Watch Out!

I knew there was a watch list for endangered animals but I was shocked to find out that someone was looking out for endangered libraries as well.  The World Monuments Fund is a non-profit organization based in New York that advocates for the protection of all “significant” buildings, monuments and sites around the world (not just libraries).  Their goal is to save and preserve places that have cultural or historical importance in order to protect our society's heritage for future generations.  To raise awareness, the Fund announces a “Watch List of Endangered Sites” every two years.  The list sends a wake up call to the world that a place is in danger due to war, disaster, neglect or vandalism.  The sites can be nominated by any concerned group or individual and then 100 are selected by an international panel of smart people.   

While a site is on the watch list it is eligible for WMF grants and funding but, just as importantly, the site can use the list to highlight their plight and attract donors.  A frightening slide show on the WMF website offers beautiful photographs of places in peril and with a click you can read the whole story for each location - a great history and architectural lesson.  

There were nine places in the United States chosen for the current list, including the 30 year old Atlanta Fulton Central Library.  As you may recall from yesterday, the original Atlanta Central Library was an ornate classical building, funded by Andrew Carnegie, and built out of white marble in 1902.  The library that replaced it in 1980 was the exact architectural opposite.    After The Carnegie Library was renovated twice,  the citizens of Atlanta approved a bond to build a new library in the 1970s and the Carnegie. 

Isabelle Hyman, a professor at NYU, explains that Carlton Rochell, the Director of the Library at the time, convinced the library board that Atlanta should construct a  “world class building” and proceeded to interview world renowned architects for the job. At the time Marcel Breuer was famous for his design of ‘The Whitney Museum’ in NY and his contributions to modern architecture.  Although Breuer’s steel frame and concrete panel design,  massed in a heavy geometric form was acknowledged as masterpiece, its brutalist design (remember the Geisel Library) was and is not very popular in Atlanta.  Since it was opened in 1980, the building’s theater roof has collapsed, the restaurant has been closed and $5 million was spent to make the building more ‘cheerful’.  Now it risks being demolished for a more ‘contemporary space’.  In 2008 legislation was passed to use public funds for yet another Atlanta Public Library.  Flushing $25 million down the drain during a economic downturn is a crime that can be prevented.  The citizens of Atlanta should not turn their back on this architectural treasure - they should appreciate it, and Breuer, for the modern monument that it is.       

Certainly not every building is worth saving but there are some that represent a time in our history, an architect, or a belief system that is crucial to our understanding of our heritage as people on this planet...we need to be careful that we are balancing our desire to make progress with our respect and appreciation of our past.  If we don’t, the reminders of who we are and where we came from will be bulldozed away forever.    

Take That Tecumseh

The story of the Atlanta Public Library (now called the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library) uncovered a whole new chapter in America’s library history for me.  While other big cities were arguing over library architecture and turning private subscription libraries into public institutions,  Atlanta was struggling to recover from the devastation of  The Civil War.  Mayor James Calhoun was forced to surrender Atlanta to the Union Army on September 2, 1864.  General William Tecumseh Sherman then ordered civilians to evacuate and proceeded to torch the city (with the exception of hospitals and churches) burning most of it to the ground.  By November Sherman was ready to move on.  He left Atlanta to begin his infamous ‘March to the Sea’, destroying everything in his wake and arriving in Savannah just before Christmas.

The City of Atlanta literally rose from the ashes (its symbol is a phoenix) and became Georgia’s new capital.  In fact the entire Southeast region of the US was reeling from the effects of the civil war and struggling to rebuild it’s infrastructure and adapt to a new economic model that didn’t include slavery.  It’s not surprising that public libraries did not exist in the South before 1895, cities and towns were regaining their balance and starting anew.
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Along with a late start and reconstruction distractions, Atlanta also struggled to integrate its African American population.  Believe it or not, most libraries in the South were segregated until the 1960s (almost 100 years after the war) making them inaccessible to 45% of Atlanta’s post war population.  These events created a uniquely southern library story.  However there is a similarity ... Andrew Carnegie, our library hero.  In the 1890s Eugene Mitchell, from the Young Men’s Library Association, negotiated a deal with Carnegie.  Mitchell was the President of the YMLA, an Atlanta subscription library started way back in 1867.  Carnegie agreed to give $100,000 and the City of Atlanta offered $5,000 a year for ongoing expenses but it wasn’t enough. As the library board despaired, Annie Wallace, the YMLA’s librarian went back to Carnegie to persuade him to contribute more to the cause.  I don’t know how she did it but Carnegie upped his offer by $45,000, which allowed the project to move forward.  In 1902, Annie Wallace stood behind the circulation desk as the first librarian when the doors opened on Atlanta’s Public Library!  Although this classical marble beauty no longer stands on the corner of Forsyth St. and Carnegie Way, there is new, equally stunning, library in its place ready and willing to carry Atlanta into the future by fulfilling its mission and  “providing open access to ideas and information, affording personal and, ultimately, community benefits”.

