Faith Cabin Library facts for kids
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The Faith Cabin Libraries were a special group of libraries in South Carolina and Georgia. They provided books and learning for Black Americans. This was during a time when Black people were not allowed to use public libraries because of unfair segregation laws. These libraries were built with a lot of hope and community effort.
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Building Libraries with Faith
The idea for these libraries began in the 1930s and 1940s. It came from a friendship between Willie Lee Buffington, a White mill worker, and Euriah Simpkins, a Black teacher.
Simpkins invited Buffington to the opening of a school for Black students in Saluda County. Buffington was surprised and sad to see that the school had almost no books. He decided to help.
Buffington started writing letters to churches, asking for book donations. So many books arrived that there were too many for just one school! Because of this, Buffington and Simpkins decided to build a separate library building.
The very first library opened in 1932 in Saluda County. It was named the Lizze Koon unit, after Buffington's mother. This small building was made of logs. It was about 18 feet by 22 feet and had a rock chimney. Inside, barrels were used as chairs, and kerosene lamps provided light. At the opening, someone said, "we didn't have money, all we had was faith." This saying gave the libraries their name: Faith Cabin Libraries.
Sharing the Story of Faith Cabin Libraries
The project by Simpkins and Buffington grew across South Carolina and Georgia. Their work was shared in many publications. These included Southern Workman, Reader's Digest, the Saturday Evening Post, and Library Journal.
Buffington worked hard to tell people about the libraries. He even appeared on the radio show Hobby Lobby. His appearance helped raise enough money to build a library in Lexington, South Carolina. In 1948, Ted Malone also talked about the movement on his radio show. The story of Buffington's life and how the libraries started was even made into a play for the Cavalcade of America radio series in 1951.
Buffington taught at Paine College, a college in Augusta, Georgia. He created a special slide show with a script. This was used by the Woman's Society of Christian Service of the Methodist Church to help promote the libraries. By the early 1950s, parts of the Methodist church were paying Buffington's salary for his work on the project.
Libraries in South Carolina and Georgia
Between 1936 and 1943, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) offered library services in South Carolina. However, these services mostly helped White people. During this time, there were actually more Faith Cabin Libraries serving Black communities than WPA libraries. The State Library Board even tried to deny that Faith Cabin Libraries existed in the early 1950s.
In Georgia, Buffington worked with Robert Cousins. Cousins was the director of Negro Education in Georgia. Together, they found communities that wanted Faith Cabin Libraries. The Atlanta University Library School helped organize the book collections. Between 1944 and 1960, seventy-five Faith Cabin Libraries were set up in Georgia. Most of these were inside school buildings.
In total, twenty-nine Faith Cabin Libraries were built in South Carolina. Over seventy were built in Georgia. Each community was in charge of housing the books and running its own library.
The End of an Era
In the 1950s and 1960s, many smaller schools with Faith Cabin collections closed down. Also, public libraries began to allow people of all races by the mid-1960s. This meant that the Faith Cabin Library system was no longer needed as much. It stayed active until the mid-1970s. The Faith Cabin Library at Paine College remained open until Buffington retired in 1975.
Today, three original Faith Cabin Library buildings are still standing. One is in Pendleton, South Carolina. Another is in Saluda County, South Carolina. The third is in Seneca, South Carolina. The building in Seneca is being turned into a Black history museum.
