C.T. Vivian’s book collection provides ‘gravitas’ for new Atlanta library
One of the largest, oldest and most important private collection of black literature will soon be available to the public.
Civil rights leader C.T. Vivian has agreed to donate his 6,000-plus collection of books to the National Monuments Foundation for the creation of the C.T. Vivian Library.
The library will be the centerpiece of the Peace Column, a soon-to-be 110-foot tower in the middle of the upcoming Rodney Cook Sr. Park in Vine City.
“C.T.’s library is the gravitas for the Peace Column Museum that gives it its anchor,” said Rodney Cook Jr., the CEO of the National Monuments Foundation and the son of the park’s namesake.
The collection, which is being counted and inventoried now, includes first edition and rare works from some of history's most prolific black writers, including James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Richard Wright.
“I want every black child to be able to read about themselves,” Vivian said. “So books about black people were always nearby for my children and for anyone who wanted to read about black people and understand how we got this history.”
To read more about Vivian’s library, as well as his Personal Journey toward being awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom, visit myajc.com.
About the Author
Ernie Suggs is an enterprise reporter covering race and culture for the AJC since 1997. A 1990 graduate of N.C. Central University and a 2009 Harvard University Nieman Fellow, he is also the former vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists. His obsession with Prince, Spike Lee movies, Hamilton and the New York Yankees is odd.