Feeling Frost-y in Georgia

Here’s an interesting tidbit...the McCain Library at Agnes Scott College has a substantial Robert Frost collection that includes original Frost transcripts and memorabilia along with books, articles and photographs about his life.  While Robert Frost’s name brings to mind stone walls in Vermont and snowy paths through the woods, it does not make me think of the warm breezes of Atlanta (or Decatur) or southern hospitality.  I have not completely solved the enigma of Frost’s relationship with the college but I do know that he visited Agnes Scott College over twenty times (more than any other college outside New England) beginning in 1935.  

Margaret Pepperdene’s (an English Professor at Agnes Scott) speech from 2001 filled me in on some details.  Pepperdene was a new professor at the college during Frost’s visits in the 1950’s and was assigned to be his escort around campus.  It seems that Frost originally had a friendship with Emma May Laney, the head of the English Department at the College,  and began his visit as short layovers on his way to Florida.  But beginning in 1945,  Frost extended his overnights and spent several days at Agnes Scott every January, until his death. Professor Laney was his sponsor and his “self appointed caretaker” during his visit and did everything from meeting him at the airport to making sure he wore his overshoes.  

Pepperdene shares great memories of Frost holding court for adoring coeds and faculty during long winter evenings and extended lunches.  He greatly enjoyed sharing experiences such as the Kennedy Inauguration, his acceptance of honorary degrees from Oxford and Cambridge and Ezra Pound’s run in with a mental hospital while his female fans hung on his every word.   And then there was his public reading and lecture night when the entire community formed a line that snaked through campus just to get the chance to hear him speak (I’d go, wouldn’t you?)  He loved to talk and relished his admiring audience.

Over the years Frost sent the library original work, Christmas cards and photographs which led to the creation of the current special collection.  George Lundeen was commissioned to sculpt Frost ‘writing’ in the alumnae garden to recall his love of strolling through campus at night.
But still I wonder, why Agnes Scott and why so many visits?  My guess is that Professor Laney was a persistent fan that made Frost feel personally important and the Agnes Scott community admired and revered his talent.  Who knows if his relationship with Laney was more than professional (at the time of his visits Frost was a widower) but it is certain that he got something out of his relationship with the college - one thing I learned about Frost was that he didn’t do anything he didn’t want to do.

Hello Agnes!

photo from Campus Architecture Project

Ten miles into my marathon I ran onto the picture perfect campus of Agnes Scott College.  The college is actually in Decatur, a peaceful, leafy suburb of Atlanta (with an active Preservation Alliance).  The town had set up little rhyming placards all along the marathon route that encouraged runners to keep going and then come back and have fun (and spend $) in Decatur - it was easy to see that it was a town with a sense of humor and an active intellect. 

 I wasn’t surprised to learn that Agnes Scott was voted the 2nd most beautiful campus in the country by The Princeton Review in 2006 - the 100 acre campus is the epitome of southern charm and apparently boasts some of Georgia’s oldest trees.  The school was founded in 1889 as the Decatur Women’s Seminary by Presbyterian minister Frank Gaines (I was surprised that women were even allowed to go to seminary in the 1800s, must investigate that situation).  A year later the name was changed to honor Colonel George Washington Scott’s mother.  George Scott was a Civil War veteran who gained notoriety by developed a revolutionary fertilizer - but he wasn’t the famous Scott from Scotts Miracle Grow (that was Orlando Scott way back in 1868).
G.W. Scott owned a plantation in Florida where he invented a fertilizer made from cottonseed, bonemeal and sulfuric acid.  He was also one of the first to understand the role of phosphates in fertilizer and purchased large tracts of phosphate rich land in Florida.  Scott moved to Georgia in the 1870s and expanded his business while buying more real estate.  
In 1890 Scott gave $112,000 to the Seminary which was then renamed to honor his mother.  The school’s original goal was to “educate women for the betterment of their families and the elevation of their region”. Thankfully the mission has evolved and now strives to “educates women to think deeply, live honorably and engage in the intellectual and social challenges of their times.”  We’ve come a long way baby.
When Scott died in 1903 his friend and fellow Presbyterian, Sam Inman stepped in as a member of the Board of Trustees.  Inman also invested in real estate and was responsible for creating the first ‘planned’ community outside of Atlanta called, Inman Park (and another gorgeous segment of the marathon).    During Inman’s decade of work on the board he contacted Andrew Carnegie about a library for the new school.  The funding was granted, as a gift, and The Carnegie Library was constructed in 1910.  Sadly, by the 1930s a new larger library was needed (why did they make these buildings so small!) and the college built a new structure, also beautiful, and kept the name of The Carnegie Library. The original library building was re-purposed as a student center.  
I was disappointed to learn that the original library was eventually demolished in 1986 (no reason was given).  However, the 1930s library has been completely renovated, updated and renamed.  It is now the James Ross McCain Library (named after the College’s 2nd President).  While I hate to see history erased, I understand the need for new libraries, especially at the college level and this one is historic, handsome and state of the art.  Logic aside, I really would have liked to run by Mr. Carnegie’s library gift from back in the day.  

