George Washington Carver Branch Library
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In Feb. 1926 the Austin Public Library opened in a room over a downtown store. Within months, the books were moved to this structure, built at Guadalupe and Ninth St., across from Wooldridge Park. In 1933, with completion of a permanent library facility, the original building was relocated here to meet the request of the black community for its own library. The frame structure was brick veneered and named for black educator George Washington Carver. Directed by Hattie Henson, 1933-43, this was the first branch in the Austin library system. (1977)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Austin's public library opened in a room over a downtown store in February 1926, then moved into this frame building near Wooldridge Park. In 1933, when a permanent main library was completed, the original building was relocated here to answer the Black community's request for a library of its own. Brick-veneered and named for the Black educator and scientist George Washington Carver, and directed by Hattie Henson from 1933 to 1943, it became the very first branch in the Austin library system.
Why it matters
The Carver branch stands at the intersection of Jim Crow segregation and Black self-determination—a separate library the community demanded and won, and one that endures today as a center of African American cultural life in Austin.
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Related people
- · George Washington Carver
- · Hattie Henson
Themes & tags
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