Description
Book SynopsisThe African American Struggle for Library Equality: The Untold Story of the Julius Rosenwald Fund Library Program unveils the almost forgotten philanthropic efforts of Julius Rosenwald, former president of Sears, Roebuck, Co. and an elite business man. Rosenwald simply desired to improve, “the well-being of mankind” through access to education. Many people are familiar with Mr. Rosenwald as the founder of the Julius Rosenwald Fund that established more than 5,300 rural schools in 15 Southern states during the period 1917-1938. However, there is another major piece of the puzzle, the Julius Rosenwald Fund Library Program. That program established more than 10,000 school, college, and public libraries, funded library science programs that trained African American librarians, and made evident the need for libraries to be supported by local governments. The African American Struggle for Library Equality is the first comprehensive history of the Julius Rosenwald Fund Library Program to be published. The book reveals a new understanding of library practices of the early 20th century. Through original research and use of existing literature, Aisha Johnson Jones exposes historic library practices that discriminated against blacks, and the necessary remedies the Julius Rosenwald Fund Library Program implemented to cure this injustice, which ultimately influenced other philanthropists like Andrew Carnegie and Bill Gates (the Gates Foundation has a library program) as well as organizations like the American Library Association.
Trade ReviewAisha Johnson-Jones’s account of the Rosenwald Fund’s library programs is essential to our understanding of social justice philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and his foundation. Just as importantly, Johnson-Jones reveals the transformative power of libraries and library practice for users denied equal access to knowledge. -- Mary S. Hoffschwelle, author of The Rosenwald Schools of the American South
The creation of libraries and related contributions to literacy in the segregated South are little-known but highly significant aspects of the remarkable philanthropy of the Julius Rosenwald Fund. -- Stephanie Deutsch, author, You Need a Schoolhouse, Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald and the Building of Schools for the Segregated South, Northwestern University Press, 2011.
