Savannah, Ga., November 12, 2014 - The Georgia Historical Society and Live Oak Public Libraries will dedicate a new historical marker to the Colored Library Association of Savannah. The dedication will take place at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, November 13 in front of the Historic Carnegie Library, located at 537 East Henry Street in Savannah, Georgia.

Speakers will include Christian Kruse, Director of Live Oak Public Libraries, and Dr. W. Todd Groce, President and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society. The library will be open following the dedication and light refreshments will be served. The public is invited to attend.

The marker reads:

Colored Library Association of Savannah

In 1906, eleven African-American men formed the Colored Library Association of Savannah and established the Library for Colored Citizens. They acquired the original collection from personal libraries and public donations of books and periodicals. In 1913, the Association successfully petitioned the Carnegie Corporation of New York for funds to build a permanent home for the collection. The Carnegie grant program funded construction of thousands of public libraries worldwide. Dedicated in 1914 and completed in 1915, the library was designed by local architect Julian deBruyn Kops and is one of Savannah’s few examples of Prairie School architecture. One of only two Carnegie library projects for African Americans in Georgia, this was the home library to James Alan McPherson, Pulitzer Prize–winning short story writer and essayist and Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Erected by the Georgia Historical Society and Live Oak Public Libraries

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