Respecting Roxbury’s history
Roxbury Branch of the Boston Public Library is the appropriate name
The Boston Public Library board of trustees is to be commended for naming the newly renovated Dudley Library the “Roxbury Branch of the Boston Public Library.” It is a historically significant name that has meaning for those who have called Roxbury home for several generations.
When the United States of America was created, the first Church in Eliot Square was already established in 1632. In 1783, Massachusetts became the first state to outlaw slavery. A son of Roxbury, Moorfield Storey (1845-1929), a Harvard lawyer and descendant of early British settlers, became the first president of the NAACP, a post he maintained until his death.
While William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) was originally from Newburyport, he lived in Roxbury when he established the Liberator newspaper in 1831 that was the voice of the national anti-slavery movement in the U.S.
The book “Boston’s Banner Years: 1965-2015, A Saga of Black Success” lists many black achievers identified with Roxbury. Every Bostonian aware of our history should support the decision.
