In a letter dated May 29, 1930, Rosa Faulkner Yancey writes to Mr. Kyle (probably James Roland Kyle, 1856-1933) of Lynchburg, Virginia, offering to sell in advance a page for his family history in her proposed book about Lynchburg [Lynchburg and Its Neighbors, published in 1935].

The “plan is to sell in advance a certain number of pages for family histories and genealogies. The price will be $15 per page of about 325 words, the page or pages thus bought to contain the material furnished by the subscriber, either written by himself, or by me from his data, as he prefers.” This would entitle the subscriber to one copy of the published book.

“As you have no doubt observed, a printed record is more enduring than marble; there are books in libraries today about men and women whose monuments have been overthrown and destroyed.”

[Rosa Faulkner Yancey Letter, 1930, to Mr. Kyle, MS1021, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.]

ROSA ADAMS FAULKNER YANCEY (1875-1936)

Rosa Adams Faulkner, the daughter of John W. Faulkner and Rosa Adams was born in February, 1875, in Lynchburg, Virginia. She married 17 November 1892, Robert Davis Yancey, commonwealth attorney of Lynchburg. As a young woman she devoted much time to writing poetry. She also compiled a book, Lynchburg and Its Neighbors, consisting of genealogical and historical sketches of “persons and families of prominence” in Lynchburg. She died 15 January 1936 in Lynchburg.

[Obituary, Lynchburg News, 16 Jan 1936, p. 8 col. 4]

JAMES ROLAND KYLE (1856-1933)

James Roland Kyle, son of David Washington Kyle and Mary Jane Jones, was born in Prince Edward County in 1856. He spent his childhood near Forest, Virginia, and was educated at New London Academy and Randolph Macon College in Ashland. He came to Lynchburg in 1874 and was associated with his brother, Thomas L. Kyle, in the tobacco business. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Virginia Laundry in Lynchburg and was president of the company when he died on 1 November 1936. He was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery in Lynchburg.]]>

The papers are from the Dunbar Branch of the Jones Memorial Library. The Dunbar Branch was opened in 1924 at the Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, a segregated school serving African American students in Lynchburg during the Jim Crow era.

The Dunbar Branch was established by Jane Maud Campbell, director of the Jones Memorial Library. Campbell requested assistance from the Louisville Free Public Library, which was a leader in training African American librarians, to get the branch established. Librarian Rachel Davis Harris traveled from Louisville to Lynchburg to establish the branch and help train Anne Spencer, the Dunbar Branch's first permanent librarian. Spencer served as librarian at the branch from 1924 until 1945.

Included in Folder 1 are a variety of lists published by the Louisville Free Public Library to aid librarians in purchasing books for collections serving African Americans. Also included in the folder are two handwritten lists with additional titles; these lists may have been compiled by Jones Memorial Library staff.

Of note is a 24 page typewritten list compiled by Reverend Thomas Blue and Rachel Harris of the Louisville Free Public Library titled "A List of Books Selected From Titles in the Western Colored Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library Recommended for First Purchase." This list includes marks suggesting that staff from Jones Memorial Library intended to purchase particular titles, with handwritten numbers suggesting the quantity of each title ordered. It is possible that these titles were ordered for use at the Dunbar Branch in Lynchburg.]]>