Built less than one acre VLR # 124-5130 Area 1 ha | NRHP Reference # 10000544 Designated VLR December 17, 2009 Added to NRHP 12 August 2010 | |
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Address 904 Elm Ave, Portsmouth, VA 23704, USA Hours Open today · 12–5PMFriday12–5PMSaturday12–5PMSundayClosedMondayClosedTuesdayClosedWednesdayClosedThursdayClosedSuggest an edit Similar Portsmouth Art & Cultural, Splash Down Waterpark, Forest Hill Park, Water Country USA, Kings Dominion | ||
Women artists transforming community providence to provincetown 1880 1940
Portsmouth Community Library, also known as the Portsmouth Colored Community Library, is a historic library building located at Portsmouth, Virginia. It was built in 1945 at 804 South Street. It is a one-story, three bay, brick building with a hipped roof. It was built to provide for the reading needs of Portsmouth’s African Americans. In 1959, two local dentists, Dr. James Holley and Dr. Hugo A. Owens, successfully sued the City of Portsmouth and the Portsmouth Public Library to integrate the public library, which resulted in the closure of the Portsmouth Community Library. The building has been relocated twice since it was closed in 1962 after integration of the public library system; first in 1967 to the parking lot of Ebenezer Baptist Church, 730 Effingham Street, then since August 2007, it has been located at the present location, 904 Elm Avenue.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.
The library is now operated as a museum of local African-American history by the City of Portsmouth. Displays include photographs and memorabilia, as well as African-American books and journals from the former library.
The African American Historical Society of Portsmouth led efforts to dedicate the historic library as a museum, which opened in 2013.