Annie Lou McPheeters (née Watters) (February 22, 1908 – December 23, 1994) was an

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

librarian and civil rights activist. She was known for starting the Negro History Collection at the Auburn Carnegie Library, in

Atlanta Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County and extends into neighboring DeKalb County. With a population of 520,070 (2024 estimate) living within the city limits, Atlan ...

. The

Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System The Fulton County Library System is a network of public libraries serving the City of Atlanta and Fulton County, both in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is administered by Fulton County. The system is composed of the Atlanta Central Libr ...

named the Washington Park/Annie L. McPheeters Branch Library in honor of her work. In 1936 she became the librarian of the Auburn Carnegie Library, in Atlanta GA, where she started the Negro History Collection and was also instrumental in the creation of educational programs. She was the head librarian at that library in the 1930s and 1940s. She was the first African-American professional librarian with the Atlanta Public Library system, working within the Negro Department with two other librarians beginning in 1949. She oversaw three segregated library branches—Auburn, University Homes and West Hunter. In the 1950s those branches led educational programs for their Black patrons on topics such as politics and government, teaching their patrons how to use voting machines, and running discussion programs about civics. She interacted with library patrons such as a young

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

and

Maynard Jackson Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. (March 23, 1938 – June 23, 2003) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 52nd mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 1974 to 1982, and again as the city's 54th mayor from 1990 to 1994. A member of the ...

. McPheeters personally campaigned for library desegregation in Atlanta, which was finally achieved in 1959. From 1966 to 1975, she worked as a librarian at

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

, making her the first African-American faculty member at that school. From 1977 to 1979 she worked as a consultant at

Pergamon Press Pergamon Press was an Oxford-based publishing house, founded by Paul Rosbaud and Robert Maxwell, that published scientific and medical books and journals. Originally called Butterworth-Springer, it is now an imprint of Elsevier. History The c ...

Early life and education

McPheeters was born on February 22, 1908, in Berwin, Georgia to Josephine (Dozier) Watters and William A. Watters. She grew up in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statist ...

and then moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

for high school and college. Her undergraduate education was at

Clark Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded on September19, 1865, as Atlanta University, it was the first HBCU in the South ...

(English Literature, 1929) and

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missiona ...

(Library Science, 1933), and in 1947 she completed a postgraduate degree in Library Science at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. In 1940 she married Alphonso McPheeters, a professor of education at Clark University. She was a member of the Helen A. Whiting Society, the Utopian Literary Club, and the

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is an List of African American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. Alpha Kappa Alpha ...

sorority. She died on December 23, 1994. Her papers are housed in the Auburn Avenue Research Library.

Bibliography

* An Educational Program For The Blind (1944) * Library Eyes For The Blind (1944) * Atlanta Branch Aids Negro Group (1949) * Negro Progress In Atlanta, Georgia, 1950-1960 * Scarcity Of Children's Librarians In Public Libraries (1960) * Negro Progress In Atlanta, Georgia, 1961-1970 (1974) * Library Service In Black And White. Some Personal Recollections (1988)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McPheeters, Annie 1908 births 1994 deaths African-American activists African-American librarians 20th-century American librarians 20th-century American women librarians Clark Atlanta University alumni Hampton University alumni Columbia University School of Library Service alumni 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people