Matthew Griffis
Dr. Matthew Griffis is an Assistant Professor in the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Southern Mississippi. He studies public libraries as community spaces, library buildings as social architecture, and the history of libraries in North America. In 2016, he began a three-year project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) about the twelve, Carnegie-funded segregated public libraries that opened across the American south ca. 1908-1924.
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The 13th Street Colored Branch Library, Meridian, Mississippi (1913-1974)
Image Ownership: Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library The 13th Street (St.) Colored Branch was a segregated public library established by the city...
Eastern Colored Branch Library, Louisville, Kentucky (1914-1975)
The Eastern Colored Branch was a segregated public library located at 600 Lampton Street in Louisville, Kentucky. Opened in 1914, it was the second of...
Auburn Branch Library, Atlanta, Georgia (1921-1959)
The Auburn Branch Library was a segregated branch of the Carnegie Library of Atlanta, Georgia (now the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System). Opened in 1921,...
Carnegie Library, Mound Bayou, Mississippi (1910-1935)
Constructed in 1910 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie’s library development program, the Carnegie Library of Mound Bayou, Mississippi was the first free...
East Henry Street Carnegie Library, Savannah, Georgia (1914- )
The East Henry Street Carnegie Library is a branch of the Live Oak Public Libraries in Savannah, Georgia. It originally opened...
Cherry Street Library, Evansville, Indiana (1914-1955)
The Cherry Street Library was a segregated branch of the Evansville Public Library (now Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library) located at...
Colored Carnegie Library, Houston, Texas (1913-1961)
The Colored Carnegie Library was a segregated branch of the Houston Lyceum and Carnegie Library (later the Houston Public Library)....
Negro Public Library, Nashville, Tennessee (1916-1949)
The Negro Public Library (later the Negro Branch of the Nashville Public Library) operated for over thirty years as a...
Carnegie Negro Library, Greensboro, North Carolina (1924-1963)
The Carnegie Negro Library of Greensboro, North Carolina, a free public library for African Americans, opened in 1924. It stood...
Dryades Branch Library, New Orleans, Louisiana (1915-1965)
The Dryades Branch of the New Orleans Public Library was the first municipally-supported library for New Orleans’s black citizens and...
Free Colored Library, Knoxville, Tennessee (1918-1961)
The Free Colored Library of Knoxville, Tennessee was a segregated public library that opened in 1918 and closed 43 years...
