Richard Hyatt: Mildred Terry Library preserves its priceless stories

It rightfully carries the name of Mildred Terry, but Silvia Bunn is the reason this tiny library branch continues to be a lighthouse in a neighborhood that others have all but forgotten.

Located on Veterans Parkway next to the community’s largest public housing complex, it was the city’s first “colored library” when it opened in 1953 with Spencer High’s first librarian as its manager. It made old folks proud and inspired young people to learn.

Bunn succeeded Helane Combest-Watson in 1999, becoming the third branch manager in 62 years. From the moment she saw the unobtrusive building, something spoke to her.

“That was my civil rights moment,” said Bunn, who grew up on the island of Curaçao, far from the segregated South.

From the beginning, Bunn protected the legacy of a library that could have gone away. She is its heart, and she is the primary reason that a new building went up in 2009.

Knowing Booker T. Washington Apartments was about to go away, Bunn wanted to preserve memories of a place that had been home to generations of African-American families.

She turned to StoryCorps, a nonprofit program funded by the American Library Association. More than 300 libraries applied, and Mildred Terry was one of 10 to receive a grant.

Bunn and colleague Henry McCoy were trained to facilitate the oral history program and to operate the recording equipment. Their goal was 40 recordings, and by the end of October they will have 80 interviews on file.

These 40-minute one-on-one recordings tell the undocumented stories of the library.

“I found that many young people in BTW had no idea who Booker T. Washington was. They have come into a brighter day and don’t understand who made their crown,” she said.

Bunn stroked and stoked, encouraging the insignificant as well the significant, listening to retired judges and beauticians.

“History is hard. It is more than pieces of paper,” she said. One person remembered growing up on Third Avenue. “She said they could see the sky through their roof and the ground through their floor.”

Thanks to Bunn and StoryCorps, these priceless stories will be preserved in the Library of Congress. Some will go into the Smithsonian Folk Life Center. And if she were around, Mildred Terry would be grateful.

Richard Hyatt is an independent correspondent. Reach him at hyatt31906@knology.net.

This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 11:17 PM with the headline "Richard Hyatt: Mildred Terry Library preserves its priceless stories."