Rollins, Charlemae Hill (1897–1979)

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Rollins, Charlemae Hill (1897–1979)

African-American librarian and author. Born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, on June 20, 1897; died on February 3, 1979; daughter of Allen G. Hill (a farmer) and Birdie (Tucker) Hill (a teacher); attended elementary school, founded by her parents, and black secondary schools in St. Louis, Missouri, and Holly Springs, Mississippi; graduated from high school at Western University in Quindoro, Kansas; attended one year at Howard University in Washington, D.C.; attended library school at Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois, 1932; attended graduate library school at the University of Chicago, 1934–36; married Joseph Walter Rollins, on April 8, 1918; children: Joseph Walter Rollins, Jr. (b. 1920).

As head of the children's department at the George Cleveland Hall branch of the Chicago Public Library, sought to increase the visibility of African-Americans in books for children; after retirement, made her own contribution through her publications Christmas Gif', an Anthology of Christmas Poems, Songs, and Stories Written by and about Negroes (1963), They Showed the Way (1964), Famous American Negro Poets for Children (1965), Famous Negro Entertainers of Stage and Screen (1967), and Black Troubadour, Langston Hughes (1971).

A distinguished librarian and authority on black literature, Charlemae Hill Rollins was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, on June 20, 1897. Her family later moved to the town of Beggs in Indian Territory (now the state of Oklahoma), where the Hills, finding no school available for black children, founded their own. Rollins credited her grandmother, a former slave, with instilling in her a passion for books. She finished elementary school when she was 13 and then attended black secondary schools in St. Louis, Missouri, and Holly Springs, Mississippi. In 1916, she graduated from high school at Western University in Quindoro, Kansas, a segregated boarding school. After passing the required teaching exam, Rollins taught in Beggs for a short time before attending Howard University in Washington, D.C., for a year. She then returned to Oklahoma and married Joseph Walter Rollins on April 8, 1918. During World War I, her husband served in the U.S. Army in France while Rollins remained in Oklahoma. Upon his return in 1919, the couple moved to Chicago. Their son Joseph Walter Rollins, Jr., was born the following year.

Attracted to the library profession because of her love for books and her background in teaching, Rollins was hired by the Chicago Public Library in 1927 and assigned to the Harding Square Branch Library as a children's librarian. She realized she needed to enhance her education, and attended the library school at Columbia College in Chicago during the summer of 1932 with funds provided by the library. She then went on to attend the graduate library school at the University of Chicago from 1934 to 1936. With the opening of the George Cleveland Hall Branch Library in the early 1930s, Rollins was named the head of the children's department, a position she would hold for the rest of her career. Named after a prominent black surgeon who was on the library's board of directors, the branch library was the first to be built in a black neighborhood in Chicago, and soon became a center for cultural, educational and recreational activities for the community.

Rollins proved to be a warm and approachable librarian who offered inspiration and worthwhile instruction on the world of literature to children, parents and educators. One of the young patrons whom Rollins was able to encourage was Gwendolyn Brooks , who would grow up to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. During the Depression, Langston Hughes was a frequent visitor to the library and discussed his poetry with patrons there. Rollins was disturbed, however, by the lack of children's books relating to the African-American experience. She submitted a research paper to one of her instructors at the University of Chicago on the topic. The paper was later published as the pamphlet "The Negro in Children's Books." Rollins continued her research of the situation and the National Council of Teachers of English published her work, We Build Together, a Reader's Guide to Negro Life and Literature for Elementary and High School Use, in 1941, with revised editions in 1948 and 1967. Rollins was considered an expert in this specialized field and was inundated with requests from publishers to review manuscripts as well as invitations to lecture, write and teach at various colleges and universities. Her course on children's literature became a required subject for education majors at Roosevelt University in Chicago. She was also committed to involvement in professional organizations and was active in state and national library associations. She chaired the Elementary Section of the Illinois unit of the Catholic Library Association in 1953–54 and the Children's Section of the Illinois Library Association in 1954–55. After serving as vice-president and president-elect of the Children's Services Division of the American Library Association (ALA) in 1956, the following year she became the first African-American president of the division. She also served on the editorial advisory board of World Book Encyclopedia and The American Educator.

After her retirement in 1963, Rollins focused her energy on writing. She wrote the biographical works They Showed the Way (1964), Famous American Negro Poets for Children (1965), Famous Negro Entertainers of Stage and Screen (1967), and Black Troubadour, Langston Hughes (1971), which was awarded the Coretta Scott King Award from the New Jersey Library and Medal Association. She also wrote Christmas Gif', an Anthology of Christmas Poems, Songs and Stories Written by and about Negroes (1963).

Rollins received many honors for her achievements, including the Library Letter Award from the American Library Association (1953), the Grolier Foundation Award (1955), three Negro Centennial Awards (1963), and the Woman's National Book Association's Constance Lindsay Skinner Award (1970). She was elected to honorary life membership of the American Library Association in 1972. In 1974, she was awarded a doctorate of humane letters from Columbia College in Chicago. The Chicago Library paid tribute by dedicating a room to her at the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library in 1977. Rollins died on February 3, 1979, at the age of 81. On October 21, 1989, by proclamation of Mayor Richard M. Daley, the children's area of the George Cleveland Hall Branch Library was named the Charlemae Hill Rollins Children's Room.