March 2013


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Once-Segregated Library to Be Portsmouth Museum


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The once-segregated Portsmouth library is being refurbished as a museum. The library operated from 1945-1962, and is on the National Register of Historic Places in America. Photo by Steve Milner


BY STEVE MILNER Upon entering the small building


at 906 Elm Ave., in Portsmouth, the elementary school-aged black student asked her father why there used to be a separate library for African-Amer- icans. Hearing this conversation, several older black women and men who had lived through segregation in this Virginia city agreed, in unison, that today’s youngsters just don’t understand the way it used to be during those separate and unequal days in the South.


This educational point, alone,


validated the reasons for the major restoration efforts under way at the Portsmouth Colored Community Library, to convert it into a museum, according to Mae Breckenridge- Haywood, president of the African American Historical Society of Portsmouth which is leading this project.


Breckenridge-Haywood, the


former librarian at I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth, said her group retained the word, “Colored,” in the current library’s name to be historically correct.


The United States Department of


the Interior has listed the former library on the National Register of Historic Places in America.


More than 50 persons got a


“sneak preview” on Feb. 16 of restoration progress to date, in preparation for a public re-opening of this library-museum in late December.


The preview attracted current and


former residents of this neighborhood who used this library from 1945 to 1962, when Portsmouth merged the tiny segregated library with the city’s public libraries.


The open house enabled old


friends to reminisce about their childhood, and to recall the positive impact this library had on their lives.


Now a retired school teacher,


Goldie Scroggins explained how she read, among other things, magazines at this library--because her family was too poor to subscribe to them. She also recollected how the library provided her a refuge, where she could further develop her academic goals.


Portsmouth Mayor Kenny Wright,


who grew up in post-segregation days in the neighborhood where the library is located, had an opportunity to talk to—among others—his former math teacher, Iva Foust, at the open house. Asked what kind of student Mayor Wright was, she said he was like most 14-year-old young men who were occasionally rambunctious in


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Portsmouth Mayor Kenny Wright is flanked by Tim Brown, a volunteer refurbishing the old library, and by Marolyn Wiggins, secretary of the African America Historical Society of Portsmouth. Both Wiggins and Brown are Norfolk Naval Shipyard retirees. Photo by Steve Milner


class. And she said she had to send him out of the classroom from time to time, to which Mayor Wright jokingly responded, “I never knew I could learn algebra in the hallway, and then go on to become an engineer.”


Breckenridge-Haywood noted


that they’re trying to retain as much of the original structure’s internal integrity as possible. Some of the original bookshelves, lighting fixtures, and tables and chairs still there brought back fond memories of those who attended the recent open house. The restored library also will feature vintage photographs and other displays.


The 900-square-foot, single-story


library needs additional internal and external restoration, which is progressing on schedule for a December 21 rededication, according to Breckenridge-Haywood. This date is one day earlier than the one which coincided with the library’s opening in 1945.


She said businesses and citizens


have contributed funding for this restoration ,but noted her group still needs additional resources to finish the job properly.


Referring to the library


restoration project, Breckenridge- Haywood said, “This is a story that must be told, especially to our younger generations.”


Anyone wanting to donate to the


library’s restoration may contribute to the African-American Historical Society of Portsmouth, a 501 c (3) non-profit organization, at P.O. Box 2468, Portsmouth, VA 23702.


For additional historical and other


information about the library project, you may contact Breckenridge-Hay- wood at (757) 487-9431, or go on line at www.blackhistoryportsmouth.org. Upon request, she speaks about this subject to community organizations.


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