The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South: Civil Rights and Local Activism by Wayne A. Wiegand and Shirley A. Wiegand

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South: Civil Rights and Local Activism by Wayne A. Wiegand and Shirley A. Wiegand David S. Nolen The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South: Civil Rights and Local Activism, by Wayne A. Wiegand and Shirley A. Wiegand. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2018. 280 pp. $38.00. In May 1954, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in the landmark case of Brown v Board of Education of Topeka. That ruling upended the legal concept often summed up as "separate but equal," which had undergirded laws establishing segregated public services and facilities—especially public schools—for decades. The Court's decision finally acknowledged the grim reality that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal," and ushered in the era of integration of public schools and, eventually, other public facilities as well. In The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South, authors Wayne and Shirley Wiegand chronicle the desegregation of another facility intimately linked to American educational values: the public library. The authors set out to shine a light on the African Americans who made sacrifices on behalf of desegregation of public libraries across the South. Though various civil rights organizations were involved in desegregation efforts centered on public libraries, the authors focus specifically on the stories of the individual protestors—most of whom were teenagers or young adults—and their experiences in attempting to use public library facilities. The Wiegands begin the book with a helpful introduction that contextualizes the desegregation of public libraries within the context of the broader civil rights movement. The first full chapter sets the stage for the discussion of desegregation by describing the various ways African Americans in the South established their own libraries, or sought access to resources despite the limited library access afforded them because of Jim Crow laws and discriminatory social practices. The chapters that follow present a catalog of library desegregation efforts preceding the monumental Brown decision. The story continues into the six years immediately following the decision as legal challenges [End Page 378] to segregated library services sprang up across the South. These challenges to segregated public libraries formed an important (but often overlooked) part of the overall civil rights strategy, depending on the context of the local community. The authors add to this narrative in subsequent chapters by focusing on descriptions of the various attempts to desegregate public libraries—and the varying levels of resistance those efforts encountered—that occurred in specific towns and cities across the South after 1960. Those chapters focus on cities in Tennessee, South Carolina, and Virginia, with overall assessments of desegregation and opposition in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The authors conclude the book with a brutally honest assessment of how the American Library Association, whose members were deeply divided over how or even if to respond to library integration efforts, proved to be a non-factor in the movement to desegregate southern public libraries. The authors' stated objective is to chronicle the efforts of young African Americans to desegregate public libraries across the South. The Wiegands' primary motivation in telling these stories is to identify those who worked long and hard and suffered much to bring attention to the lack of access to library resources for blacks and to remedy the situation. Regarding that stated objective, the Wiegands have succeeded mightily. The reader will be impressed and at times overwhelmed by the sheer number of documented library protests. Equally impressive is the number of local and nationally prominent activists who recognized the importance of the library as a shared public space that should provide equal access to citizens of the community, regardless of race. The authors have compiled a wealth of geographically diverse primary sources, relying heavily on court records, local newspapers, and African American newspapers for public commentary on the events relating to desegregation. The discovery and gathering of the sources included in the endnotes and bibliography make a significant contribution to the literature. The unique focus on the integration of public libraries adds many details that have not otherwise been covered in the larger story...