BGuthrie Photos: AL -- Birmingham -- Linn-Henley Research Library

AL -- Birmingham -- Linn-Henley Research Library:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Accessing as Spider: The system has identified your IP as being a spider.
IP Address: 3.149.229.253 -- Domain: Amazon Technologies
I love well-behaved spiders! They are, in fact, how most people find my site. Unfortunately, my network has a limited bandwidth and pictures take up bandwidth. Spiders ask for lots and lots of pages and chew up lots and lots of bandwidth which slows things down considerably for regular folk. To counter this, you'll see all the text on the page but the images are being suppressed. Also, some system options like merges are being blocked for you.
Note: Permission is NOT granted for spiders, robots, etc to use the site for AI-generation purposes. I'm sure you're thrilled by your ability to make revenue from my work but there's nothing in that for my human users or for me.
If you are in fact human, please email me at guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can check if your designation was made in error. Given your number of hits, that's unlikely but what the hell.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

[1] LHRL_161109_002_STITCH.JPG

[2] LHRL_161109_003.JPG	[3] LHRL_161109_006.JPG	[4] LHRL_161109_009.JPG
[5] LHRL_161109_015.JPG	[6] LHRL_161109_017.JPG	[7] LHRL_161109_021.JPG
[8] LHRL_161109_028.JPG	[9] LHRL_161109_031.JPG	[10] LHRL_161109_034.JPG
[11] LHRL_161109_036.JPG	[12] LHRL_161109_038.JPG	[13] LHRL_161109_040.JPG
[14] LHRL_161109_044.JPG	[15] LHRL_161109_047.JPG	[16] LHRL_161109_050.JPG
[17] LHRL_161109_054.JPG	[18] LHRL_161109_055.JPG	[19] LHRL_161109_058.JPG
[20] LHRL_161109_063.JPG	[21] LHRL_161109_065.JPG	[22] LHRL_161109_068.JPG
[23] LHRL_161109_077.JPG	[24] LHRL_161109_079.JPG	[25] LHRL_161109_082.JPG
[26] LHRL_161109_085.JPG	[27] LHRL_161109_087.JPG	[28] LHRL_161109_097.JPG
[29] LHRL_161109_106.JPG	[30] LHRL_161109_108.JPG	[31] LHRL_161109_110.JPG
[32] LHRL_161109_112.JPG	[33] LHRL_161109_115.JPG	[34] LHRL_161109_120.JPG
[35] LHRL_161109_123.JPG	[36] LHRL_161109_127.JPG	[37] LHRL_161109_130.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. LHRL_161109_006.JPG: The Birmingham Public Library Birmingham's first library was organized in 1886 and in 1891 became a subscription library for the general public. In 1908 the Birmingham Public Library Association established a free public library, and the City created an independent Library Board in 1913. For decades the library was housed in various locations including the old City Hall where it was destroyed by fire in 1925. Libraries throughout the U. S. sent books and local citizens contributed for a new building. It opened April 11, 1927, was peacefully desegregated in 1963, served as the main library until 1984, and was renovated and reopened in 1985 as the Linn - Henley Research Library.
2. LHRL_161109_015.JPG: The Linn - Henley Research Library This four-story Neo-Classical structure designed by architects Miller, Martin & Lewis, was built of Indiana limestone in 1927. A model facility when completed, the library served as a cornerstone of Birmingham's cultural and educational development. The building was renovated in 1984 by architects Kidd, Plosser, & Sprague and renamed the Linn - Henley Research Library. Special collections housed here include extensive southern history resources, maps, and the city's first municipal archives. Significant interior features include murals and decorative ceilings painted and installed in the 1920s by national known artist Ezra Winter.
3. LHRL_161109_017.JPG: This was the day after the election. "Trump in Command" was the headline. The "Fiction Department" sticker was a standard library sticker but it was a pleasant thought in this case.
4. LHRL_161109_021.JPG: From http://www.bplonline.org/about/murals/LinnHenley.aspx The Murals Of The Central Library In the late 1920s, the Birmingham Library Board commissioned Ezra Winter to paint a mural series for the main reading room in the newly constructed library building. In addition, he was also asked to paint a mural depicting famous fairy tales for the children's room. The murals for both areas were executed in oils on canvas in Winter's New York studio. There were later affixed to the walls of the library with white lead, and Winter himself was present to supervise this installation. About The Artist - Ezra Winter Ezra Winter, the artist of BPL's murals, was born in Manistee, Michigan in 1886. Educated at Olivet College, he entered the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts at age 22. Following Graduation he studied in Europe for five years where he received the Prix de Rome. This honor entitled him to three years of study and the American Academy in Rome. Winter was originally interested in portrait painting, but after his European studies and exposure to the work of French muralists, his interest shifted to mural painting. On his return to America, Winter embarked on a successful career as a muralist. He was commissioned by universities, theaters, businesses, libraries, and individuals. His works can be seen in New York City at the Cunard Building, the Cotton Exchange, the Guaranty Trust Building, Rockefeller Center and the Bank of Manhattan. Other works are located in the Strauss Building in Chicago, and the Library of Congress and United States Chamber of Commerce Building in Washington, D.C. In the late 1920s, the Birmingham Library Board commissioned Winter to paint a mural series for the main reading room in the newly constructed library building. In addition, he was also asked to paint a mural depicting famous fairy tales for the children's room. The murals for both areas were executed in oils on canvas in Winter's New York studio. There were later affixed to the walls of the library with white lead, and Winter himself was present to supervise this installation. Throughout the years, Winter's works have been acclaimed and stand triumphant in technique, design, and execution.
