Bertha Pleasant Williams Dies

Lynn Blumenstein -- Library Journal, 12/1/2008 9:00:00 AM

• One of the first recipients of a library science degree from Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University)
• First African American professional librarian to work in Montgomery, AL
• Honored for civil rights leadership

Bertha Pleasant Williams, the first African American professional librarian to work in a Montgomery, AL, public library, died last week; she was 85. In 1948 Williams, a recent graduate from Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) with a library science degree, helped establish the Union Street Library. That institution was the first public library in the segregated city established for African Americans.

According to the Montgomery Advertiser, when African Americans lobbied for their own library, the library board conceded that they could have one if they hired a certified librarian. Williams was one of the first graduates of Atlanta University’s library science program.

Williams worked at the mccpl.lib.al.us Montgomery City-County Public Library System for her entire career. Alabama’s public libraries were integrated in 1963.

Williams was honored in 2005 as “an unsung hero” for being a founding member of the Women’s Political Council at the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a civil rights action protesting the city’s segregated public transit system.

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