This research guide is intended to present an overview of materials available for further research into the 1939 sit-in protest at Alexandria Library and the history of library integration in the region. This guide includes materials that are part of our collections at the Local History / Special Collections Branch, as well as some materials at other repositories. Included are resources in a variety of formats including books, manuscript materials and archival records, photographs, film, and databases and other online resources.
Quicklinks
Alexandria Library & the African American Community - The first public library in Alexandria, Virginia was established in 1937. Before this, the Alexandria Library Company operated a subscription library in the city for nearly 150 years. In 1937, an agreement was signed between Dr. and Mrs. Robert S. Barrett, the Society of Friends, the Alexandria Library Association (Alexandria Library Company), and the Alexandria City Council to form the city’s first free, public library and erect a new library building on Queen Street - the Kate Waller Barrett Library.
Click here to learn more about the history of Alexandria Library [link to history page].
As with many public services at the time, the new Alexandria Library was available only to white residents of the city. African Americans, though they voted and paid taxes, were not allowed to use the public library.
This was not acceptable to many local black residents, including Samuel W. Tucker – an attorney who grew up only a few blocks from the new Alexandria Library. In 1938 Samuel W. Tucker and his brother Otto Tucker applied for library cards and were rejected based on their race. After being denied access, Tucker began crafting a plan to oppose this Jim Crow policy using both the legal system and civil disobedience tactics.
Wilson v. Scoggin - In March 1939, retired U.S. Army Sergeant George Wilson – accompanied by his attorney, Samuel W. Tucker – visited the Alexandria Library and applied for a library card. Library staff refused his application, telling Wilson and Tucker that library services were not available to “colored” citizens. An exchange of correspondence between Wilson, Tucker, and Alexandria Librarian Katharine H. Scoggin failed to resolve the situation.
On 12 May 1939, Tucker and Wilson filed a lawsuit in the Alexandria corporation court against Katharine Scoggin, requesting a writ of mandamus to force her and the Library to issue a library card to Wilson. This would expand Library policy to include African American residents as eligible for accessing library services. Tucker argued that Wilson was a citizen of Alexandria, and the public library was being maintained by municipal funds, therefore it was for the use of all tax-paying citizens of Alexandria.
The Wilson v. Scoggin case dragged on. Arguments were heard before Judge William P. Woolls in the corporation court on several occasions, but a decision was delayed on the case for more than 6 months. Eventually the case was finally resolved on 10 January 1940.
Tucker and Wilson lost the suit on a technicality — the court determined that Wilson did not fill out his own library card application and thus the mandamus was not granted. However, Judge Woolls also ruled that the law was on their side as long as proper form was followed in requesting library cards. City Attorney Armistead Boothe told the Judge he would recommend that the Library Board carry out the spirit of the decision. In the end, this ruling was seen as a significant win for African Americans in the fight for equal access to public services.
The 1939 Sit-In - On August 21, 1939, the second anniversary of the opening of Barrett Library, a well-dressed young African American man entered the library and approached the main desk. He requested an application for a library card and when he was refused - he picked up a book, took a seat at an empty table, and began to read. A few minutes later another polite, young man repeated these actions. This continued until William Evans, Otto L. Tucker, Edward Gaddis, Morris Murray, and Clarence Strange each quietly occupied a table in the library. Each young man remained polite, well-behaved, and unresponsive to requests from staff that they leave.
As was predicted, flustered library staff eventually called the police. Robert “Bobby” Strange (younger brother to Clarence Strange), who had been keeping watch outside the library building until this point, ran to the law office of Samuel W. Tucker to let him know that police were on their way.
The police arrived, escorted the protestors from the library and arrested them, later charging them with “disorderly conduct.” Samuel W. Tucker arrived at the library, with a photographer in tow, in time to capture this photograph of the five young men being escorted out of the library building by the arresting officer - Officer John F. Kelley.
Tucker quickly arranged for the release of the five young men. The plan was to challenge the city in court on the grounds that all citizens were entitled to equal access to public services.