5. LHRL_161109_028.JPG: (Mural images left to right) Egyptian: Isis and Ramses II Isis, the Goddess of Love and Justice, presents a small clay figure of Truth to her godson Ramses II, who later became one of the most glorious rulers of Egypt. He was also Egypt's most famous builder, but it was his valor as a young man in the battle of Kadesh which inspired one of the world's first epic poems. This great poem was recorded on temple walls and papyrus during the reign of Ramses II. Hebrew: David David, the Hebrew shepherd lad, saved his people through courage and faith in his God when he defeated the Philistine giant, Goliath. A gifted musician, David composed the Psalms of the Old Testament which he sang to soothe the troubled mind of Saul, King of Israel. These beautiful passages are recognized as one of the rich gifts of the Hebrew people to the literature of the world. Greek: Bellerophon and Pegasus Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology, stands ready to be ridden by Bellerophon, the poet who captured him with a magic bridle, the gift of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom. According to legend, it is from the hoofprint of Pegasus on Mount Helicon that the Muses' fountain of inspiration sprang. Pegasus eventually flew to heaven to take his place among the constellations. Persian: Sadi Sadi, an early Persian poet and philosopher, is the author of the Gulistan, translated in English as the Rose Garden. Sadi considered his beautifully written fragments of thought to be rose petals saved for his friends from the gardens of his meditations. Born in Shira in 1292 A.D., Sadi was immensely popular because of his deep understanding of human nature and his simple lucid style. Arabian: Shahryar and Shahrazad The Thousand and One Nights, popularly known as the Arabian Nights, is a collection of otherwise unrelated stories which are unified by Shahrazad, the teller of tales. For a thousand and one nights she entertained her husband, the Sultan of Shahryar, who spared her life from one dawn to the next in order that she might continue to captivate him with her enchanting stories.
6. LHRL_161109_034.JPG: [I should have gone more into the room.] From http://www.bplonline.org/about/murals/LinnHenley.aspx (Mural items left to right) English: Lancelot Lancelot, the most famous knight of King Arthur's Round Table, is depicted in English literature as the flower of chivalry. The story of Lancelot's heroic deeds, including his search of the Holy Grail, is told against the background for his illicit love for Guinevere, King Arthur's wife. Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur, written in the 15th century, emphasizes the tragedy of Lancelot's imperfection, for he was otherwise the epitome of chaste knighthood. American: John Smith and Pocahontas Matoaka, nicknamed Pocahontas meaning "playful", was the daughter of Powhatan, an Indian chief of Virginia. She rescued John Smith, head of Jamestown's governing council, from the wrath of her father. Later she married John Rolfe, a Jamestown settler and their marriage brought peace between the Indians and colonists for eight years. The legendary story is related in John Smith's General Histories of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles. French: Celimene and Alceste A scene from seventeenth century Parisian salon life is captured in Moliere's comedy play, Le Misanthrope. Alceste vows to speak and act with complete honesty and no longer adhere to the conventions of a hypocritical society. He is in love with the vain coquette Celimene who presides over the salon and represents all that he detests. Before Alceste will marry Celimene, he demands that she give up her role in society. When she refuses, Alceste is forced to depart alone. Italian: Dante and Virgil Two great poets meet in Dante's major work, The Divine Comedy. Lost in the Wood of Error on Good Friday, 1300 A.D., Dante is met by Virgil's spirit who manifests the highest knowledge attainable. To free Dante from temptation, Virgil guides him through Hell and Purgatory where their journey together ends because man alone, without grace, can go no further. There, Dante meets Beatrice, who represents divine revelation, and she conducts him through Paradise to God. Spanish: Don Quixote The early 17th century work, Don Quixote, was conceived while its author, Cervantes, was in prison. the novel displays a panoramic view of Spanish society while satirizing the exaggerated chivalric romances of the day. Don Quixote de la Mancha, with his squire Sancho Panza, sets out to right the world's wrongs. Deluded by his imagination, however, Don Quixote jousts with windmills instead of knights and battles armies of sheep instead of men. (Left -- partially hidden -- side) Scandinavian: Sigurd and Brynhild The mythological story of Sigurd and Brynhild is narrated in the Second Edda by Snorri Sturleson (1178-1241 A.D.). This Icelandic tale reappears in German literature as the Niebelungenlied and is performed as the opera, Der Ring des Niebelungen. Sigurd, a renowed dragonslayer, becomes the hero as he and his mount, Grani, ride through a wall of fire to rescue Brynhild and awaken her from her enchanted sleep imposed upon her by King Odin. Russian: Igor The legend of Igor Svatoslavic, a young Novgorod-Severesk prince, is celebrated in the earliest known Russian epic, The Tale of Igor's Campaign. His exploits during 1185 A.D. against the Polovtsian nomads of the south are recounted in this epic. The original manuscript was burned during the Moscow Fire of 1812, but a second copy was found among Catherine the Great's papers. German: Faust and Margaret The legendary figure of Faust has his foundation in the historical person, Dr. Faustus, a magician and charlatan of the early sixteenth century. In the famous German dramatic poem by Goethe, Faust promises his soul to Mephistopheles in order to realize his ambitious thirst for knowledge and experience. His destiny is linked to the trusting Margaret whom he seduces and later sees destroyed. In spite of his evil nature, Faust's soul is eventually saved by a choir of heavenly spirits.
