The 115th Street (Harry Belafonte) Library Branch - 203 West 115th Street

 

photo by Mcmillin24

In 1901, millionaire Andrew Carnegie offered the City of New York a gift of $5.2 million to build free circulating libraries.  The condition was that the city would provide the land and maintain the buildings.  The city commissioned the most eminent architectural firms of the time to design the libraries, including the famed McKim, Mead & White.  On May 9, 1907, four years after the firm designed the Tompkins Square Library, the New-York Tribune reported that McKim, Mead & White had filed plans for the 27th Carnegie library at "Nos. 201 and 203 West 115th st."  The article said it would be "of classic design," costing $70,000.  (The construction cost would translate to $3.2 million in 2025.)

Called the 115th Street Branch Library, it opened on November 7, 1908.  Three stories tall and clad in rusticated limestone, the voussoirs of the first and second floor arched openings radiated like sunbursts.  Above the central window of the ground floor was a full-relief sculpted cartouche holding the city's coat of arms flanked by bas relief cherubs.  The design was finished by a projecting stone cornice on carved brackets.

A row of delicate antefixae original lined the top of the cornice.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.  

The New York Times reported, "It is a three-story and basement structure, the first floor being devoted to adults and the second floor being reserved for children.  When its complement of books is on the shelves there will be between 10,000 and 12,000 volumes at the disposal of the readers."

McKim, Mead & White designed the Children's Reading Room as an inviting and home-like space, with a fireplace and informal tables and seating areas.

Three girls in the Children's Reading Room around 1908.  Their clothing attests to the upper-middle-class of the neighborhood.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.

Public libraries were not merely places to read and research.  They were the venues of lectures, readings, exhibitions, and meetings.  On November 16, 1913, for instance, the New-York Tribune reported that the five-year anniversary of the library included a concert by cellist Vladimir Dubinsky.  And on December 27, 1920, the Drama Calendar announced that the monthly meeting of the Drama Discussion Circle would be held here on January 12, 1921.  "The plays to be discussed are Enter Madame and Samson and Delilah."

Among the exhibitions held here was that of the work of Spanish-born artist Ismael Smith, which opened in October 1921.  Leah Lewinson, the branch librarian, told The American Hebrew, "The exhibition includes some of the artist's plates and tools used by the engraver and has, therefore, an educational as well as an artistic value."

An exhibition of "small canvases," done by the students of the National Academy of Design was held in May 1925; and during November that year a series of "Drama Discussions," was held here. 

In the winter of 1929, 15-year-old Howard Melvin Fast was hired at 15 cents per hour.  It was a fitting job for the teen.  Fast would become a prolific novelist, playwright and television writer under the pen names E. V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson.  The job in the 115th Street Branch Library would have an impact on his future life.  In his autobiography, Being Red: A Memoir, Howard Fast writes:

I loved working in the library.  The walls of books gave me a sense of history, of order, of meaning in this strange world...My wages averaged between seven and eight dollars a week, but in the shattered prices of deflation, that was decent money.  The important thing was the world of books around me.  I read everything without discrimination--psychology, astronomy, physics, history, and more history--and some of it I understood and some of it I didn't.

When Howard Fast was hired, the demographics of the Harlem neighborhood was changing from white to black.  The events within the library reflected the shift.  On March 21, 1936, The New York Age reported, "Aaron Douglas, noted artist, will be the guest speaker at the meeting of the Discussion Group...next Monday.  His subject will be 'The Negro in American Culture.'"  And on November 23, 1940, the newspaper announced on the upcoming talk by novelist Claude McKay about his latest book, Harlem--Negro Metropolis.

Beyond the wooden separations, adults read within a much formal setting than the children's on the first floor in 1908.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

Thirty-five years before President Gerald Ford acknowledged Black History Month, the 115th Street Branch held events.  On February 15, 1941, The New York Age reported, "'The Negro Defender of Freedom' will be the subject of a forum in celebration of Negro History Week at the 115th Street Branch of the New York Public Library...on Monday Evening, February 17."

A series "in the problems of young people" was held here in 1942.  The New York Age, February 21, 1942.

Regina M. Andrews (whose husband was Assemblyman William T. Andrews) was appointed head librarian here in 1940, becoming the first black head librarian of a local branch.  The New York Age commented on January 12, 1946, that since her appointment, "the 115th Street Branch...is known for its interracial program."  Andrews was, as well, a member of the Board of the National Urban League.

The building was temporarily closed in 1964 for refurbishing.  The branch continued to host programs, like the children's puppet show on February 24, 1987 by the Winnie Wilson Puppet Players.  Because it took place during Black History Month, the show included a "special tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King," announced New York Magazine.

At the time, Leslie Harrison had been head librarian here for two years.  He proved to be as influential as Regina M. Andrews.  That year he asked Manhattan Borough President David N. Dinkins to speak here.  Three years later, when Dinkins was the Mayor, he returned to speak in one of the 40 programs Harrison arranged for Black History Month.  Also speaking here that month was Rev. Calvin O. Butts of the Abyssinian Baptist Church; Supreme Court Justice Bruce Wright, who spoke of "African-American history" and read his poetry; authors Brenda Connor-Bey and William H. Banks, Jr.; and poet Adiodun Oyewole.

On February 26, 1990, Newsday reported, "The 30,000 volume library includes a formidable collection of books on black studies and other books catalogued under black experience.  It's no wonder that journalists like Bill Moyers would every so often turn to Harrison for help."

Leslie Harrison initiated creative programs to draw youths to the library.  He asked basketball player Patrick Ewing and Rev. Jesse Jackson, for instance, to speak especially to schoolchildren.  He explained to Newsday, "Even if kids come to see them only for that one time, they get inside the library."

photograph by Americasroof

In May 2017, the 115th Street Branch was renamed The Harry Belafonte, in honor of the civil rights leader and entertainer.  The Harry Belafonte Branch continues to be an integral part of the neighborhood, including its Black History Month programs at a time when diversity and equality is being threatened.