The sit-in participants were first charged with trespassing, but when Tucker pointed out the library was a public building and thus open to anyone, the charge was changed to disorderly conduct. After stays and delays, witnesses admitted there was no misconduct and that the young men behaved and were dressed appropriately. Judge James Reece Duncan ruled that this was actually a constitutional case and passed it along to Judge Woolls in the corporation court, who postponed the sit-in case until an unspecified future date.
On 18 October 2019, the Alexandria Circuit Court dismissed all charges against the participants of the 1939 sit-in. Eighty years after the sit-in, the court found that they were “lawfully exercising their constitutional rights to free assembly, speech and to petition the government to alter the established policy of sanctioned segregation at the time of their arrest,” and that “sitting peacefully in a library reading books…was not in any fashion disorderly or likely to cause acts of violence.
This section of the guide features highlights from genealogical research conducted by Alexandria Library staff about the key figures involved in the 1939 sit-in and civil court case.
For more information about genealogical resources at Local History/Special Collections, check out our Genealogy Research Guide.
For suggestions on researching your family's genealogy, check out our Genealogy Subject Guide.
Quicklinks
Samuel W. Tucker was the organizer and driving force behind the 1939 peaceful protest against the racist public library use policy in Alexandria.
During his youth, he attended Parker-Gray School in Alexandria and graduated from Armstrong High School in Washington, DC. Tucker graduated from Howard University in 1933. He then pursued independent legal training and passed the Virginia Bar in 1934 at the age of 20. During World War II, Tucker served as a major with a segregated unit of the 366th Infantry. After the war, he returned to Virginia and opened a private law practice in Emporia, VA. Later in his career, Tucker was a partner in the Richmond law firm of Hill, Tucker, and Marsh alongside Henry L. Marsh and Oliver W. Hill.
Working both independently and with the NAACP, Tucker fought for civil rights for more than 50 years, taking an active part in many pivotal cases against segregation. Tucker was lead attorney on the landmark 1968 US Supreme Court case, Green v. County School Board of New Kent County which ruled that local school boards must immediately implement desegregation strategies. According to The Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America, this case “did more to advance school integration than any other Supreme Court decision since Brown [v. Board of Education].
In 1986, he and his law partner Oliver W. Hill received lifelong service awards from the Virginia State Bar Association.
| Date of Birth | June 18, 1913 |
| Place of Birth | Alexandria, VA |
| Places Lived | Alexandria, VA; Richmond, VA; Emporia, VA |
| Date of Death | October 19, 1990 |
| Buried at | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Parents | Samual Appleton Tucker, Jr.
|
| Siblings | George David Tucker
|
| Spouse(s) | Julia E. Spaulding
|
| Other relatives or descendants |
|
Retired U.S. Army Sergeant George Brown Wilson was the plaintiff in George Wilson v. Katharine Scoggin – the civil suit filed by Samuel W. Tucker in 1939 which aimed to compel the Alexandria Library to issue a library card to Wilson.
Unfortunately, not much genealogical information was able to be found about Wilson besides a World War I draft registration card. According to this record, in 1917 George Brown Wilson was working as a laborer for O.D. Murray Construction at Potomac Yards in Alexandria, VA.
| Date of Birth | December 9, 1872 |
| Places Lived | Alexandria, VA |
| Spouse(s) | Ms. Annie Wilson
|
William Brent “Buddy” Evans Jr. was one of the five young men who participated in the Alexandria Library sit-in. After the sit-in, Evans worked for the federal government until December 1942, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in World War II. After four years with the Army, he returned to the area, again working for the government as a civilian in the U.S. Department of the Navy.
| Date of Birth | May 24, 1919 |
| Place of Birth | Alexandria, VA |
| Places Lived | Alexandria, VA; Washington, DC |
| Date of Death | September 26, 1998 |
| Burial | Mount Olivet Cemetery, Washington, DC |
| Parents | William B. Evans, Sr.
|
| Siblings | Viola Evans Roland Evans Mary Anna Evans Gaskins
|
| Spouse(s) | Ruby Fields
|
| Children | William Brent Evans, III
|
| Grandchildren | Sonya P. Evans Pendleton
|
| Other relatives or descendants |
|
Otto Lee Albert Tucker is the eldest of the sit-in participants and Samuel W. Tucker’s younger brother.
