outmoded, and was replaced in 2005. The Carnegie Building was rehabbed into offices in the 1980s, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Nice litho card by Raphael Tuck & Sons. (RaphoType) that
bears a Red Cross stamping 'Canteen Service (cross) Jacksonville,
Fla Chapter' on its entire back.
Really, what good would an entire back postcard be to a client,
without space for any sort of message?
10 Carnegie libraries in this Southern state.
1898 grant, built in 1900. Demolished in 1977, before its replacement in 1980.
I have to give the
Atlanta-
Fulton Public Library Systems props for its candor. The Central building was segregated, and their page
owns up to it. The African-American community was served by the Auburn Avenue branch, also a Carnegie building.
Desegregation happened in 1959.
Atlanta had the Southern Library School associated with the library until it moved to Emory University. It
closed in 1988.
10 Carnegie libraries in this Western state.
Opened 1905. Replaced 1973. Fate unknown, but the library site does have
a history
page.
Perhaps if I had read
'A Light in the Window of Idaho,' edited by Kathleen Rubinow Hodges, I could
supply the answer.
1906 grant.
The Carnegie building remains standing with
an addition about 4 times its size.
Now known as the Marshall Public Library.
Isn't this a charming Curt Teich C.T. American Art Colored card?
1908 building, one of eight funded by Carnegie. FYI, the Western and Eastern branches were segregated, an unpleasantry not unique to this city.
The early chrome card was by Valentine-Souvenir.
1903 Carnegie grant. Card mailed 1922.
1904 Carnegie grant(s).
At one point there were 17 Carnegie libraries in the state.
The dome inspired Jughead's hat.
The 1903 Carnegie building was replaced in 1967. I don't know if the old building is still standing.
Photo by Heyn's Elite Studio: card published by Chas E. Morris of Chinook, Mont. Neat trademark!
Extremely similar to the Stoughton (WI) Public Library. 'Made exp. for the Montana Souvenir Co.//Photo By McKay'. Divided back.
Library's original building finished in 1905 and in use until 1985.
Today's facility lies at the corner of Tennessee
and Atlantic.
The Carnegie building was abandoned, but has regained its purpose as
the
Carnegie Library Center of the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
Postmark of 1922
obviously much more recent than lithographed card (L) by Sithens Postcard Company, Atlantic City, N.J.
8 Carnegie grants accepted.
1901 grant. Current status unknown.
According to the Valley City, ND Tourism website, this Classical Revival building is one of eleven Carnegie buildings in North Dakota, and is one of the three that remain unaltered. This may be due in part to the fact that it was placed on the Register of Historical Places in 1979. Today it serves as the Valley City/Barnes County Public Library.
Note the number of windows and their size on this card. Originally I thought that this could not be a Carnegie building. The Valley City site comments that this feature deviated from the Carnegie prescription.
Supposedly, there are 25 total for this state.
1907 Carnegie grant. Card mailed in 1916.
1907 Carnegie grant. Card dates from after 1911.
1906 Carnegie grant. Postmarked 1911.
1902 Carnegie grant. Somehow this building seems just right in the hometown of the Corn Palace.
1903 Carnegie grant.
1902 Carnegie grant. Sepia-toned card. Library resembles that of Stevens Point, WI.
|
| Carnegie Library, U.S. Veterans Administration Home, Mountain Home, Tennessee. Postmark unclear: probably 1950s. |
Carnegie Library, Provo, Utah. Lovely view on an evenly divided card postmarked 1910.
Tuck Series No. 2222.
From card back:
Public Library. The Norfolk Public Library is located in the industrial part of the city, on the corner of Freemason and Thomas Streets. It was opened to the public on November 21, 1904, the work having been started June 24th, 1903. Mr. Andrew Carnegie gave $50,000 toward the cost.
(L) Canegie Library, Washington, D.C. So the A.C. Bosselman Company of New York calls this impressive building on a divided-back card.
(R) PUBLIC LIBRARY, WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Public Library is in the Mt. Vernon Square, at the intersection of Massachusetts and New York Avenues and 8th Street. It is built entirely of white marble. The Building was given by Andrew Carnegie.'Quote from the B.S. Reynolds Co. of Washington, D.C.
I'm not going to give their street address, although it's prominently
displayed on the card.
In use as a library from 1903 to 1972: converted to the City Museum in 2001.
I don't know if it was a slow process or the bureaucracy was that byzantine.
High School and Carnegie Library. I believe the library is in the background.
Not sure if it's a Carnegie public library? Visit my postcards of unusual and large public libraries.
Drop that mouse and visit your public library.
(Or, if you're viewing this in the library,
set the mouse down carefully.) All the following resources were found at a local
library.
Bial, Raymond and Linda LaPuma. 1991. The Carnegie Library in Illinois.
(With Photography
by Raymond Bial.)
Bobinski, George S. 1969. Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact
on American Public Library Development.
Dickson, Paul. 1986. The Library in America: A Celebration in Words and Pictures.
Frye, Lonn. 1992. Carnegie Libraries: Restoration and Expansion.
Krass, Peter. 2002. Carnegie.
Van Slyck, Abigail. 1995. Free to All: Carnegie Libraries and the American Culture,
1890-1920.
© 2003-8 Judy Aulik
Last updated: 17 February 2008.
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