Our Saturday Rotary Club of Norfolk visit to the Portsmouth Community Colored Library Museum is a good one for all ages, including children and grandchildren. The museum in downtown Portsmouth is at 904 Elm Street and has plenty of parking. Our visit is set for 10 a.m. with Dr. Steve Jones as your Rotary host. Greeting us will be retired Portsmouth librarian Mae Breckenridge-Haywood, who used the library as a child and is president of the Portsmouth African-American Historical Society which helped save the library.

 

This small library was a center of knowledge from 1945 to 1963 and was recently restored with donations from citizens. It now features exhibits related to African-American life in Portsmouth.