Willard Library | |
 Front and southern side of the library | |
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| Location | 21 1st Ave.,Evansville, Indiana |
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| Coordinates | 37°58′42″N87°34′27″W / 37.97833°N 87.57417°W /37.97833; -87.57417 |
| Area | 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) |
| Built | 1877 |
| Architect | James W. Reid (Reid & Reid) |
| Architectural style | Victorian Gothic |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000014[1] |
| Added to NRHP | September 28, 1972 |
TheWillard Library is a private donation library incorporated in 1881 to serve the city ofEvansville, Indiana, and to carry out the terms of a private trust. The Willard Library houses a trove of local archives and genealogical materials in addition to its collection of standard publications. It is built in theGothic Revival style, designed byJames W. Reid (ofReid & Reid). It was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1972.
Willard Carpenter, Evansville's "pioneer of public charity," built and endowed Willard Library. He established a trust fund in 1876 about which he wrote:
An agent for theUnderground Railroad before theCivil War, Mr. Carpenter incorporated his concern for the rights ofAfrican Americans into his requirement that the library "be maintained for the free use of all persons who may desire to consult it." This definition of a "public" library was a daring social experiment in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
The library was named "Willard Library" rather than "Carpenter Library" because, while living inTroy,New York, Carpenter became enamored with theEmma Willard School, a Troy female seminary founded byEmma Willard. He decided to found an educational institution and name it "Willard". Although initially conceived as acollege, the idea was refocused to constructing a library.
The library building was started in 1876 at First Avenue and Pennsylvania Streets in Carpenter's field, a place where circuses once pitched their tents. A depressed economy halted construction in 1877. The building's foundation lay for five years unfinished. The building was resumed in 1882 and Carpenter devoted the rest of his life to the supervision of the building. He worked with the architects, hired the workmen himself, and saw to it that only the best materials were used.Reid & Reid became the architects and are credited with the design of the superstructure. The formal opening was held March 28, 1885.
The library is built with the characteristic features ofVictorian Gothic architecture. Notable architectural features employing this style include the tower, steeply pitched roofs with ornamental gables, color contrast resulting from the use of white stone and brick, and window arcades withGothic arches. The capitals supporting the arcade arches were apparently only roughed out prior to the carving, which was never completed.Terra cotta was used extensively for exterior decoration in the form ofrosettes andowls (symbols ofwisdom) in roundels seen in the side gables.[3]
The interior woodwork is finished in select quarter-grain oak. The doorways and grand staircase make an imposing entrance, also in the style of Victorian Gothic architecture.
Willard Library is home to a vast range ofgenealogy and local historyspecial collections on their second floor. Opened in August 1976 the collections include: fifty state references, family histories in book, microform, manuscript, and loose-paper formats,Vanderburgh County newspapers from 1821 to the present, newspapers from selected surrounding counties, Vanderburgh County records (on microfilm), church records in several formats, Catholic Diocese records (on microfilm), records of local and area cemeteries and funeral homes, DAR book collection, and several online databases and three major search engines: Heritage Quest, Genealogy Bank, and Ancestry Library.[4] The Library hosts an annual "Midnight Madness" event where the library is open until midnight all week for research purposes. Genealogists and others come from all over to research family histories, etc.[5]
The Tri-State Genealogical Society formed in partnership with the Special Collections department at the library. They publish a packet every September, December, March, and June for their members.
Willard has a self-perpetuating seven-member board of directors. During all periods of its operation, Willard has been and continues to be open and free to residents ofVanderburgh County and neighboring counties. It also receives public financial support through a tax levy, though this tax levy must be approved by theEvansville Vanderburgh Public Library.[6]
The Willard Library is purported to be haunted by aspecter known as the "Grey Lady", She is thought to be a girl named Louise Carpenter, daughter of Willard Carpenter. When Willard Carpenter died, he gave away the library. Louise Carpenter sued the library board in the 1890s, believing it was hers on the pretense that her father was not in a sound state of mind when he wrote his last will and testament. Louise Carpenter would go on to lose the case, and she is said to haunt the library in revenge. The first sighting of the gray lady was reported in the basement of the library in 1937 by a library custodian, who quit shortly after the encounter.[7][8] People who have encountered the grey lady say they smelled the scent of perfume and heard strange noises. The library started putting up webcams in 1999 and currently has 6 of them.
To Evansville natives, the Grey Lady is purported to be the ghost of a former librarian whose child was injured falling from a ladder while playing during their mother’s shift at the library. She is believed to keep watch over patrons of the library, especially children, and has supposedly steadied several people who found themselves teetering on a ladder. She is said to stand in the south-facing windows on the second floor, looking out toward the train tracks and downtown area.[9]
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