Braddock Carnegie Library Childrens Library

The Braddock Carnegie Library in

Braddock, Pennsylvania Braddock is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 1,721 as of the 2020 United States ...

, is the first Carnegie Library in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. As such, the library was named a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 2012, following its listing on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1973, and is on the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation's List of Historic Landmarks.

Design, timeline and building

William Halsey Wood William Halsey Wood (April 24, 1855 – March 13, 1897) was an American architect. Early life Wood was the youngest of four sons born to Daniel Halsey Wood and Hannah Lippincott Wood. Shortly after his birth in 1855, the family relocated from D ...

in eclectic medieval style, the library sits on property acquired by

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

with his wife in November, 1885, while existing evidence indicates that the design was approved in March, 1886. The building was dedicated by Carnegie in person at ceremonies on March 30, 1889. Circulation of books also began that month. An addition in more Richardson Romanesque style by Longfellow, Alden & Harlow (successors to HH Richardson) followed in 1893. (Another Halsey Wood design,

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

, presently an artists retreat/center in Saratoga Springs NY, is now also a

.) The Carnegie foundation provided a grant of $357,782 () for its construction, a figure that is believed to reflect the total of the 1889 and 1893 structures. Like some of the other early Carnegie libraries, the building housed various recreational facilities for its users, including billiard tables on the first floor. (Carnegie was himself quite fond of billiards, which was quite fashionable at the time.) A bathhouse in the basement, originally accessed by a tunnel under the front entrance, provided Carnegie's millworkers with a place to shower (at a time when indoor plumbing was not the norm) before using the facilities. Now re-purposed as a pottery studio, the tiled walls and floor remain, suggesting its original purpose. The 1893 addition approximately doubled the size of the building, and brought many further amenities not usually associated with a library, including a 964-seat Music Hall, a gymnasium, a swimming pool (beneath the Music hall), and a two-lane duckpin alley. At least in the early years, the athletic/recreational facilities were available to members of the "Carnegie Club" who paid a modest quarterly fee. Employees of any Carnegie-owned company received a 50% discount, which in 1903 amounted to $1/quarter (). Three sets of decorative cast-iron panels with elements that include a shield and oak leaves are located below the first-floor bay-front windows of the Halsey Wood façade. While design does not appear to contain any parts of the Braddock or Carnegie family crests, the Braddock family name derives from the Old English 'broad oak' (English oak, ''

Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It ...

'') which has leaves similar to those in the panels. Two specimens of ''Q robur'' now flank the entryway steps.

Demise

The Library remained in continuous use from 1889 to 1974, when neglect of the structure and lack of funds for repair, particularly of the roof, forced its closure. It was slated for demolition in the late 1970s when a group of residents for whom the Library had represented a very positive influence in their youth, organized to save the structure. Calling themselves the Braddock's Field Historical Society and led by David Solomon, the last librarian, they purchased the building for $1 and took steps to secure the building and attend to the roof. (The Society's name refers to

Braddock's Field Braddock's Field is a historic battlefield on the banks of the Monongahela River, at Braddock, Pennsylvania, near the junction of Turtle Creek, about nine miles southeast of the "Forks of the Ohio" in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1755, the Bat ...

, the colonial-era name of the area, relating to the

Battle of the Monongahela The Battle of the Monongahela (also known as the Battle of Braddock's Field and the Battle of the Wilderness) took place on July 9, 1755, at the beginning of the French and Indian War at Braddock's Field in present-day Braddock, Pennsylvania, ...

fought on July 9, 1755, a few blocks away.)

Renewal

Initially re-opening a single room as a children's library in 1983, with kerosene heat, the Society slowly but steadily re-occupied the building. The wood-paneled gym was restored in the early 1990s, and the roof was restored to its original terracotta appearance in 1998, along with the interior walls of the Music Hall, which had suffered substantial water damage from the leaking roof. May 17, 2013: Re-decking the floor of the Music Hall continues with completion of the West Bank. Ponderosa Pine flooring is being replaced with more durable hickory, matching the original curved pattern but adding 6"/row. Prototype restored original 1893 Thos. Kane Co. seat showing wooden spacers on either side of the backrest, to widen the seat. Currently, library services for adults have largely moved to the first floor, while a new Children's Library with dedicated staffing opened in March 2012 on the second floor. In the basement space originally occupied by a bathhouse (for Carnegie's millworkers to clean up before entering upstairs spaces), the Bathhouse Ceramics Studio offers pottery lessons to the community. Work on the Music Hall continued through 2025, with restoration of the floor and the original 1893 Thos. Kane Co. seats the main focus. In October 2013, the Library inaugurated its Art Lending Collection, which enables patrons to borrow original artwork including life-sized puppets, as part of the 2013

Carnegie International The Carnegie International is a North American exhibition of contemporary art from around the globe. It was first organized at the behest of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie on November 5, 1896, in Pittsburgh. Carnegie established ...

Opening Weekend.

In pop culture

The building has been used in several cinematic productions. The earliest known,

Tony Buba Anthony E. "Tony" Buba (born October 20, 1943) is an American filmmaker. He is primarily known for his documentaries focusing on the working-class communities and social issues in his hometown Braddock, Pennsylvania and the nearby Pittsburgh. Lif ...

's music video from ~1982 of Frenchy Burrito's cover of the

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians. Although his r ...

classic, "

Terraplane Blues "Terraplane Blues" is a blues song recorded in 1936 in San Antonio, Texas, by bluesman Robert Johnson. Vocalion issued it as Johnson's first 78 rpm record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) ...

", was filmed in the gymnasium. Subsequently, it has served as a Brooklyn police station in the TV movie, ''The Bride in Black'' (1990), with

Susan Lucci Susan Victoria Lucci (born December 23, 1946) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Erica Kane on the ABC daytime drama ''All My Children'' during that show's entire network run from 1970 to 2011. The character is considere ...

and

David Soul David Soul (born David Richard Solberg; August 28, 1943 – January 4, 2024) was an American-British actor and singer. With a career spanning five decades, he rose to prominence for portraying Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the Americ ...

; as an orphanage in the TV movie, '' The Christmas Tree'' (1996), with

Julie Harris Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary roles, she earned numerous accolades including five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play, three Emmy Awards, and a Grammy ...

, which was

Sally Field Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has performed in movies, Broadway theater, television, and made records of popular music. Known for her extensive work on screen and stage, she has received many accola ...

's directorial debut; and as (separately) a museum and gymnasium in ''

Shelter A shelter is an architectural structure or natural formation (or a combination of the two) providing protection from the local environment. A shelter can serve as a home or be provided by a residential institution. It can be understood as both ...

'' (2010), with

Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress and children's author. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent ...

and

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe; 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor. He is known for his roles in the films ''Michael Collins'' (1996), '' Velvet Goldmine'' (1998), ''Titus'' (1999), ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (2002), '' ...

. In early Dec 2014, the Library was the location for filming sequences of Dr. Bennet Omalu's office in

Concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

, with

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...

and

Albert Brooks Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein; July 22, 1947) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1987 comedy-drama film '' Broadcast News' ...

. The library's gym was turned into an auditorium for the Quantum Theater production of a one-man show, ''The Return of Benjamin Lay'', in early 2025. The library was featured in the 2025 documentary ''Free for All: The Public Library'' (dir. Dawn Logsdon and Lucie Faulknor).https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/free-for-all/

References

Bibliography