The Soldiers' Free Library was established in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, to supply Union troops with reading material. The library also held other items for the troops' use, including crutches, stationery, and clothing, many of these handmade donations from women's organizations.

Origins

John A. Fowle and Elida Rumsey, wartime relief workers who married in 1863, founded the Soldiers' Free Library in Washington, D.C. during the American Civil War. They formalized their plan in 1862, with a circular in 1862 seeking donations of suitable "hospital reading" for the troops. The couple, especially Rumsey, sang patriotic songs (some of them written by Fowle) at benefit concerts to raise funds for the library. Rev.

Theodore T. Munger Theodore Thornton Munger (March 5, 1830 - January 11, 1910) was an American Congregational clergyman, theologian and writer. Biography Born on March 5, 1830, in Bainbridge, New York, Munger graduated from Yale University in 1851 and from Yale ...

and Mrs. Walter Baker of

Dorchester, Boston Dorchester () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood comprising more than in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester, Dorset, E ...

were major donors and organizers from the beginning of the effort.

During the war

The Soldiers' Free Library opened in October 1862, initially housed in the Rumsey family home, with Elida Rumsey as unofficial librarian. It held about 1,500 books, and hundreds of magazines at the start. Soon the donations overwhelmed the space available. A convalescent soldier, Samuel K. Crozier of the 124th Pennsylvania, took over librarian duties, and separate quarters were arranged. The library was specifically open to military and civilian patrons of any race. Donations continued to arrive; beyond books, the library offered each soldier visitor an apple, a gingerbread cake, and embossed stationery on New Years' Day in 1863. In the spring of 1863, a building in

Judiciary Square Judiciary Square is a neighborhood in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., the vast majority of which is occupied by various federal and municipal courthouses and office buildings. Judiciary Square is located roughly between Pennsylvania A ...

was given for the use of the library by the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...

, providing storage for donated medical supplies, food, and clothing, as well as books and a reading room. Tables, ink, and postage were provided for soldiers to write and send letters. Crozier was succeeded as librarian by Philo Tower, a New York soldier who had been a clergyman in civilian life, and enjoyed giving lectures about the library's work. The Soldiers' Free Library grew to hold approximately six thousand books and other monographs. Popular donations were Bibles, Shakespeare, and ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

'', but the collection also included stories for young readers, scientific texts,

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

' novels, poetry collections, hymnals, and histories. Donors, including grateful patrons, gave the library subscriptions to popular magazines. The library also provided space for concerts for wounded soldiers, classes, prayer meetings, and church services.

After the war

After the war, the books from the library were donated to the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

, and the building to the

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was a U.S. government agency of early post American Civil War Reconstruction, assisting freedmen (i.e., former enslaved people) in the ...

. The building was demolished in 1873; its location became the site of a government office building in 1885. Philanthropist

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 ...

recognized Fowle and Rumsey as "pioneers" in the creation of free libraries, saying "In your footsteps I simply follow." Elida Rumsey Fowle later started a free library in Dorchester, Boston, and sent books to soldiers in the Spanish-American War and to Indian schools in Alaska. The records of the Soldiers' Free Library are held by the

Dorchester Historical Society The Dorchester Historical Society is a non-profit historical society devoted to telling the history of Dorchester, Massachusetts since it was founded in 1630. The Dorchester Historical Society was "founded in 1843 and incorporated in 1891." The His ...

References

External links

Catalogue of Civil War Relics, 1862-1863-1864
donated by John A. Fowle and Elida Rumsey Fowle; included records of the Soldiers' Free Library. {{coord, 38.8950, -77.01912, display=title Libraries in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War Demolished buildings and structures in Washington, D.C. Buildings and structures demolished in 1873 Cultural history of the American Civil War