Blyden Branch

History of the Blyden Branch Library

Langston Hughes in his poem “Dream Deferred” asked the question "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun?" For a group of African Americans in Norfolk in 1921, that was not going to happen. In the era of segregation and Jim Crow laws, this group was determined to establish a library to serve the African American community. That library became Blyden Branch Library.

The history of Blyden is intertwined with the societal norms that existed from its beginning to the present day. Prior to 1921, the City of Norfolk did not provide library service of any kind for its African American residents. In contrast, the first free public school for African Americans was opened in 1863. The following year, the Union Army ordered that all white children vacate their schools which were turned over for use by African American children. Once the Civil War ended, however, all the schools were returned to the whites, leaving the African American children without any schools. Not until 1867, when the American Missionary Society in Albany, New York offered its assistance, was a school system reestablished for African American children.

Seeing the need for additional schools for African American children, the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church of North America (UPCNA) founded the Norfolk Mission College in 1883. At that time, the city had a policy which stipulated that no more than two children from any one family of any race could attend public school. Norfolk Mission College offered high school level courses which were not previously offered to African American students.

The Norfolk Mission College was built on the spot where Blyden now stands. The Norfolk School Board purchased it in 1916 and relocated the John T. West High School to its site. West was renamed Booker T. Washington High School.

By 1921, the African American population of Virginia was approximately 700,000. Other than small collections of books in some of the larger African American schools, churches, fraternal societies, and the YMCA, there was not a single public library in the state providing service to African Americans. Given this situation, African American citizens began a persistent campaign to get the Norfolk Public Library to supply books to their community.

The library responded to their request by proposing that the Queen Street YMCA house books sent from the main library. C. C. Dogan, who was Secretary of the YMCA, in turn proposed that the library build a branch to serve the African American community. The city approved the idea and allocated $1,700.00 to establish the branch.

On July 19, 1921, Blyden Branch Library opened in two rooms of Dunbar Elementary School. Dunbar and Booker T. Washington shared the buildings on the former Norfolk Mission College site. The branch was named for Dr. Edward Wilmot Blyden, a Presbyterian minister, college president, Secretary of State of Liberia, and a rights activist. Mrs. Jessie E. Moone served as its first librarian.

For 16 years, the African American community labored under the constraints of its two-room facility. A reporter for the Norfolk Journal and Guide in 1931 wrote that he "had visited the branch several afternoons and sometimes found 50 children crowded into a space that could only accommodate 25 to 30 people." Due to its small size, the branch was not as heavily used as expected. To alleviate this condition, in 1937 the city appropriated funds to relocate the branch to 1346 Church Street and Johnson Avenue and one year later, it moved to its new quarters. Mrs. Moone remained branch manager until her retirement in 1950. Verna Cotton replaced her and Armitta Bell remained as assistant librarian.

Lucy T. Johnson followed Ms. Cotton. The year she started is not clear, but she was listed as branch manager in a November 1953 article in the Norfolk Journal and Guide. Three years after the appearance of this article, the Norfolk Mission College Alumni Association suggested to the city council that the former Mission College site be considered for a branch library and park. Their suggestion was accepted and with an appropriation of $60,000, planning for the new Blyden began. On June 24, 1957, the present building opened its doors to serve the African American community.

After Lucy Johnson left, Dessie Curtis became branch head and served until 1967 when Shirley Johnson assumed leadership of the branch. She served throughout the Model Cities program and the transformation of the neighborhoods surrounding the branch. Those were difficult days for the branch because of the demolition of housing and the resultant loss of people using the branch. Mrs. Johnson retired in 1989 and Sheriden Clem became branch head on January 1, 1990. Later that year, Dudley Cobert served as branch manager until 2019, followed by Karen Salaam, Natasha Francois, and, in 2023, Vincent Greer.

Thanks to funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia, new housing developments were built surrounding the branch. Families in those developments, along with the existing developments at Calvert Square, Tidewater Gardens, Young Terrace and the many other neighborhoods making up Huntersville, provided the spark for the rebirth of the branch during the 1990s.

In 2013, As part of the City of Norfolk's Neighbors Building Neighborhoods initiative, branch renovations included painting the building's interior, installing accessible doors, new computers, new book bins, educational toys, and an exterior book return.  Later it received a new metal roof and the original HVAC and windows were replaced.

Thanks to the many thousands of people who have walked through its doors and the staff members who worked diligently to keep it afloat, the dream of its original founders lives on.