In his youth, he attended Parker-Gray School in Alexandria, as well as Dunbar and Armstrong High Schools in Washington, DC. Tucker received a B.A. from Howard University in 1940. He was a student at Terrell Law School in Washington, D.C. when he was drafted to serve in World War II. After the war, he continued his legal studies, passing the Virginia Bar in 1946 and beginning a private legal practice in Alexandria.
Tucker went on to have a distinguished legal career pursuing civil rights cases in the local area and working as part of the Legal Staff of the State Conference of NAACP Branches. Tucker represented Blois O. Hundley when she lost her Alexandria school system job after joining a suit seeking admission for black children to white schools. And in 1964 he represented more than 60 registrants who were purged from the Arlington County voter rolls, as well as participants in a sit-in at Alexandria’s King’s Café. Later in his career, he also directed a program in Milwaukee, WI, which provided legal services to the poor.
| Date of Birth | January 30, 1917 |
| Place of Birth | Alexandria, VA |
| Places Lived | Alexandria, VA; Milwaukee, WI |
| Date of Death | August 4, 1988 |
| Burial | Coleman Cemetery in Fairfax County, VA |
| Parents | Samuel Appleton Tucker, Jr.
|
| Siblings | Viola Evans Roland Evans Mary Anna Evans Gaskins
|
| Spouse(s) | Ruby Fields
|
| Children | William Brent Evans, III
|
| Grandchildren | Sonya P. Evans Pendleton
|
| Other relatives or descendants |
|
Edward Gaddis was one of the five young men who participated in the Alexandria Library sit-in, and at the time was working as an orderly at Alexandria Hospital. He later worked as a Tabulating Machine Operator for the Internal Revenue Service. Gaddis and his family moved to Washington, DC, but maintained involvement with the Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church in Alexandria. He helped organize the Youth Adults of Roberts Chapel in 1948 and 1949 and later served on the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee.
| Date of Birth | January 22, 1918 |
| Place of Birth | Alexandria, VA |
| Places Lived | Alexandria, VA; Washington, DC |
| Date of Death | April 3, 1980 |
| Burial | Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland, MD |
| Parents | Henry Gaddis
|
| Siblings | Linwood Gaddis |
| Spouse(s) | Frances Alice Jackson
|
| Children | Shirley Gaddis
Bernard Gaddis Lawrence Gaddis |
Morris Murray was one of the five young men who participated in the Alexandria Library sit-in. After the sit-in, Murray stood trial on behalf of the entire group, with the understanding that whatever ruling was made in his case would apply to all the defendants. The Murray family business was newspaper publishing – his grandfather was civil rights activist, journalist, and newspaper publisher Freeman H. M. Murray – and at the time of the sit-in, Morris Murray was working as a linotype operator. In 1944, Murray enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1969.
