Hannibal Square Library
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Hannibal Square Library was a library established to serve the Black community in Winter Park, Florida that operated from 1937 to 1979. In 1881, the Hannibal Square neighborhood was built to house to Black families who worked for white residents and visitors and in the railroad or service industry.[1] In 1936, Mertie Graham Grover, a former teacher, was hit by a car and killed in Winter Park.[2] Her husband, Rollins College professor Dr. Edwin O. Grover, started a fund to build a library in her memory in the Hannibal Square neighborhood that would serve the Black residents who were barred by segregation laws from using the county library.[3] The Hannibal Square Public Library-Mertie Graham Grover Memorial was built on the north side of West New England Avenue near Pennsylvania Avenue, next to the Black elementary school.[4][5] It opened on July 1, 1937. In the 1950s, the library began to receive some funding from the city, although less than the public library received. In 1955, a children's room was added, funded with donations of time, labor and money.[2] In 1962 and 1963, the Winter Park Public Library changed its policies to allow all residents, regardless of race, to access its library services.[6] In 1968, Hannibal Square Library became a branch of the Winter Park Public Library. In 1979, the Hannibal Square library closed when the 460 East New England Avenue library opened.[3] The Hannibal Square building was moved to a place behind the Winter Park Community Center.
References[edit]
- ^ Miller, Shannon Shelton (2020-01-17). "Hannibal Square Heritage Center of Winter Park: Pride & Progress | VISIT FLORIDA". www.visitflorida.com. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
- ^ a b "Winter Park History". Winter Park Public Library. Archived from the original on July 10, 2010. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
- ^ a b "Hannibal Square Library · Winter Park's Historic Homes and Buildings · Winter Park Library Archive". Winter Park Library. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
- ^ "Hannibal Square Associates Organized in 1937 to Build Library (Mar 1963)". Orlando Evening Star. 1963-03-28. p. 27. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
- ^ "The Hannibal Square Elementary School". dsl.richmond.edu. Archived from the original on May 22, 2024. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
- ^ Parnell, Susana; Vassel, Yvonne. "A History of the Winter Park Public Library".
Further reading[edit]
- Peter Schreyer (2016). The Hannibal Square Heritage Collection: Photographs and Oral Histories. The Florida Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-1886104860