Flint Public Library

Flint Public Library
International Style - MidCentury Modern

The Flint Public Library is a little gem within greater Flint. It is a place where children can discover the magic of reading, where teens can gather in study groups after school, it is where people of all ages can explore reading and writing of all kinds through classes or independent exploration. Whether you are in the library once per week or once per year, it is impossible not to appreciate its warmth, opportunity, and maybe even nostalgia.

The Flint Public Library building can be found in the Flint Cultural Center, on the corner of Crapo street and East Kearsley Street. It is surrounded by the Flint Institute of Music, the Flint Institute of Arts, and the beautiful old Central High School building. The library was designed by Sulho Alexander Nurmi of Louis C. Kingscott & Associates, and built in 1958. Similarly to the buildings within the cultural center and the municipal complex, the library building was designed with an ‘International Style,’ an architectural style category within Modern architecture. This design style is expressed through the gray-colored panels, denoting the building’s service. Also notably, the modern architectural features include flat surfaces, linear expanses of window groupings contrasted by windowless surfaces, and unified exterior materials. This building, however was not Flint’s first library.

A view of the current Mid-Century library not long after its door opened to the public

The Architectural Firm

Michigan-based Louis C. Kingscott & Associates, originally called Stewart-Kingscott Company, Engineers & Architects, was the partnership of two engineers, Louis C. Kingscott and Donald A Stewart, in 1929, in Kalamazoo. Some of their notable works include the University of Michigan's Law Men's Dormitory (1938), many of the small brick State Police posts scattered across the state (1940-50s), the Gerald Ford Federal Building in Grand Rapids (1966), Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery (1975), the Epic Center in Kalamazoo (2000), and the revitilization of the Kalamazoo Transportation Center (2006). They are the second oldest firm in Michigan.

Flint Public Library Origins: March 22, 1851

There have been three Flint Public Library locations. The first was founded in 1851, by the Ladies Library Association of Flint, a group of women who were active in the local community. Initially a Flint Board of Education department, it evolved into a district library serving residents of Flint and its surrounding communities.

Original handwritten letter from W.L Bancroft, regarding his priceless donation of the folio edition of John James Audobon's "Birds of America" in 1871

Type-written version of Mr. Bancroft's original document

An image from "Birds of America", which is filled with John James Audubon's splendid watercolor paintings

The Ladies Library Association of Flint

1851: The Ladies Library Association was the guiding hand and the ambitious force behind the Flint Public Library we enjoy today. The long-term vision of this civic-minded group, started with an initial, small gathering in the home of Maria Smith Stockton, daughter of Flint’s first white settler, trapper Jacob Smith. The women organized their efforts in order to provide education, enlightenment, and culture to the burgeoning community, adopting their constitution and appointing the association’s officers on March 22, 1851. Those first officers included Maria Smith Stockton, President; Almira Simpson Walker, Vice President; Sophia Gotee Jenney, Recording Secretary and writer of their constitution; and Mary Dodge Miles, Treasurer. The first librarian was Hattie Stewart. In 1853, the Association was incorporated under the leadership of then president, Louisa Smith Payne, another of Jacob Smith’s children.

First created as a private library, member and subscribers paid dues of $10 annually, funds which were then used to purchase new volumes, and ultimately, became the seed money to erect the first building, along with additional fundraising. Donations furnished the original collection, along with loaning or exchanges between members. By the end of the library’s inaugural year, the inventory of books numbered 240, and the library fund totaled $160.

1868: The Association circulated plans for a new library construction, raising interest and well as funds required. Along with many smaller pledges, seven wealthy and well-known Flint citizens, in particular, donated $200 each (roughly $6,300 in 2020 dollars): Henry H. Crapo and Josiah W. Begole (both future Michigan Governors), James B. Walker, Henry M. Henderson, A. Thayer, A. M. McFarlen, and Reuben Van Tifflin. On June 30, 1868, the building, located on Kearsley and Beach Streets, finally opened its doors, honored by Governor Henry H. Crapo, who delivered a speech during the dedication.

1871: A folio edition of John James Audubon's beautiful pictorial “Birds of America” was donated by the Honorable William L. Bancroft of Port Huron, a prized gem of the library's collection.

1884: After numerous efforts to donate the library to the City of Flint, which were declined, Flint’s Board of the Union School District agreed to the transfer of control of the library. Thirty-three years after that first congregation of like-minded women, the library retained a total of 4,000 volumes, and became public on June 28, 1884.

The Carnegie Library

Flint's Carnegie Library, located on the corner of East Kearsley Street and Clifford Street (demolished 1960)

In the early 1900’s, the famous philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie devoted his life’s earnings to a multitude of things, but most notably, libraries. Carnegie’s efforts led to 3,000 libraries being built throughout the United States, Britain, Canada, and other English-speaking countries. Flint was lucky enough to be touched by Carnegie’s generosity. In 1902, Flint was gifted a beautiful Carnegie library, which was located on the corner of East Kearsley Street and Clifford Street. The library was a large, stone construction building, suggestive of Greek style. The Carnegie libraries were known for their large entry stairways, which was meant to symbolize a person’s elevation by learning. Outside of the library, stood a lamppost or lantern, which symbolized enlightenment. This beautiful piece of architectural history was later demolished in 1960, shortly after the new building was erected in 1958.

Who Was Andrew Carnegie?

Andrew Carnegie, 1905

Andrew Carnegie, an immigrant from Scotland, came to greatness during the time of the American Industrial Age. An immensely ambitious, intelligent, and industrious man, he became one of the richest people in American history.

