Robert H. Robinson Library (Alexandria, Va.)

The Robert H. Robinson Library, named for a grandson of one of George Washington’s slaves, opened in 1940 to serve black residents of Alexandria, Virginia. The establishment of this new branch library was motivated by a civil rights demonstration and lawsuit brought against the Library and the City of Alexandria. The earliest known civil rights sit-in was held at the Kate Waller Barrett Branch Library in 1939. Alexandria Attorney Samuel W. Tucker and five young African American men demonstrated this act of civil disobedience after being denied library cards. The Sit-In and following legal action resulted in the establishment of a new branch of the library to provide “separate but equal” library services to black residents. However, this new library branch never received the same support or funding as the main library and was never able to provide fully equitable services to the local African American community.

In 1959, the Alexandria Library officially integrated for adults and in 1962 integrated its childrens’ services. Not long after its opening, the Robinson Library began to outgrow its facilities; and after integration of the library, the adult materials at the Robinson Library were all transferred to the Barrett Library.

The majority of the Robinson Library’s patrons were always children and story hour, one of the services offered since the opening of the library, was extremely popular. In July 1960, after the transfer of all the adult materials in the collection, Robinson Library officially became a children’s branch. However, by this point, the demand for story hour was so great, that the Robinson librarian began presenting a story hour at Barrett Library in addition to increasing the frequency of story hours offered at Robinson Library.

On July 1, 1962, Robinson Library was permanently closed. The building became the work space and office for the Library’s bookmobile service, which was first introduced in 1961. Today, the building is the site of the Alexandria Black History Museum.