| Date of Birth | January 24, 1917 |
| Place of Birth | Washington, DC |
| Places Lived | Alexandria, VA; Washington, DC; Fort Lauderdale, FL |
| Date of Death | June 18, 1979 |
| Burial | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Parents | F. Morris Murray Marguerite Goggins |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Octavior Moore
|
| Other relatives or descendants | Freeman H. M. Murray (grandfather) Deliah Murray (grandmother) John Murray (great-grandfather) Mary Bentley (great-grandmother) |
At only 18 years old, Clarence “Buck” Strange was the youngest of the Alexandria Library sit-in participants. At the time of the sit-in, Strange was working at Alexandria Hospital. In 1942 he joined the U.S. Navy and served in the Pacific theater in World War II. After the war, he worked as a clerk for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
| Date of Birth | April 27, 1921 |
| Place of Birth | Alexandria, VA |
| Places Lived | Alexandria, VA; Washington, DC |
| Date of Death | September 14, 1973 |
| Burial | Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, DC |
| Parents | John Emmanuel Strange
|
| Siblings | Richard Emauel Strange
Mrs. John E. Strange (sister) |
| Spouse(s) | Edith Mae Young Strange
|
| Children | Stephen J. Strange |
| Other relatives or descendants | Jacklin Strange (paternal great-grandfather) Hanna Weaver Strange (paternal great-grandmother) Natoka Fleister (niece) Tywana Means (niece) Wallace Strange (nephew) Lawrence Strange (nephew) William Strange (nephew) Michael Strange (nephew) |
Robert “Bobby” Lawrence Strange, younger brother of Clarence Strange, was 14 at the time of the sit-in. He acted as a runner, reporting events to Samuel W. Tucker as they happened. In 1943, Strange enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in World War II. Strange later worked as a clerk for the federal government and moved to Washington, DC in the 1960s.
| Date of Birth | July 8, 1925 |
| Place of Birth | Arlington, VA |
| Places Lived | Alexandria, VA; Richmond, VA; Washington, DC |
| Date of Death | December 15, 1997 |
| Parents | John Emmanuel Strange
|
| Siblings | Richard Emauel Strange
Mrs. John E. Strange (sister) |
| Spouse(s) | Lucy Ann Graves
|
| Children | Lawrence Strange William Strange Michael Strange |
| Grandchildren | Lorenzo Strange Ja Nelle Strange Jacqueline Strange |
| Other relatives or descendants | Jacklin Strange (paternal great-grandfather) Hanna Weaver Strange (paternal great-grandmother) Natoka Fleister (niece) Tywana Means (niece) Wallace Strange (nephew) Stephen J. Strange (nephew) |
Katharine Henderson Scoggin (later Martyn) served as managing librarian for Alexandria Library from 1939 through 1941. Originally from Warrenton, NC, Scoggin attended St. Mary’s College in Raleigh, NC and received a graduate degree in library science from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Before serving as Director of Alexandria Library, Scoggin organized the first public library in Hartsville, SC. In 1941, she left her position at Alexandria Library to marry John Turner Martyn, Jr. of Alexandria. Scoggin was a member of the Alexandria Library Company, a member of the National Society of Colonial Dames, and served on the Board of Governors for St. Agnes Episcopal School.
| Date of Birth | September 22, 1912 |
| Place of Birth | Warrenton, NC |
| Places Lived | Warrenton, NC; Alexandria, VA; Hartsville, SC |
| Date of Death | July 14, 2008 |
| Burial | Ivy Hill Cemetery in Alexandria, VA |
| Parents | Jacob Palmer Scoggin
|
| Siblings | Anne P. Scoggin Morrison
|
| Spouse(s) | John Turner Martyn, Jr.
|
| Children | Katharine P. Martyn Smith
|
| Grandchildren | Julia Willoughby Nason |
John Francis Kelley was the arresting officer on the scene of the 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In; he is depicted in the photo escorting the sit-in demonstrators out of the Barrett Library building. After retiring from the Alexandria Police Department, Kelley worked as a yardman for the railroad and later owned and operated Kelley Cleaner.
| Date of Birth | May 22, 1899 |
| Place of Birth | Virginia |
| Places Lived | Alexandria, VA; Petersburg, VA; Bedford County, VA |
| Date of Death | November 21, 1955 |
| Burial | Ivy Hill Cemetery in Alexandria, VA |
| Parents | Owen Kelley
|
| Siblings | Mary Kelley
|
| Spouse(s) | Mary J. Perkinson Kelley
|
| Children | Mary Viginia Kelley Tothill
|
| Grandchildren | John H. Kelley
|
| Other relatives or descendants | Elizabeth Hawkins (maternal grandmother) Mary A. Fry (cousin) |
Armistead Boothe, a lawyer and local politician, was the first publicly elected City Attorney in Alexandria. At the time of the sit-in, Boothe had only been on the job since January 1, 1939. He served as city attorney until 1943 when he joined the U.S. Navy, later fighting in the Pacific Theater in WWII. After the war, he was elected to Virginia’s House of Delegates (1948-1956) and the Virginia State Senate (1956-1964). He worked in opposition to Virginia’s “massive resistance” to court-ordered desegregation, breaking with the “Byrd machine.” Boothe fully retired from politics and practicing law in 1970. He also served as Director of Development for the Virginia Theological Seminary until 1976 and Assistant to the Dean until 1980.
| Date of Birth | September 23, 1907 |
| Place of Birth | Alexandria, VA |
| Places Lived | Alexandria, VA; Falls Church, VA |
| Date of Death | February 14, 1990 |
| Burial | Virginia Theological Seminary Cemetery in Alexandria, VA |
| Parents | Gardner Lloyd Boothe
|
| Siblings | Gardner L. Boothe
|
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth “Bettie” Ravenel Peelle
|
| Children | Julie R. Boothe Perry
|
| Grandchildren | John Douglas Smith Katherine Smith Young Sarah Elizabeth Smith Walker Keith Davis Evan Raglan Davis Mrs. Lloyd Davis Spruill Zoe Lynn Smith (great-grandchild) Gabriella Grace (great-grandchild) Isabelle Sophia Young-Smith (great-grandchild) Benjamin Harris Hester (great-grandchild) Lucy Hamilton Smith (great-grandchild) |
| Other relatives or descendants | Captain William Boothe (paternal grandfather) Mary Leadbeater Boothe (paternal grandmother) |
Judge James Reece Duncan was the Police Court Judge who presided over the initial trial of disorderly conduct charges which were brought against the sit-in demonstrators. Judge Duncan was elected to the Municipal Court in 1935 and re-elected every year until 1956 when he was appointed to the Subversive Activities Control Board.
| Date of Birth | January 15, 1901 |
| Place of Birth | Alexandria, VA |
| Places Lived | Alexandria, VA |
| Date of Death | October 21, 1963 |
| Burial | St. Mary’s Cemetery in Alexandria, VA |
| Parents | William T. Duncan
|
| Siblings | Edward C. Duncan
|
| Spouse(s) | Katherine Braunstein
|
| Children | Katherine E. Duncan
|
| Grandchildren | Kimberly Andres Livaudais Kristin Andres Brisbin Kara Andres Carroll Andy Andres Christopher Andres |
| Other relatives or descendants | Victor A. Braunstein (father-in-law) Georgia Dalton Braunstein (mother-in-law) |
Judge William P. Woolls was the Corporation Court judge who presided over Tucker and Sgt. George Wilson’s civil suit against the city for access to public library services, and later the criminal charges against the sit-in protestors.
Woolls attended Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia and St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD. He received both Bachelor’s (1915) and Master’s (1916) degrees in law from Georgetown University. Judge Woolls practiced law from 1916 until his retirement in 1964, longer than any other Virginia jurist. He was a senior judge of the Corporation Court and served as the U.S. Commissioner and Alexandria’s Commonwealth Attorney. Woolls was Chairman of both the City of Alexandria Democratic Committee and the 16th District Senatorial Committee. He also served on Virginia’s Committee on Simplification of State Government.
| Date of Birth | June 29, 1893 |
| Place of Birth | Alexandria, VA |
| Places Lived | Alexandria, VA; Brooklyn, NY |
| Date of Death | March 15, 1955 |
| Burial | St. Mary’s Cemetery in Alexandria, VA |
| Parents | James W. Woolls
|
| Siblings | James Woolls
|
| Spouse(s) | Ida Crilly Woolls
|
| Children | William Pape Woolls, Jr.
|
| Grandchildren | William Pape Woolls, III Sarah Burns Woolls Tenney Julia Ivy Woolls Rahime Ruth Akar Morgan Margaret Selma Akar Fast Elizabeth Akar Willard Hamdi Akar, Jr. Jeannette Healey Kimberly Healey Marilyn Healey Benjamin Morgan (great-grandchild) Tiffany Morgan Ellis (great-grandchild) Joshua Morgan (great-grandchild) Harry Fast (great-grandchild) |
Carl Budwesky was City Manager in Alexandria at the time of the sit-in. Budwesky graduated from Georgetown University Law School in 1916. From 1929 through 1938, he served as City Attorney for Alexandria, and was Alexandria City Manager from 1938 through 1947. After leaving his role as City Manager in 1947, he continued his private law practice until retiring in 1976.
| Date of Birth | September 18, 1891 |
| Place of Birth | Pittston, PA |
| Places Lived | Pittston, PA; Alexandria, VA; Wilmington, DE |
| Date of Death | October 5, 1982 |
| Burial | Washington Street United Methodist Church Cemetery in Alexandria, VA |
| Parents | Otto Budwesky
|
| Siblings | Harry Budwesky Thomas Budwesky |
| Spouse(s) | Grace Walton Wells Budwesky
|
| Children | Robert Carlisle “Carl” Mainfort (stepson)
|
| Grandchildren | Jack Randolph Mainfort (step-grandson) |
Evelyn Roper Beam was the first librarian at the Robert H. Robinson Library in Alexandria, VA. Before serving as librarian for the Robinson Library, she worked as an assistant librarian at the Hampton Institute Library in Newport News, VA. Beam later worked as an assistant librarian for the Library of Congress.
| Date of Birth | c. 1909 |
| Place of Birth | Alabama |
| Places Lived | Lowndes, AL; Washington, DC |
| Parents | Walter Roper
|
| Siblings | Bernice Roper Bryant
|
| Spouse(s) | Arnett Reed Beam
|
| Children | Patricia E. Beam Cypress
|
| Other relatives or descendants | Elowise Rodgers (aunt) |
Alexandria Library Company Records (MS002), Alexandria Library, Local History and Special Collections.
This archival collection consists of circulation, subscription, and financial ledgers, annual lecture series documents, catalogues, correspondence, and various organizational documents. Topics include: foundation of the Alexandria Library Company, its cycles of growth and decline reflecting the local economy; the formation of the local public library system; and the on-going activities of the Alexandria Library Company, most notably its lecture series.
Alexandria Library Records (MS098), Alexandria Library, Local History and Special Collections.
This archival collection contains the records of the Alexandria Library, documenting the administration and operation of the Library, dating from the founding of the public library in 1937 through the present. Included are administrative records, annual reports, financial records, circulation records, materials documenting the history of the Library, programming and outreach records, and records of the individual branches of the library system.
Armistead Boothe Papers (MS164), Alexandria Library, Local History and Special Collections.
This manuscript collection includes materials that reflect Armistead Boothe's advocacy of civil rights legislation, and his political activity with such issues as public schools, transportation, segregation and other political issues in Virginia, especially during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The collection also includes scrapbooks, journals, albums, memorabilia and other forms of personal papers from various members of the Boothe family.
Mary Powell Scott Papers (MS411), Alexandria Library, Local History and Special Collections.
This manuscript collection consists of records relating to the operation of the Alexandria Library Company during the period of Mary Powell Scott's presidency. These include copies of by-laws and the contract for the site of the library itself, as well as a resolution taken towards the end of her tenure. There is also a notebook containing lists and financial information from the period of her leadership. Another document of note is a letter of resignation from the library board signed by future librarian of Alexandria Ellen Coolidge Burke, dated a few days after her initial hiring as a part-time cataloger. The reasons for the resignation are not stated.
Samuel W. Tucker Collection, Alexandria Black History Museum, African American History Division, Office of Historic Alexandria, Alexandria, Virginia.
The Alexandria Black History Museum has a rich archival collection documenting the establishment of the first public schools for African American students in Alexandria in 1867 and local African American organizations in the City. These collections also record the life and times of prominent Alexandrians, including Samuel W. Tucker.
Samuel Wilbert Tucker Collection, M 56, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University.
This collection at the Virginia Commonwealth University, James Branch Cabell Library Special Collections and Archives consists primarily of photocopies of various Virginia newspaper articles on school desegregation efforts in Virginia, from 1960-1964, in which Tucker played a role. The collection also contains newspaper articles on other civil rights issues as well as photocopies of correspondence and other materials.
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
This collection at the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division contains the records of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund spanning the years 1915 through 1968, with the bulk of the material ranging from 1940 to 1960. These records document the work and procedures of the organization as it combated racial discrimination against African Americans during an era of legal segregation. The fund waged its battle against discrimination in the nation's courts, and in so doing, initiated a public interest legal practice that was unprecedented in American jurisprudence.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
This collection at the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division contains the records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) spanning the years 1842-2019, with the bulk of material dating from 1919 to 2004. The collection traces the history of the nation's oldest civil rights organization from its founding in 1909 into the twenty-first century.
Alexandria Library Records (MS098), Alexandria Library, Local History and Special Collections.
This archival collection contains the records of the Alexandria Library, documenting the administration and operation of the Library, dating from the founding of the public library in 1937 through the present. Included in this collection are photographs and other graphic materials documenting the history of the Library and its programming and outreach work.
Armistead Boothe Papers (MS164), Alexandria Library, Local History and Special Collections.
This manuscript collection includes materials that reflect Armistead Boothe's advocacy of civil rights legislation, and his political activity with such issues as public schools, transportation, segregation and other political issues in Virginia, especially during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The collection also includes photographs, scrapbooks, journals, albums, memorabilia and other forms of personal papers from various members of the Boothe family.
Vertical File Photo Collection (P394), Alexandria Library, Local History and Special Collections.
This photograph collection includes photos depicting a variety of places and topics related to the history of Alexandria. This collection is organized by topic.
The LH/SC Vertical Files are files of information relating to commonly-researched topics and contain a variety of secondary sources, including newspaper clippings, journal articles, brochures, unpublished reports, and more.
African Americans – Alexandria Black History Museum
African Americans – Biographies, 20th c. – Tucker
African Americans – Genealogy
African Americans – Historic Sites (Alexandria)
Alexandria – Library
Alexandria – Library Company
Alexandria – Library Sit-In, 1939
Biographies – Tucker, Samuel W.
Historic Sites – Plaques
Neighborhoods – Parker Gray
Leslie, Jay. 2023. The Beginnings : 1939. New York: Franklin Watts, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.
[CATALOG LINK]
Mitchell-Powell, Brenda. 2018. A seat at the reading table : the 1939 Alexandria, Virginia, Public Library sit-in demonstration -- a study in library history, 1937-1941. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest LLC
[CATALOG LINK]
Mitchell-Powell, Brenda. 2022. Public in Name Only : The 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-in Demonstration. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
[CATALOG LINK]
Silcox, Nancy Noyes. 2014. Samuel Wilbert Tucker : The Story of a Civil Rights Trailblazer and the 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In. First edition. Fairfax, Virginia: History4All, Inc.
[CATALOG LINK]
Barbuschak, Chris, Suzanne S. LaPierre, and Sujatha Hampton. 2023. Desegregation in Northern Virginia Libraries. Charleston, SC: The History Press.
[CATALOG LINK]
Battles, David M. 2009. The History of Public Library Access for African Americans in the South, or, Leaving behind the Plow. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc.
[CATALOG LINK]
Cresswell, Stephen. “The Last Days of Jim Crow in Southern Libraries.” Libraries & Culture 31, no. 3/4 (1996): 557–73. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25548457.
Du Mont, Rosemary Ruhig. “Race in American Librarianship: Attitudes of the Library Profession.” The Journal of Library History (1974-1987) 21, no. 3 (1986): 488–509. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25541712.
