Regina Anderson Andrews, Harlem Renaissance Librarian

by Ethelene Whitmire

The first African American to head a branch of the New York Public Library (NYPL), Regina Andrews led an extraordinary life. Allied with W. E. B. Du Bois, Andrews fought for promotion and equal pay against entrenched sexism and racism and battled institutional restrictions confining African American librarians to only a few neighborhoods within New York City. Andrews also played a key role in the Harlem Renaissance, supporting writers and intellectuals with dedicated workspace at her 135th Street Branch Library. After hours she cohosted a legendary salon that drew the likes of Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. Her work as an actress and playwright helped establish the Harlem Experimental Theater, where she wrote plays about lynching, passing, and the Underground Railroad. Ethelene Whitmire's new biography offers the first full-length study of Andrews's activism and pioneering work with the NYPL. Whitmire's portrait of her sustained efforts to break down barriers reveals Andrews's legacy and places her within the NYPL's larger history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Books About Books, African American

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Ethelene Whitmire is a writer and professor, and the former chair of the Department of African American Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Ethelene is the author of The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram (forthcoming February 2026) and Regina Anderson Andrews, Harlem Renaissance Librarian. Her research has won awards and funding from the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright Program, the Lois Roth Foundation, the American Scandinavian Foundation, and the American Library Association. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s from Rutgers University – New Brunswick and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. She was a former Librarian-in Residence at Yale University before becoming a professor at the University of California – Los Angeles, and her current institution, the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She’s published essays in the New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Narratively, and Longreads. She has been a fellow at artists’ residencies at Yaddo, Ucross, Hedgebrook, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Born in New Jersey, she now divides her time between Madison, Wisconsin and Copenhagen, Denmark.

Reviews

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a librarian, it was awesome to read Regina Anderson Andrews: Harlem Renaissance Librarian and discover what an amazing woman Andrews was. While she spent her days welcoming patrons and organizing outreach activities, at night she hosted salons for guests like W.E.B Du Bois and Langston Hughes, and she later wrote and performed plays for the Negro Experimental Theatre.

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very clearly a well-research account of the life of a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, history of American libraries, and American culture and history in general. But this book, to be expected from its length, is more of a surface level biography, a retelling of facts that only skim the surface of who Regina Anderson was. Though I assume it's mostly from a lack of surviving papers and published material.

Notwithstanding the gap in more insight about Anderson, this still does critical work Alice Walker described as "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens." I think it would be extremely ignorant of me to say Anderson is forgotten, but I imagine that she has been forgotten to many people like me, but it's more fair to say that in our curation of histories, she has been, like many women and especially Black women, rendered invisible.

Honestly though, I could take a highly fictionalized biopic based on her life, maybe just even the parties in her famous Harlem flat. How does that not already exist??

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

While some of the details have been lost to history, Andrews was the first African American to head a branch of the New York Public Library. While fighting for equal pay and promotion opportunities, she also became involved with key figures of the Harlem Renaissance, such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and W. E. B. Du Bois, and helped found the Harlem Experimental Theater. An important biography of an overlooked figure of the Harlem Renaissance and the history of racial integration in libraries.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an inspiring librarian, it was great read Regina Anderson Andrews life and accomplishments. I learned some much about how African Americans came into existence in library information field; in addition, to learn about Harlem during the Harlem Renascences.

[Nichole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this quote: "The difference between being a librarian and 'working in a library' is not one of position but of attitude - a state of mind." p. 28, citing Book Bulletin of the Chicago Public Library, Volume 11, Np. 6, June 2921, 85-87.