Blyden Library Celebrates 103-Year Legacy & Famous Namesake

By Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter Emeritus
New Journal and Guide

For 103 years, the Blyden Branch of the Norfolk Public Library (NPL) has served the city of Norfolk, and it has a unique history.

When it opened its doors in a room in the Historic Booker T. Washington High School, it was the first publicly funded library for Blacks in the city.

But most of the people it serves know little about the history of the man the facility was named for over a century ago.

On October 4, Norfolk celebrated the library’s anniversary at another iconic venue, the Historic Attucks Theater.

With song, oratory, and dance, the legacy of the Blyden Library was brought to life on the Attucks’ stage to the public.

One of the highlights of the event was the presentation of a plaque to Paul Blyden, the great-nephew of Edward W. Blyden, the historic figure the building was named for in 1921.

The presentation recognized the continued connection between the Blyden family, the facility, and the city.

Blyden, 50, lives in Richmond now with his wife and two daughters. A U.S.  Army veteran, he is now a Chaplain in the Reserves.

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Like his famous great uncle, he was born in the Virgin Islands, where the Blyden name is still highly regarded.   His father, Roy E. Blyden, was in the Navy and later a Missionary in the Caribbean.

While in Norfolk in 1986, Paul Blyden said he first encountered the Blyden Branch Library during the summer when his father took him and his siblings on a field trip along Princess Anne Road to its location on Chapel Street.

He said, during his acceptance speech at the Attucks, that he was “unaware of our destination, but upon arriving, we were astonished to see the library’s name mirroring our … last name.”

“My dad informed us that this library was named after a relative, the esteemed Father of Pan-Africanism, Edward Wilmot Blyden,” he said. “My dad inspired me to read numerous books about Blyden.”

“The library stands like a lighthouse illuminating the past for Blacks in the community who once faced prejudice in their pursuit of knowledge,” he said.  “It also is a bridge that connects the past to the future, offering hope to eager minds who aspire to explore the immeasurable possibilities for their education.”

“Presently,” he said, “this library serves as a home, essential to preserving (his great-uncle’s)  enduring legacy.”

“This home … is truly a catalyst for freeing the minds of everyone who embraces the importance of education,” he continued.

Blyden closed his speech with a quote from his famous relative, “Let us teach our children from their infancy – for they need to be taught – that no course except that which every day follows the impenitent hangs upon us; that it is the force of circumstances, induced, as we have endeavored to show, by our iniquities, that keep us down; and that we have as much right as any other people to strive to rise to the very zenith of national glory.”

In an interview with the Guide, Blyden admitted that his great-uncle, a leading advocate of Pan-Africanism in his day, never visited Norfolk.

Blyden explained Pan-Africanism as the native African people resisting the oppression of Colonialism and empowering themselves with unity and Independence on the Continent.”

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Born in 1832, before he died in 1912, Edward W. Blyden was a noted educator, writer, diplomat, and politician primarily active in West Africa. He joined the waves of Black immigrants from the Americas who migrated to Liberia.

He became a teacher for five years in the British West African colony of Sierra Leone in the early twentieth century. His major writings were on Pan-Africanism, which later became influential throughout West Africa and attracted attention in countries such as the United States. His ideas went on to influence the likes of Marcus Garvey.

“He is mentioned among the names of Garvey, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X,” Paul Blyden said. “These leaders provided direction in the effort to overcome Colonialism and Oppression.”