New name proposed for Wilson Library

The Fairfax County Public Library Board of Trustees is considering changing the name of the Woodrow Wilson Library in Bailey’s Crossroads.

The Library Board “has received significant community input” calling for renaming the library, said Brian Engler, board chair and trustee representing the Braddock District.

A segregationist president

“Over the past few board meetings, residents of the Mason District, where the library is located, have testified during public comment that a name change for this branch location is desired and warranted,” Engler said.

Those advocating for a name change say Woodrow Wilson, who served as president from 1913 to 1921, was a racist who oversaw the re-segregation of the federal workforce, advocated for the “Lost Cause” myth that romanticized the Confederacy, and praised the Ku Klux Klan.

Libraries should be “welcoming to all members of the community,” states an online petition in support of a name change. “Having a library named after a known racist sends the message that the institution does not value the dignity and worth of people of color.”

The new name under consideration is the Culmore Community Library, reflecting the library’s location at 6101 Knollwood Drive in the heart of the Culmore neighborhood.  

“Based on the community support individuals communicated to the Library Board of Trustees in letters and speaking at our meetings, we wanted to celebrate the feeling of community they expressed by changing the name from Woodrow Wilson to Culmore,” said Fran Millhouser, Library trustee representing Mason District. “Many people already refer to this branch as the Culmore branch, so it feels like a good fit.” 

Public input

The Library Board will discuss the issue at its next meeting on July 10, 7 p.m., at the George Mason Regional Library. To sign up to speak, call 703-324-8324. Mason District residents are invited to submit comments to Millhouser at [email protected].

At that meeting, the board may or may not vote on a recommendation to change the name of the library, said FCPL Marketing and Communications Director Sara Prohaska.

There is no requirement for a public hearing or community input session regarding this issue beyond the public comment portion of a regularly scheduled Library Board meeting.

The push for a name change comes solely from residents, Engler said. “The possibility of a name change for Woodrow Wilson Library was not initiated by library staff nor prompted by a renaming effort within Fairfax County Public Library or Fairfax County Government.”

The Library Board, however, recently amended the section on library names in its Policy Manual recommending that “all new or renamed branch libraries shall be named for the geographical area in which they are located.”

According to Engler, “The current name of this location in question, Woodrow Wilson Library, does not convey its location, possibly causing confusion among FCPL users who are new to the county and the library system.”

During its March 13 meeting, the Library Board established a committee to investigate changing the name of the Wilson Library. The committee met in May to discuss budget impacts, as well as a report by local history expert Christopher Barbuschak, manager of FCPL’s Virginia Room.

A history of the library

When local residents and the Fairfax County library system began considering the need for a library branch in Bailey’s Crossroads in the early 1950s, they referred to it as the “Culmore-Bailey’s Crossroads Library” or “Culmore-Bailey’s Library,” Barbuschak’s report states.

The report notes the Library Board’s former policy, in effect from 1953, decreed that all future library branches be named for famous deceased Virginians.

In 1960, the Library Board renamed the proposed Culmore-Bailey’s branch for Woodrow Wilson. The Friends of the Culmore-Bailey’s Library raised $7,000 to open the branch through donation drives, bake sales, and puppet shows.

The Woodrow Wilson Library opened in a storefront at 464 Leesburg Pike at the Culmore Shopping Center on Jan. 29, 1961. The library soon outgrew the space, and was relocated twice to bigger storefronts in that shopping center.

A new library building opened on Jan. 3, 1967, on a 1.6-acre property donated to the library system by the Fairfax County Park Authority at the intersection of Knollwood Drive and Glen Carlyn Drive. The Woodrow Wilson Library was expanded in 1976 and totally renovated in 2015.

Barbuschak traces the name Culmore to real estate developer John N. Campbell (1898-1958), who built the Culmore Apartments and the Culmore Shopping Center. Campbell named the projects for his birthplace, the Culmore village in Londonderry, Ireland.

Meanwhile, the library system is undergoing changes in leadership. Jessica Hudson has left her position as director of the FCPL, and Christine Jones is serving as acting director. Engler’s term as board chair ends June 30. The incoming chair, Suzanne Levy, represents the City of Fairfax Library.