Back To Greenville

Here’s another thing I didn’t know...there is a Library Bill of Rights.  The American Library Association penned the Bill of Rights in 1939 and they were last amended in 1980.  They say pretty much what you would guess:  the library should provide all kinds of materials for all kinds of people, without censorship or restrictions.  With the exception of an occasional book banning flare up, I have always assumed that libraries in America are the fairest places on earth.  

photo from febone 60.net blog

HOWEVER,  it wasn’t until 1961 that an amendment was made to the Bill of Rights that stated:  “The rights of an individual to the use of a library should not be denied or abridged because of his race, religion, national origins, or political views".  That was a year too late for the “Greenville 8”.  On July 16, 1960 a group of Greenville, S.C. students (including Jesse Jackson) walked into the public library to check out a book.  They didn’t get much further than the card catalog - within 15 minutes they were ARRESTED - at the library - and taken away in handcuffs - for going to a ‘whites only’ library.  According to the article at WYFF, the group filed a lawsuit in federal court and the library closed on September 2nd “in the face of the suit”.  The lawsuit was then dismissed because the library had been closed.  It reopened as an integrated library on September 19th.   Fifty years have passed since the event and the library invited the original Greenville 8 back to the library (it was covered by  WYFF)  During the ceremony the four present members of the Greenville 8 finally received their library card.  

I was surprised to discover that the library, the current building is a new structure, had no display, plaque or archive of materials to education patrons about this infamous history.  There is a monument on main street that depicts two of the students, but nothing at the library.  It reminds me a bit of  Napolean’s approach, “In politics... never retreat, never retract... never admit a mistake.”  Of course, it is embarrassing to admit and recall mistakes, especially institutional ones, especially if you’re the library.  And they did invite the Greenville 8 back for a celebration of their progress, but remembering  mistakes is the only thing that prevents us from repeating them.  Even though the old library building was demolished in Greenville, the history is still there, the library should use the opportunity to remind everyone of what can happen when we judge each other by our appearance and not by the “content of our character”, as Martin Luther King Jr.  extolled.

Dee Dee Wright was another Greenville 8 student, at the time she was the President of the Youth Chapter of the NAACP.  Journalist Kathy Chaffin visited her at her home in Salisbury, N.C. and talked to her about being arrested at the library in 1960.  Her mug shot, full of courage and conviction hangs on her wall and Wright explains that she lives by the turtle principle: “You have to take risks, and you only move ahead by sticking your neck out.”  She has a collection of turtles in her living room  so she won’t ever forget.  Maybe she could loan one to the library to help them gather the courage they need to show their patrons the truth about what happened that day in 1960 and demonstrate how it helped them learn and grow into the institution they are today.  I don’t think an apology would be a bad idea either.

“There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go.”  Richard Bach