7. LHRL_161109_038.JPG: From http://www.bplonline.org/about/murals/LinnHenley.aspx (Mural items left to right) Hindu: Krishna and Radha Krishna, an incarnation of the god Vishnu, is the hero of the Bhagavata Purana, a Hindu sacred text of the tenth century. Part of the work tells of Krishna's adventures among the cow herds of Vrindavana and his love for their wives and daughters. In one tale, he attracts the village milkmaids to the forest with his enchanting flute music. Radha, whose husband bound her and refused to let her go, abandoned her body and reached Krishna first, thus exemplifying the popular idea of love. Japanese: Otohime and Ura-Shima Ta-ro Ura-Shima Ta-ro, a fisherlad, finds a tortoise on the beach and throws it back into the sea. For his thoughtfulness, he is taken to the palace of the Sea King and marries his daughter, Otohime. After the marriage, Ura-Shima Ta-ro opens a casket given him by his bride. A white cloud, the symbol of time, escapes and surrounds Ura-Shima Ta-ro, whereupon he becomes an old man and dies. This tale is preserved in the Man'yoshu which means Ten Thousand Leaves. Chinese: Confucius Confucius, the great sage of Ancient China, was both a teacher and philosopher. From the age of twenty-two until his death at the age of seventy-three. Confucius traveled among the people spreading his ideas of loyalty, righteousness and humility. He is noted for his collection and preservation of ancient Chinese literature. Since the time of the Han dynasty, the teachings of Confucius have been acknowledged and respected by the rulers of China and have formed the basis of Chinese education.
8. LHRL_161109_044.JPG: Capt. Charles Linn, CSN
9. LHRL_161109_054.JPG: Heads Up Alabama! Psychology Promotes Healthy Living Barbara Morgan Shadows from the Past: Exploring the Gene Pool The collaged imagery comes from a series of my work entitled Shadows from the Past. The intent is to evoke contemplation on the impact of our individual genealogy.
10. LHRL_161109_068.JPG: (left to right) Goldilocks and the Three Bears Fairy King Cinderella Jack and the Beanstalk Bluebeard Sinbad the Sailor Undine The Three Brothers Seeking Fortunes The Golden Apple Tree ??? The Princess and the Dragon The Flying Horse The Forty Thieves From http://www.bham.lib.al.us/about/murals/EastLake.aspx East Lake Mural - Storybook Mural East Lake Mural In 1937, the East Lake Branch was chosen to house the acclaimed Storybook Mural by Birmingham artist Carrie Hill. It was commissioned by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA paid for the time and work of the artist while the Library paid for the canvas and paint. The 27'x 9' foot canvas mural depicts such characters as Little Red Riding Hood, Little Miss Muffett, Mother Goose and the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. The characters appear to be stepping out of a storybook and walking down a path similar to the "yellow brick road" in the Wizard of Oz. The artist, Carrie Hill, used her own likeness for the face of Mother Goose. In the mid 1970's, fire and water damaged the 1937 mural located in the Children's Reading Room. John Bertalan, a Birmingham art conservator, restored the mural in 1993. About the Artist Carrie Hill was born in Vance, Alabama, in 1875. She had an appreciation for art at an early age, and was motivated to pick up a brush after watching a stranded train passenger paint the scenery to pass the time. Hill moved with her family to Birmingham when she was sixteen, and right away sought the city's artists for instruction. She studied with Rose Lewis at the Paul Hayne School and with Caroline Lovell at the Birmingham Art School, which was located on the third floor of the Loveman, Joseph, & Loeb building on 3rd Avenue North. In 1899 she began teaching art at the school. In 1901 Hill and a fellow artist opened their own studio in the Commercial Club Building. To supplement this salary, she worked as a shop clerk and bookkeeper. Hill joined the Birmingham Art Club in 1908, and in April of that year she entered six Florida landscapes in its first exhibition. Preferring to paint floral subjects and landscapes to figural paintings and portraits, Hill enrolled at Arthur Freedlander's "plein air" (French for "in the open air") school on Martha's Vineyard in 1912. On her return to Birmingham that same year, she opened a studio in the Hood Building on 4th Avenue North, and in 1913 presented an exhibition of Birmingham landscapes. In 1917 Hill moved her studio to Five Points South and lived, worked, and taught there for the next forty-seven years. In 1922 Hill resumed her studies with impressionist painter George Elmer Browne of Provincetown, Massachusetts, and toured France and the Mediterranean with him, where she became interested in the paintings of Paul Cezanne. One of the paintings she created under Browne's tutelage -- The Hillside -- was admitted to the American Painters and Sculptors exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago. By 1927 Hill had gathered many honors from juried exhibitions. She had works in New York's Babcock Galleries exhibition; won a gold medal for Little Chapel in Cahors in Mississippi Art Association's exhibition; had two of her paintings selected for the Exposition Officielle des Beaux-Arts by the Soci�t� des Artistes Fran�ais; and had a painting displayed at the National Academy of Design in New York. In 1931 thirty-six of her works were exhibited in the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts' first anniversary show. Hill donated numerous paintings to schools and other public institutions because she believed that art's spiritual and aesthetic nature improved society. Her push for the promotion and study of fine art and the establishment of a public collection became the basis for the Birmingham Museum of Art. Hill was one of four Alabama artists to receive commissions through the Public Works Administration during the Great Depression. She painted murals for the East Lake Library and a school in Jasper. Hill continued to paint and teach into her later years. She died in 1957. The Alabama Art League established the Carrie Hill Memorial Award for landscape painting in her honor.
11. LHRL_161109_097.JPG: (left to right) The Fairy Godmother The Rokh Rapunzel Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs The Seven Swans The Fairy Faun Pot of Gold The Snow Maiden Aladdin and the Djin The Blue Bird Sleeping Beauty Little Red Riding Hood The Serpent Prince Puss in Boots The Hare and the Tortoise Seven League Boots
Description of Subject Matter: Linn-Henley Research Library
from http://www.bhamwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Linn-Henley_Research_Library