Poor and struggling, his parents immigrated to the United States in 1848, when he was thirteen, settling in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Immediately finding work, he began as a bobbin boy at a cotton mill in Pittsburgh. Shortly thereafter, he became a telegraph messanger, and by eighteen was employed as a secretary/telegraph operator for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, under industrialist Thomas A. Scott. His association with Scott, who was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as Assistant Secretary of War, during the Civil War, placed Carnegie in the position essential for his future successes. Under Scott's tutelage he learned how to run a business, develop relationships, and invest. During these early years he steadily grew his wealth through a series of investments, deals, and interests in the developing railroad industry, oil derricks, bridges, and bond sales. Through his greatest venture, Carnegie Steel, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, he amassed one of the greatest fortunes in modern history.

He had always been charitable, but in 1901, Carnegie moved to devote the balance of his life to philanthropy rather than business. In a secret buyout, he sold Carnegie Steel to financier and banker J. P. Morgan, collecting a purse of $480 million. That money, along with the balance of his holdings, made him the richest man on the planet. Carnegie Steel consequently became known as US Steel Corporation. His philanthropic interests focused on advancing education, social advancement, and social interests.

Why libraries? When Carnegie was quite young and still working as a telegraph operator in Pittsburgh, he was fortunate to have the resources of Colonel James Anderson made available to him. The Colonel had a 400 book personal library, which he opened every Saturday evening, for free, to working boys. Through this generosity, Carnegie, an unquenchable reader and frequent borrower, was able to expand his knowledge and education. Carnegie said, “This is but a slight tribute and gives only a faint idea of the depth of gratitude which I feel for what he did for me and my companions. It was from my own early experience that I decided there was no use to which money could be applied so productive of good to boys and girls who have good within them and ability and ambition to develop it, as the founding of a public library in a community". His first library opened in his birthplace, Dunfirmline, Scotland in 1883; his mother laid the cornerstone for the foundation. In his lifetime his philanthropy funded the building and books for 1,679 in the United States, alone, one of those being located in Flint, Michigan. Carnegie donated $55 million to establish free public libraries throughout the English speaking world.

Excerpt from:

History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, 1916

"Wheels and the printing press have made the world more neighborly. That cosmopolitan Scot, Mr. Carnegie, who has taken the whole country under his wing, made it possible in 1905 for Flint to erect a steel-framed house for its books. It is constructed of stone, in style suggestive of the Greek, on the corner of Clifford and East Kearsley streets. The interior furnishings are handsome and a good collection of photographs ornament the walls. Perhaps the greatest treasure contained in the library is one of the original volumes of Audubon's "Birds of America," now priceless. This volume, together with three descriptive volumes, was a gift to the Ladies' Library Association in 1876 from Hon. William L. Bancroft, of Port Huron. On the second floor of the building is housed the museum of the Genesee County Historical Society, thus forming a valuable adjunct to the available literature concerning this locality. The work of the head librarian, Mrs. Lena Caldwell, extending over a period of thirty years, cannot be over-estimated.

Four deposit libraries have been placed in different sections during the past year, collections of books being send from the public library to the Dort school, the Fairview school, Hurley hospital and the Marvel Carburetor company and it is planned to establish five or six more of these libraries during the coming year. In view of the fact that the present public library is inadequate for the needs of the city, land has been purchased adjoining the building on the east, and large wings will soon be added to make room for the rapidly increasing number of volumes.

The annual report for the year closing July 1, 1916, shows a circulation for the year of 67,965 volumes and 8,m226 persons enrolled on the card system. There are 17,376 volumes in the library, 1,745 of which were added during the year just ended. The board of education in 1914 set aside a room to be known as the "Genesee County Historical Room and Museum." It has developed into a very valuable collection of pioneer and pre-historic relics and specimens. The Silas Collins collection, the gift of Silas Collins, of Grand Blanc, is one of the best in the country."

History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions
by Edwin O. Wood, LL.D, President Michigan Historical Commission, 1916

Today's Library

Currently Flint has multiple libraries, including the Flint Public Library in the Flint Cultural Center, with its temporary home in the Courtland Center Mall, while the main library undergoes extensive renovations.

Libraries are full of exploration and opportunities and we can be thankful to the group of women activists who first brought the idea to Flint and to Andrew Carnegie for providing our city with the resources to bring their ideas to life.

Contributed by Bailey Ramirez

About Bailey: Bailey is an architectural designer for a small firm, in Davison. She has a Bachelors of Architecture and is currently finishing up her Masters of Architecture from Lawrence Technological University. She is also a board member of the GCHS, serving on the society’s Preservation Committee.

Special Sections: Ladies Library Association, The Architectural Firm, and Andrew Carnegie contributed by Tracy Leigh Fisher

Sources:

https://fpl.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Ladies_Library_Association_and_Letter.pdf
http://www.mycitymag.com/the-flint-public-library165-years-of-dedication/
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mi/county/lapeer/gen/ch20/flintlib4.html
History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, by Edwin O. Wood, LL.D, President Michigan Historical Commission, 1916
Book of the Golden Jubilee: Flint, Michigan, 1855-1905, Flint Public Library Collections: Scrapbook 1901-1912, 1958-1962
https://www.kingscott.com/about/history/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie
https://www.carnegie.org/interactives/foundersstory/#!/

Photo credit:
Photography provided by Collections of the Flint Public Library, circa 1958-1962