Libraries & Media Centers
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HISTORY
When Tennessee State University was established in 1912, the first Library Director, Mrs. Martha M. Brown, began the process of collecting documents published by the University, such as the Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State Normal School Bulletin, 1913-1914, thus marking the beginning of the University's archives.
The TSU Collection was formally established by the second Library Director, Miss Lois H. Daniel, a protégé of Mrs. Brown. These resources included items such as The Radio (1925), the first student Yearbook, The Tennessee State College Newsletter, (1927) a weekly publication covering events and personalities of the school; the first student Yearbook; The Meter (1950-) a measure of student opinion newspaper; and the first draft of the University Seal, which appears today on many buildings and printed matter of the University.
The dream of Miss Daniel to have a "Special Room" to house these and other materials was not realized until after her retirement and the erection of the present library in 1977.
Dr. Evelyn P. Fancher, the third Library Director, continued the efforts of her predecessors and secured the manuscript collection of Thomas E. Poag, Director of the Players Guild, Head of the Department of Speech & Drama and Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences and the collection of Walter Robinson, editor of the Chattanooga Observer, a Black newspaper published in Chattanooga, Tennessee from 1927 to 1962.
During the tenure of Dr. Yildiz B. Binkley, the fourth Library Director, the following collections have been added, enhancing the quality and quantity of resources found in this area. These materials include: Merle R. Eppse Collection (a TSU History professor); Avon Williams Collection (civil rights lawyer and prominent state senator); Ed Temple Collection (Head Women's Track Coach for forty-four years and Associate Professor of Sociology); Gladys B. Adams Collection, (Associate Professor of Biology and Executive Secretary /TSU National Alumni Association and Director of the Alumni Affairs; Clarence (C.B.) Robinson Collection (distinguished Black Tennessee, educator, legislator, and alumnus of Tennessee State University).