Exploring Architectural History: Jen Library’s history isn’t just in the books
Written by Lilli Donohue, Photograph courtesy of SCAD
We all know libraries are full of information, knowledge and history but what about the actual library itself? The Jen Library has had many lives, starting as early as the eighteenth century. The land was first used by King George II who granted the space for a Swiss Presbyterian minister to use it.
Fast forward to 1925, its history gets fascinating!
The then-department store was a perfect place for Levy & Brother’s which is now part of the Macy’s conglomerate. It was one of the largest storefronts in Savannah, complete with huge corner windows along the entire side of Broughton St. In the 1950s, they expanded again to span the rest of the block. This addition later became SCAD’s student and alumni exhibition space, the Gutstein Gallery. The expansion also added the first escalator and large-scale air conditioning in the city of Savannah.
A crucial part of the expansion was the addition of the Azalea Room, a lunch counter. The Azalea Room was the site of one of the first sit-ins in the city. This particular sit-in was a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement in the area. On March 16, 1960, there was a group of black students in the NAACP who did sit-ins in eight different locations around town. After three students, Carolyn Quilloin, Ernest Robinson and Joan Tyson were arrested, community leaders organized a nearly complete boycott of city businesses. They also worked to increase voter registration drives to help elect a moderate city government led by the mayor.
The boycotts lasted for a year and eight months. The beginning of the end occurred when the city of Savannah repealed its ordinance requiring segregated lunch counters. However, the boycott continued until all facilities were desegregated in October 1963. This was just eight months before the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when Martin Luther King, Jr. declared Savannah the most desegregated city south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Over thirty years later, the state of downtown had declined extremely. Broughton St. had almost a 90% vacancy rate. SCAD acquired the building in 1996 and then opened Jen Library in 1999. The name comes from Jim and Lancy Jen, a local business leader and a professor emerita.
Today the Jen Library houses loads of books, technology and also acts as a home base for media during special events like Film Fest. It is an integral part of downtown for many bees.
