Category Archives: Library

Main Street Library’s 50th Anniversary Series: Photo Gallery

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Breaking the Cornerstone: Demolition of the Carnegie Library

Once the largest Carnegie Library west (or north) of the Mississippi River, in the 1960s the Davenport Public Library faced an unsettled future due to developing structural problems. In the early 1960s, the Library Board requested funds to build a … Continue reading

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Main Street Library’s 50th Anniversary Series: The Children’s Library Wing

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Davenport Public Library’s Main Street branch, we will be posting here about the events that led up to the demolition of the Carnegie building and the decision to construct Edward Durell Stone’s … Continue reading

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Brick Wall Strategies: Genealogy Forms & Resource Checklist

While conducting genealogical research, some family members remain elusive and difficult to find. At this month’s Genealogy Perspectives program, we watched Lisa Louise Cooke’s video “Genealogical Cold Cases: A Step By Step Process”. Here are some takeaways we found noteworthy.  … Continue reading

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Enroll in our Summer Book Arts Academy

Summer Book Arts Academy is a hands-on workshop series offering community members an opportunity to learn more about book arts and how to create them. Each workshop will cover a different type of book arts spanning from simple binding techniques … Continue reading

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Fun-Size Fire Insurance Maps of Davenport

In anticipation of this coming Tuesday’s program, “Genealogical Perspectives on Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps” (6:30pm on 5/22 at our 321 Main Street location) we are featuring a recent addition to our collection of these sources that consistently prove valuable to … Continue reading

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Sources for the Study of Davenporters’ Experiences in WWI

A century ago, in the spring of 1918, the first soldiers from Davenport to see foreign service in the conflict that would later become known as the First World War arrived safely in France. The Davenport Democrat and Leader and the Daily Times published … Continue reading

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In Memoriam: Barbara Bush

With these images from the Davenport Public Library’s archives, we are remembering Barbara Bush’s visit for the dedication of the Learning Center on January 21st, 1988. The Learning Center housed a collection of materials specially-selected to help promote literacy, a cause dear … Continue reading

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40 Years Ago: The Annie Wittenmyer Branch of the Davenport Public Library

The former administration building of the Annie Wittenmyer Home, at 2800 Eastern Avenue, opened as a branch of the Davenport Public Library on Monday, April 3rd, 1978. That’s forty years ago this month! The City of Davenport’s improvements to the … Continue reading

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#ColorOurCollections

Celebrate the 3rd Annual #ColorOurCollections, a week-long coloring fest on social media, hosted by New York Academy of Medicine! From February 5th through 9th, libraries, archives, and other cultural institutions have created free coloring books and sheets from materials in … Continue reading

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