The Linn-Henley Research Library is the current name for the 1927 building in Linn Park which was the primary location of the Birmingham Public Library from its completion until 1984, when a new Birmingham Central Library was built across 21st Street North.
After the former library rooms were burned in the 1925 City Hall fire, books and building funds were donated from all over the country. The neoclassical style Indiana limestone-clad building opened on Woodrow Wilson Park on April 11, 1927. It was designed by Miller and Martin.
The central library was upgraded with air conditioning, new lighting and tile flooring with $200,000 in bond funds in 1954. During that project a number of curious items were found stored in the library, including a knee-pump organ; a dress form; a box of shotgun shells; jars of preserved snakes; mounted moose, ram and deer heads; Mexican statuary; and a full suit of Eskimo clothing. Director Fant Thornley said at the time that all the items with any value would be preserved, but that the library itself had no space for displaying them to the public.
After the construction of the nearby Birmingham Central Library in 1984, the 1927 building was renovated and reopened as the Linn-Henley Research Library. It was named for the families of Charles Linn and John C. Henley, whose combined trust helped fund the restoration. The main reading rooms were devoted to the Tutwiler Collection of Southern History and Literature. Other departments, such as Administration, Archives and Manuscripts, the Rucker Agee Map Collection, and Government Documents are housed on other floors. The third-floor auditorium is used for public events, and an enclosed pedestrian bridge connects the library to the third floor of the new central library.
Wikipedia Description: Birmingham Public Library
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Birmingham Public Library, a well-respected and one of the largest library systems in the southeastern United States, consists of 19 branches and a main or central library located in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The main library is composed of two buildings, the East Building, with its dramatic atrium, and the Linn-Henley Research Library, with its fine wall murals, the Tutwiler Collection of Southern History, and the Rucker Agee Map Collection.

