I went for a visit Friday to the Kendall Branch Library of the Houston Public Library system. It's the library I grew up going to, and I wrote about my memories of it here.
I went in, sat down, and just looked around for a long time. I wondered if the librarians would be concerned about my odd behavior, but I forget: that is hardly odd behavior in a library. I've WORKED in a library. I know.
Kendall Branch - It is SMALL! It is one large room, with the children's reading room off to the side where the restrooms are. It still smells just the same. The children's area, where I participated in many a Summer Reading Club, is in the same place. It has computers now, and books about computers and Japanese, and no card catalogs. (Remember, I left this library behind when I went to college in 1983!) The stacks seem shorter (yes, I'm taller.) I looked for the areas where I selected the books for my self-assigned summer reading projects - all of Vonnegut one year, all of Roald Dahl and Ray Bradbury another.
The building clearly needs work, which is explained by the fact that it is on the short list for destruction...there is a new Kendall library currently under construction, farther to the west, in a city which has grown hugely since I left it. The new library will be three stories, including a community center with a half-court basketball court.
Here's the thing. This library is named for Belle Sherman Kendall. That came as a surprise to me; I don't remember the two Christian names as being associated with the library; we always called it "Kendall Branch." Why did I never wonder who this Belle Sherman Kendall was, never ask? I do recall the bronze plaques on the outside of the building, bearing all of her names, that say it was opened in 1968-9, when I was 3. No wonder I remember it so well, and as as a state of the art place - that was when I got my first library card and the whole love affair began.
Despite not remembering anything about her name, I very well recall the huge oil portrait of Belle Kendall that is hanging on the front wall of the library. She is a slight, dark-haired lady in a black dress, leaning on something, in a pensive mien. On the wall behind her is a portrait of a soldierly looking older man, clearly her father, Gen. Sidney Sherman. He was a hero of the Texas Revolutionary War, after all, and credited with originating the battle cry, “Remember the Alamo!” at the Battle of San Jacinto.
There is a historical marker in Glenwood Cemetery, Houston, where Belle is buried. I found a picture of her gravestones on Flickr also; there are two. One says: "Belle S. Kendall / April 27, 1847 - March 9, 1919." The other, just below it, says, "Belle S. Kendall / Daughter of General Sidney Sherman, who commanded the 2nd Regiment at the Battle of San Jacinto and turned the Mexican right flank."
Now, as a founder of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Belle clearly saw her father's accomplishments as worthy of high regard, and defined herself in regard to them.
But let me share also the information on the portrait, which shows at least an equally important accomplishment:
"While serving as president of the Woman's Club in Houston in 1898 and 1899, Belle Sherman Kendall initiated and carried out the negotiations with Andrew Carnegie which resulted in his donation of $50,000 toward the establishment of a public library for the citizens of Houston. A founding member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Mrs. Kendall was the daughter of General Sidney Sherman, who commanded the left wing of the Texas Army at the Battle of San Jacinto."
WOW!
A woman in that time, negotiating with Andrew Carnegie, for a sum that in today's currency, according to The Inflation Calculator, was the 1898 equivalent of 1,277,449.50.
That is a BIG DEAL. And a big deal that bore amazing, amazing fruit. Back in 1898 Houston was a growing, upstart city of 44,000, with no idea of what it would become. The Buffalo Bayou was turned into a deepwater port right at that time, in the much derided hope that Houston could "get in on the action" that was causing unprecedented growth to the east in Galveston. The 1900 hurricane that destroyed Galveston, both physically and in human terms, meant that it could no longer be the primary port in the area, and the ports of Houston and New Orleans grew immensely in importance and power.
Belle Kendall was responsible for starting a public library system that now boasts an enormous central library and 36 branches. Do you suppose she could possibly imagine how many people it fosters in learning every day...and will continue to? That includes this one little girl from Cherrybark Lane, who grew up to earn two degrees in English Literature and to work to share the world with college students. Who had strong female role models in her life, but so many others all around her she knew nothing about.
I hope that the new Belle Sherman Kendall Library and community center will hang her portrait in a prominent place and will make the information about her crucial contribution to the city of Houston and its public libraries common knowledge. Especially to the kids. Who need to know that they can grow up to make a difference.
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