Lucille Baldwin Brown

This article is about the librarian. For the film actress, see Lucile Browne.
Lucille Baldwin Brown
Brown c. 1940
BornMay 15, 1922
Tallahassee, Florida
DiedAugust 17, 2019(2019-08-17) (aged 97)
Tallahassee, Florida
Occupationlibrarian

Lucille Baldwin Holliday Brown (May 15, 1922 - August 17, 2019) was an American librarian known for being the first Black public county librarian in the state of Florida.[1] During segregation she led a campaign for a library for Leon County's black residents. That library was housed in a local school, Lincoln High School.[2]

She worked primarily in school libraries in Leon County, working in Griffin High School and Bond Elementary (then a junior high school). Later in her career she worked night shifts at the Northwood Mall's public library.[2] She served as the membership chair for the Florida division of the American Association of School Libraries.[3]

Brown was born to Mr. and Mrs. Dallis Baldwin on Suwannee Street in the Smoky Hollow community of Tallahassee, Florida, one of ten children.[4] She was a charter member of Sigma Gamma Rho.[5] She was married to George (Rabbit) Holliday in 1941, they had one son, Lee Duval Holliday.[6] After he died in 1975, she married James Brown in 1979.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Lucille Baldwin Brown". Florida Memory. Florida Division of Library and Information Services. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b Hassanein, Nada; Democrat, Tallahassee (2019-08-30). "Lucille Brown, first black Leon County librarian, dies at 97". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
  3. ^ "[ALA Organization and Information]". ALA Bulletin. 50 (11). American Library Association: 731. 1956. ISSN 0364-4006. JSTOR 25694885. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
  4. ^ "Remembering Smokey Hollow". Spruce Pine Cottage. 2013-03-26. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
  5. ^ "Sigma Gamma Rho sorority ceremony - Tallahassee, Florida". Florida Memory. Florida Division of Library and Information Services. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Lucille Brown Obituary (2019) - Tallahassee, FL - Tallahassee Democrat". Legacy.com. 2019-08-17. Retrieved 2022-02-03.