History

The Birmingham Public Library was established in 1886 as an adjunct of Birmingham's public schools. John H. Phillips, then superintendent of the public school system, set up a library in a room not much bigger than a closet. In 1913, a public library board was established, and the City of Birmingham assumed responsibility for funding the growing institution.

The library was later moved to City Hall, where the collection burned in a fire in 1925. An impressive neo-classical building of Indiana limestone was completed in 1927 and served as the central facility of the Birmingham Public Library for 57 years. The city's library system was desegregated in April 1963, in part because of a lawsuit filed by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights on behalf of Joe and Lola Hendricks.

To accommodate the growing collection and demand for services, an additional structure containing 133,000 square feet (12,400 m2) of floor space was completed in 1984 and connected to the original building via a crosswalk. This building houses most of the Central Library's circulating and general reference collections, plus the technical services for the library system.

The original 1927 building was renovated in 1985 and renamed the Linn-Henley Research Library. This facility houses the library's special collections, and government publications. Together these two buildings comprise the Central Library of the Birmingham Public Library system.

In addition to the Central Library, the Birmingham Public Library system includes 20 branches located elsewhere in the city. This branch system was begun when the Birmingham library began to integrate libraries from independent communities that gradually became incorporated into Birmingham. In the 1980s the library board had adopted plans to build regional libraries that would serve large sections of the city, would have larger collections and facilities, and would be opened more hours.

Over the years, it has matured and today serves a populace diverse in interests, needs, and age. Scholars and other researchers are drawn to the archival materials, the extensive genealogical materials, and the local and southern history resources, while students and other citizens expect current and broad-based reference information, up-to-date popular materials and innovative online services.

Annual circulation of roughly 1.7 million checkouts is matched by an equal number of materials being used within the libraries and via electronic access. Birmingham Public Library accounts for 46% of the circulation in the Jefferson County Library Cooperative, which posts a combined circulation of almost 3.7 million items checked out annually. The cooperative agreement that Birmingham Public Library shares with the other municipal public libraries of Jefferson County Alabama greatly increases the number of library materials available to all library members. In fact, the Jefferson County Library Cooperative is a model for how separate governments can work together to provide a public service across city boundaries.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].