Bill signed for Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Portsmouth

Governor Ralph Northam signs ceremonial bill approved by a unanimous vote in the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources subcommittee for Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Portsmouth gravesite restoration and maintenance project.

2/19-22/2018 AAHSP member, Charles Johnson, excepts a $3000 check.

Virginia Assoication of Museums gifts support for endangered artifacts historical conservation of a segregation era "Colored" sink at a reception in Richmond.

2017 TOP 10 Endangered Artifacts Award!

Virginia Museums Advocacy awards African American Historical Society of Portsmouth (Portsmouth, VA) a special recognition from the independent Selection Committee, to conserve its Segregated Era "Colored" Sink that exemplifies an era of separate but equal life in the South under "Jim Crow" laws.

2014 BCALA “Library of the Year” Award!

Restoration of the Portsmouth
(Colored) Community Library

The Portsmouth (Colored) Community Library served black patrons from 1945 until 1963, when the main library was integrated. The small, one-story brick building was originally located on South Street near Effingham. The land at this site was purchased with donations made by Portsmouth citizens, black and white, and the building was constructed at city expense.

Some of the 10,000 books available for black readers were James Weldon Johnson's Along This Way, Henrietta Buckmaster's Let My People Go, Langston Hughes' The Big Sea, and Carter G. Woodson's Mis-Education of the Negro.

In recognition of the historical importance of the structure, the Portsmouth Community Library is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Over the years the Community Library building fell into disrepair, and in 2003 the African American Historical Society of Portsmouth decided to prioritize saving the building. With the help of the City of Portsmouth; Greg Rutledge, AIA, of Hanbury, Evans, Wright, and Vlattas and Company; the Norfolk Foundation; the Beazley Foundation; Wheelabrator Technologies; and many additional individuals, businesses, churches, and organizations, the building has been saved and renovations are nearly complete.

The restored building will house the Portsmouth African American Museum. Although housed in Portsmouth, this museum will be an important resource, artifact, and memorial to African Americans throughout Hampton Roads. We already have artifacts, photographs, oral histories, and more to exhibit, including two tables, a small desk, one chair, and a small handful of books that were used in the Portsmouth Community Library. The architect was able to draw and locate the reception desk from the floor imprint, and a master wood finisher is reconstructing that desk. A most interesting addition to the museum's collection came from CSX, a railroad company with a warehouse in Portsmouth. The company donated not only $5,000 for restoration purposes but also a sink from their Portsmouth warehouse that still has the word "colored" embossed on it.

View the video of Mae Breckenridge-Haywood at the Portsmouth Community Library building. Thank you.

Press Release pdf | doc

DONATIONS pdf

In 1944, Friends of the Colored Library" donated $1.00 toward building the Colored library. Now we are asking for a donation of $5.00 or more to continue our "High Five for History" legacy campaign to continue support of the Portsmouth African American Museum and Cultural Center.

The Community Library, 2006