Fultz, Michael. “Black Public Libraries in the South in the Era of De Jure Segregation.” Libraries & the Cultural Record 41, no. 3 (2006): 337–59. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25549344.
Gleason, Eliza Valeria Atkins. 1941. The Southern Negro and the Public Library; a Study of the Government and Administration of Public Library Service to Negroes in the South. Chicago, Ill: University of Chicago Press.
[CATALOG LINK]
Knott, Cheryl. 2015. Not Free, Not for All : Public Libraries in the Age of Jim Crow. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
[CATALOG LINK]
Poole, Alex H. “‘Could My Dark Hands Break through the Dark Shadow?’: Gender, Jim Crow, and Librarianship during the Long Freedom Struggle, 1935–1955.” The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 88, no. 4 (2018): 348–74. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26561807.
“The Access to Public Libraries Study.” ALA Bulletin 57, no. 8 (1963): 742–45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25696754.
Wiegand, Wayne A., and Shirley A. Wiegand. 2018. The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South : Civil Rights and Local Activism. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
[CATALOG LINK]
Spangler, Matt, Eddie Becker, Beth Ann Schmitt, Julian Bond, and River Road Productions. 1999. Out of Obscurity : The Story of the 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In. [Spring Lake, Mich.]: River Road Productions.
[CATALOG LINK]
William A. Elwood Civil Rights Lawyers Project Collection, 1984-1989, n.d., Accession # 12801, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va. https://search.lib.virginia.edu/sources/uva_library/items/u3939928
William G. Thomas, “Television News of the Civil Rights Era, 1950-1970.” Virginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia. 2005. Collection of television news footage. http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/civilrightstv/
“1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In.” Program ID: 311412-1. Book TV, 2013 LCV [Local Content Vehicles] Cities Tour, C-SPAN. February 26, 2013. Video, vignette. 07:21. https://www.c-span.org/video/?311412-1/1939-alexandria-library-sit
Guernsey, Lisa, and Jazmyne Owens. “The Library Sit-In of 1939: An Interview Series,” New America. August 31, 2023. https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/collections/the-library-sit-in-of-1939/.
“History of the Alexandria Black History Museum,” Alexandria Black History Museum, African American History Division, Office of Historic Alexandria. n.d. https://www.alexandriava.gov/museums/history-of-the-alexandria-black-history-museum.
Alexandria Community Remembrance Project, African American History Division, Office of Historic Alexandria. n.d. https://www.alexandriava.gov/cultural-history/alexandria-community-remembrance-project
“Samuel W. Tucker,” Virginia Changemakers, Library of Virginia. https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/changemakers/items/show/402
Black Life in America
A unique digital archive of news media that presents the broad sweep of African American history. Offers balanced coverage from diverse sources published from 1704 through present day.
Early American Newspapers Series I-III (formerly GenealogyBank)
Explore genealogical records from 1690 to the present, including obituaries, marriage notices, birth announcements, casualty lists, military and government documents, and more. Features the Social Security Death Index, historical newspapers, books and documents. To login from home, click here.
Washington Post Historical Newspapers
Digitized Washington Post articles from 1877-2003.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Black Newspaper Collection
This resource is accessible for Virginia residents through the Library of Virginia.
A digital collection that includes the Atlanta Daily World (1931–2010), Baltimore Afro-American (1893–2010), Chicago Defender (1909–2010), Cleveland Call and Post (1934–2010), Kansas City Call (1946-2008), Los Angeles Sentinel (1934–2010), Louisville Defender (1951–2010), Michigan Chronicle (1939–2010), New York Amsterdam News (1922–2010), Norfolk Journal and Guide (1916–2010), Philadelphia Tribune (1912–2010), and Pittsburgh Courier (1911–2010).
Virginia Chronicle
Freely accessible historical archive of Virginia newspapers (18th–20th centuries) with full text searching and digitized images of over 3 million pages.
