Faith Cabin Libraries were a system of libraries created in South Carolina and Georgia providing library services to Black Americans who were not allowed to use public libraries because of segregation laws. [1]
This library system was created in the 1930s and 1940s by Willie Lee Buffington, a White mill worker, and his childhood friend, a Black teacher Euriah Simpkins. [2] [3] Simpkins had invited Buffington to the opening of a Saluda County school for Black students. Buffington, surprised and upset by the lack of books in the school, began a letter-writing campaign to area churches soliciting book donations for his library project. [3] However, there were too many books for the school itself, so Buffington and Simpkins decided to build a library themselves. [3]
The first library--the Lizze Koon unit after Buffington's mother--a small free-standing log cabin building, opened in 1932 in Saluda County. [2] [3] It was 18 feet by 22 feet with a rock chimney. [4] The building's furniture was barrels for chairs and kerosene lamps for illumination. [4] At the library's opening, a community member said "we didn't have money, all we had was faith" which lent a name to both the building and the movement as Faith Cabin Libraries. [5]
Simpkins' and Buffington's project spread throughout South Carolina and Georgia, through print publications such as Southern Workman and, later, publications such as Reader's Digest, the Saturday Evening Post and Library Journal. [5] Buffington was active in publicity for the project, appearing on the Hobby Lobby radio program; his appearance helped raise enough money for a library in Lexington, South Carolina. [5] Ted Malone profiled the movement in a 1948 radio broadcast. [5] Buffington's life and the origin story of the movement was dramatized in 1951 in the Cavalcade of America radio series . [5]
Buffington, who was on the faculty of Paine College, a Methodist college in Augusta, Georgia, created a slide collection with a script that could be used by Woman's Society of Christian Service of the Methodist Church to promote the movement. [5] Buffington's salary for the project was being paid by divisions of the Methodist church by the early 1950s. [5]
The Works Progress Administration provided library services throughout the state of South Carolina between 1936 and 1943, however it was disproportionately providing services to White people. [5] During the time the WPA provided library services to South Carolina, there were more Faith Cabin Libraries serving the Black population than WPA libraries. [5] The State Library Board actively denied the existence and continued operation of Faith Cabin libraries in the early 1950s. [5]
Buffington worked with Robert Cousins who was the director of Negro Education in Georgia, to identify communities who wanted Faith Cabin libraries. [5] Assistance in curating and organizing book collections in libraries was provided by the Atlanta University Library School. [5] Seventy-five Faith Cabin libraries were established in Georgia between 1944 and 1960, primarily in school buildings. [5]
In total, there were twenty-nine Faith Cabin Libraries built in South Carolina and over seventy in Georgia. [6] Each community was responsible for housing the book collection and operating their own library. [5]
In the 1950s and 1960s school consolidations eliminated many of the smaller schools with Faith Cabin collections, and public libraries were integrated by the mid-1960s. [5] The library system remained active until the mid-1970s. [4] The Faith Cabin Library at Paine College remained open and available until Buffington retired in 1975. [5] There are three remaining free-standing Faith Cabin Library buildings, one in Pendleton, South Carolina, one in Saluda County, South Carolina and one in Seneca, South Carolina. [7] [8] The building in Seneca is being repurposed as a Black history museum. [9]
Faith Cabin Libraries were a system of libraries created in South Carolina and Georgia providing library services to Black Americans who were not allowed to use public libraries because of segregation laws. [1]
This library system was created in the 1930s and 1940s by Willie Lee Buffington, a White mill worker, and his childhood friend, a Black teacher Euriah Simpkins. [2] [3] Simpkins had invited Buffington to the opening of a Saluda County school for Black students. Buffington, surprised and upset by the lack of books in the school, began a letter-writing campaign to area churches soliciting book donations for his library project. [3] However, there were too many books for the school itself, so Buffington and Simpkins decided to build a library themselves. [3]
The first library--the Lizze Koon unit after Buffington's mother--a small free-standing log cabin building, opened in 1932 in Saluda County. [2] [3] It was 18 feet by 22 feet with a rock chimney. [4] The building's furniture was barrels for chairs and kerosene lamps for illumination. [4] At the library's opening, a community member said "we didn't have money, all we had was faith" which lent a name to both the building and the movement as Faith Cabin Libraries. [5]
Simpkins' and Buffington's project spread throughout South Carolina and Georgia, through print publications such as Southern Workman and, later, publications such as Reader's Digest, the Saturday Evening Post and Library Journal. [5] Buffington was active in publicity for the project, appearing on the Hobby Lobby radio program; his appearance helped raise enough money for a library in Lexington, South Carolina. [5] Ted Malone profiled the movement in a 1948 radio broadcast. [5] Buffington's life and the origin story of the movement was dramatized in 1951 in the Cavalcade of America radio series . [5]
Buffington, who was on the faculty of Paine College, a Methodist college in Augusta, Georgia, created a slide collection with a script that could be used by Woman's Society of Christian Service of the Methodist Church to promote the movement. [5] Buffington's salary for the project was being paid by divisions of the Methodist church by the early 1950s. [5]
The Works Progress Administration provided library services throughout the state of South Carolina between 1936 and 1943, however it was disproportionately providing services to White people. [5] During the time the WPA provided library services to South Carolina, there were more Faith Cabin Libraries serving the Black population than WPA libraries. [5] The State Library Board actively denied the existence and continued operation of Faith Cabin libraries in the early 1950s. [5]
Buffington worked with Robert Cousins who was the director of Negro Education in Georgia, to identify communities who wanted Faith Cabin libraries. [5] Assistance in curating and organizing book collections in libraries was provided by the Atlanta University Library School. [5] Seventy-five Faith Cabin libraries were established in Georgia between 1944 and 1960, primarily in school buildings. [5]
In total, there were twenty-nine Faith Cabin Libraries built in South Carolina and over seventy in Georgia. [6] Each community was responsible for housing the book collection and operating their own library. [5]
In the 1950s and 1960s school consolidations eliminated many of the smaller schools with Faith Cabin collections, and public libraries were integrated by the mid-1960s. [5] The library system remained active until the mid-1970s. [4] The Faith Cabin Library at Paine College remained open and available until Buffington retired in 1975. [5] There are three remaining free-standing Faith Cabin Library buildings, one in Pendleton, South Carolina, one in Saluda County, South Carolina and one in Seneca, South Carolina. [7] [8] The building in Seneca is being repurposed as a Black history museum. [9]