Sightseeing on the Run

photo from breezymama.com

It’s one thing to research a place, another thing to go there and altogether something else to run past it during a marathon!  Before I was a runner, I was a first class tourist.  First, I’d do my research; printing out maps and brochures and reading all the books I could find.  When I arrived at my destination I’d head to the chamber of commerce or visitors center to get more guides, brochures and advice (my husband still claims that I missed the Old North Church in Boston while examining my beloved map).  Once I finally decided on a site, I’d arrive early, ready to check out every nook & cranny and spend the day immersed in my visit.  This routine has served me well and I’ve checked out everything from breweries in Milwaukee to Hemingway’s House in Key West to Queen Victoria’s summer palace in Cowes.
But this weekend my trip was different.  I still did some research and collected maps but I also thought about bib numbers, staring corrals, course elevations and port-a-potties (in Atlanta they are called ‘happy cans’).  When I arrived in town, the day before running, I was careful not to spend to much time walking  (I did have a lovely stroll around Centennial Olympic Park and at the expo, inside of The Georgia Dome) and was vigilant about how much I was eating and drinking.  And I was in bed by 9:00 (luckily I could sight-see from my bed because my hotel room looked across an atrium into the CNN newsroom!)
The next morning I literally ran by or though many of  Atlanta’s historic/cultural destinations:  The King Center, Ebenezer Baptist Church, The Carter Center, Agnes Scott College, the MLK branch of the Atlanta Public Library, Emory University and Georgia Tech.  I even ran right under the Georgia State Library (part of the library is suspended across the road)!  I ooohhhed and aahhhed to myself as I ran (you can get away with lots of crazy noises when you’re running 26 miles) and made mental notes of things to look up when I got home.  Knowing about all the hot spots on my route gave me something to look for along my increasingly slow run and something to think about as I shuffled through the miles (I finished in 4 hrs. 23 min.).  It occurred to me that during this trip I was more aware of the history in everything, not just the touristy spots but the churches, schools, villages, houses, banks, parks and (of course) libraries.  I looked at the structures and wondered who built them and why and what had happened in all the years they had been standing.  I realized that each building had its own important story that could be uncovered and understood if I took the time.  And I realized how little I knew about the rich history of my own little corner of the world (or even my 130 yr. old house).  Artistotle said, “If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development.”  History is the key to true understanding, not just seeing things as we race by during our day but knowing them.  Once we know the history of a place we begin to value it for all it represents and with each story we learn more about our communities, our country, our world and ourselves.

And She's Off!

Busybodies t-shirts

I’m off to my first “marathon sleepover" in Atlanta today.  

Tomorrow I will be running in the Publix Georgia Marathon!  While I shuffle through the streets of Atlanta (and yes, I will be running by some interesting libraries) here are the next three posts.  Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday!

Martin Luther King Jr.  week arrived in 4th grade and  I started wondering about King’s papers and documents  - could there be a new library to explore?  Actually, there are many MLK  libraries to explore but let’s start with ‘The King Library and Archives’ located at The King Center in Atlanta.  The library has preserved King’s papers and is home to records, interviews and documents of people and organizations that are crucial to understanding the Civil Rights Movement in America.
The center is located at 449 Auburn Ave, SE in Atlanta and was built by Coretta Scott King in 1968 - it features exhibits to teach the public about MLK Jr., Coretta Scott King and Mahatma Gandhi, and it’s the site of MLK Jr. and Coretta Scott King’s graves.  The website has lots of goodies, including a beautiful introduction with  King’s  ‘The Drum Major Instinct’, a video clip of King receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, a link to Martin Luther King III’s article about his dad’s speech and an online gift shop!

Sixteen libraries are listed as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. libraries in Wikipedia - way too many to visit in one night … so I headed  to San Jose, CA to a particularly interesting venture between San Jose State University and the City of San Jose.  This Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. library, finished in 2003, was the first in America to combine a major university and a city library - a simple, powerful concept - more books, less overhead.

Check out the eight story glass atrium pouring sunlight over 475,000 square feet of library - home to over 1.3 million volumes (don’t worry, the books aren’t left out in the sunlight).   The city and university worked together to create spaces for everyone and everything, from contemplation to connection - more resort than library by New England standards.  Stop on the first four floors to hang out with friends and have a coffee, or drop by the teen or children’s  room.  Take an elevator ride straight to the top and enjoy a quiet space for reading, thinking and learning, the 8th floor reading room.  

This is a collaborative community project to celebrate.  But what about the historic libraries that would have to come down in order to create these new, improved spaces.  Is it possible to preserve our history while moving forward?  Of course it’s possible, it’ll just cost you.
 New York Times Editorial (on the destruction of Penn Station)- "We will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed."