Civic Pride in a Lost America: Library Postcards
Carnegie Libraries of Pennsylvania
Cities J-Z
Pennsylvania received the earliest US grants from Andrew Carnegie. Philadelphia seems to have one of each style ever seen.
Johnstown (Cambria Public Library)
(L) 1911 card in the 'blue sky' style.
(R) Tinted card mailed in 1924. Note the policeman in the street.
According to the Waymarking web site, this is the very first Carnegie library, built in 1889 to replace the library building lost in the Johnstown Flood.
A person who called this donation 'blood money' might be justified, as Andrew Carnegie (and Carnegie Steel) were at partial fault for the disaster.
This unusual French Gothic structure was replaced in the early '70s and reopened as the Johnstown Flood Museum in 1973. Why it had the two entrances, I have no clue.
This postcard dates post-1973, and features the Flood Museum. It was distributed by Penn News Co.
Mansfield
1911 grant: still in use. Very pretty web site.
(L) This Fairbanks postcard leaves a lot to be desired. Somehow its composition makes the building look like a diner.
(R) An Albertype postcard is marginally better.
McKeesport
(L) Card mailed in 1907. The picture must date from significantly earlier, as there is no landscaping at all.
(R) Postmarked 1943. In inimitable Curt Teich style, an American flag has been added to the right of the building. How can I tell? I can see the blue sky through its stars! Sent from a student to her teaching nun in S. Chicago. What more innocuous topic could one choose?
The Romanesque library building resembles that of Joliet, Illinois.
Oil City
1899 grant: built 1902. Still in use.
The Rotograph German postcard dates to 1905 or 1906.
Tichnor Quality View, mailed in 1934 to collector Phoebe F. Hayes.
A linen finish Tichnor Quality View.
The Tichnor Brothers' postcard proofs reside in the Boston Public Library collection.
1900 grant. The date on the carving above the false entrance is 1902.
Modernized 1959.
Philadelphia
With 25 Carnegie-funded branches, 19 of which are still extant, the City of Brotherly Love deserves its own page.
Phoenixville
1901 grant: still in use, with a 1987 addition.
R.G. Schaffer postcard.
Pittsburgh
Finally Pittsburgh has its own page.
Pottsville
Built in 1921 after a 1914 Carnegie grant.
R. Ramsay Mebane card mailed in 1952.
Reading
The Commercialchrome caption informs us that the Carnegie grant was $111,180.
Still in use. This Library is supplemented by branches and bookmobile service.
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