Named event or history

The Orange County Negro Public Library and the struggle for equal library service, 1936–1960s

From the school library that served Black Hillsborough in 1936 to the building Black residents paid for, dedicated in 1951, with separate service still running in 1962; when it ended is not yet documented.

2 indexed records are connected with this event.

Search these 2 works Continue your research Works in the index ↓

In the index

Related works found in catalogs and archives across North Carolina. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it.

The Hyconeechee Regional Library, Caswell County, Orange County, Person County: a self-study and community analysis

1977 · [The Library], 1977

NC Cardinal

African-American Access Policies at the Consolidated University of North Carolina Libraries, 1951-1958

2012 · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

UNC

In the chronology

Dated events connected with this event, earliest first. See the whole chronology →

July 1936 The school library at Hillsborough High School for Negroes also served as the public library for Black residents The twelve-room school building was put up in July 1936 on land bought from Louis Wilson and George Mayo, and its library served the local Black community as a…Open Orange: Central High School (Original)
1945 A Negro library committee was already running library service for Black readers in Orange County The committee met in September 1945 under chairman Mrs. M. D. McPherson, reported over a hundred new books received and 800 books circulated during the summer,… People: Marinda D. McPhersonDigitalNC: The News of Orange County, September 13, 1945, page 7
May 22, 1949 The Orange County Negro Public Library held its grand opening at the community center in Hillsboro The library opened on a Sunday afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m. with Mrs. M. D. McPherson as directress and Miss Victoria Craig as librarian. Mrs. Douglas Davis, the… People: Marinda D. McPhersonDigitalNC: The News of Orange County, May 26, 1949, page 8
June 1950 Black residents opened a fund drive to build the Orange County Negro Public Library a building of its own The library then held 2,254 books in a single room with shelves full and volumes stacked on the floor, and had circulated 2,015 books in the year. A committee … People: Marinda D. McPhersonDigitalNC: The News of Orange County, June 29, 1950, page 5
May 27, 1951 Orange County Negro Public Library dedicates its own building About 150 people attended an open house on May 27, 1951 dedicating the Orange County Negro Public Library's own building in Hillsborough, a structure bought fr…DigitalNC: The News of Orange County, May 31, 1951, page 1 (Open House Officially Opens Community Library For Negro Citizens Here Sunday)
March 1962 Orange County was still running a separate library for Black readers The county bookmobile schedule printed in March 1962 listed a Thursday stop from 1:30 to 2:00 at the Orange Co. Negro Public Library. The previous year's vacat…DigitalNC: The News of Orange County, March 29, 1962, page 5

Continue your research

Context

Background from selected state and local sources

NCpedia: Public Libraries NCpedia How North Carolina’s public library systems grew, including the regional libraries of the 1940s
Alliance for Historic Hillsborough: Central High School / Agnes Kindergarten Alliance for Historic Hillsborough
Orange County Historical Museum: The Shaping of a Special Institution Other source
Related to the chronology entry “Orange County Negro Public Library Dedicates Its Own Building” (May 27, 1951).

Ask locally

Local organizations that preserve the story and can help you go further

Friends’ history timeline: the Orange County Negro Public Library opens, May 1951 Public library local history The Friends’ sourced account: the 1951 opening on the Central High grounds, Agnes Whitted’s librarianship, and the library’s place in the Hyconeechee Regional Library
Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection (OCPL) The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
Local History Help Hours and request form OCPL Local History Liaison The library’s Local History Liaison helps in person most Mondays, 12 to 3, at the Main Library, or by the online request form

Go further

Other catalogs to search and local organizations that can help.

Read contemporary evidence: Hyconeechee Regional Library constitution (ERIC) Other source The founding document of the regional system that listed the Negro Public Library as a member unit from 1951–52
Read contemporary evidence: Statistics of North Carolina Public Libraries, 1947–1957 (HathiTrust) Other source The State Library’s annual figures naming Agnes Whitted as librarian
Search beyond the index: NC LIVE: prepared search for The Orange County Negro Public Library and the struggle for equal library service, 1936–1960s NC LIVE An advanced search of the state’s shared databases already scoped to Orange County’s places and this subject; edit it freely, and sign in through your North Carolina library to read

Background reading at OCPL

Held in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection. Selected because their titles or catalog subjects provide wider historical context for this event; they may not discuss the Orange County event directly.

Background reading · Rebecca Wall Collection Triumph of Good Will: How Terry Sanford Beat A Champion of Segregation and Reshaped the South Drescher, John · 2000 Subjects in the Library of Congress catalog record: Sanford, Terry, -- 1917-1998; Governors -- North Carolina -- Election -- History -- 20th century; African Americans -- Segregation -- North Carolina -- History -- 20th century
Background reading · Rebecca Wall Collection The State Library and Library Development in North Carolina Mitchell, Thornton W. · 1983 Subjects in the Library of Congress catalog record: North Carolina State Library; North Carolina Library Commission; Libraries and state -- North Carolina
Background reading · Rebecca Wall Collection Libraries and Literature in North Carolina in the Eighteenth Century Weeks, Stephen Beauregard · 1896 Subjects in the Library of Congress catalog record: Libraries -- North Carolina -- History -- 18th century; American literature -- North Carolina -- Bibliography

Search the Wall Collection for this event →

Connected

Part of Schools & Education Black Life & Civil Rights Libraries, Archives & Public Memory Community & Civic Organizations

People Marinda D. McPherson

Related themes Literature & Publishing UNC & Campus Life

Cite or share

Friends of the Orange County Public Library. “The Orange County Negro Public Library and the struggle for equal library service, 1936–1960s.” Orange County Indexed, https://focplnc.org/orange-county-books/topics/negro-public-library-1948/. Accessed September 19, 2026.

Indexed records are gathered from library and archive catalogs across North Carolina, last refreshed September 14, 2026. Chronology entries were last updated September 14, 2026.

Orange County Indexed is maintained by the Friends of the Orange County Public Library. Related works are grouped using catalog subject headings; outside sources are selected by hand. Suggest a correction or a source →

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Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library — Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026