Regina Andrews papers, 1920-1987.

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Creator

Andrews, Regina.

Location

Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division

Extent

• 13 lin. ft.(22 boxes)

Scope/Contents Notes

The papers document Andrews' personal life and professional career and activities. Correspondence, reports, printed material and writings are included. Of special significance are the manuscripts of two unpublished works by Andrews, The Black New Yorkers: A Chronological History of the Negro in New York State, 1621-1970 and Women ...With Banners and Human Rights: Laws, Statutes and Amendments in the Constitution of the United States. Her professional activities at the Washington Heights Branch of the New York Public Library are, in part,very well documented by a series of scrapbooks containing photographs, broadsides and other printed material of the "Family Night at the Library" programs.

Also included among the papers are some family correspondence and clippings and a scrapbook relating to Mrs. Andrews' husband, attorney and Assemblyman William T.Andrews.

Biographical/Historical Notes

Librarian, author, civic leader and community activist. Regina Andrews was born in Chicago in 1901 and migrated to New York City in the early 1920s. Her job at the 135thStreet Branch of the New York Public Library placed her incontact with many of the personalities of the Harlem Renaissance and her home was an intellectual and social meeting place for many of the writers and other artists ofthe period. A writer herself, Andrews was a founder of the Harlem Experimental Theatre. Two of her plays, "Climbing Jacob's Ladder" (1925) and "Underground" (1931) were produced by the group.

In 1949 Andrews was appointed Supervising Librarian of the Washington Heights Branch of the New York Public Library, a post she held until her retirement in 1967. She inaugurated a special library community outreach program which ran for thirteen years. Billed as "Family Night at the Library", this series concentrated on the social, political and cultural life of Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and South East Asia as well as onAfro-American history and culture. Distinguished scholars,artists, writers, statesmen and representatives of variousgovernments participated, and the programs were supplemented by exhibitions of art and artifacts and by annotated bibliographies.

Apart from her library career and creative interests, Andrews maintained a variety of civic interests as well. She served on the boards of several organizations including the National Council of Women of the United States, of which she was a Vice-President, and representedthe National Urban League as a member of the United StatesNational Commission for UNESCO. Regina Andrews died in 1993.

Controlled Access Terms

• Andrews, Regina.
• Andrews, William T., 1898-1984.
• National Council of Women of the United States.
• National Urban League.
• New York Public Library. Washington Heights Branch.
• Libraries -- Cultural programs.
• Libraries and community -- New York (State) -- New York.
• African American librarians.
• African American legislators -- New York (State)
• African American women -- Biography.
• Librarians -- United States.
• Women -- Biography.
• Women -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States.
• Women's rights -- United States.
• Women social reformers -- United States.
• African Americans -- New York (State)

Additional Creator Names

• Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963.
• National Council of Women of the United States.
• National Urban League.
• New York Public Library. Washington Heights Branch.
• Schomburg NEH Automated Access to Special Collections Project.