Douglass-Truth Branch
🏢 The Seattle Public Library — Seattle, Washington
Douglass-Truth Branch
A 1914 landmark library in the Central District renamed for two great abolitionists and home to one of the region's foremost African American Collections.
🕑 Library Hours
| Monday | 10 AM – 6 PM |
| Tuesday | 12 PM – 8 PM |
| Wednesday | 10 AM – 6 PM |
| Thursday | 12 PM – 8 PM |
| Friday | 10 AM – 6 PM |
| Saturday | 10 AM – 6 PM |
| Sunday | 10 AM – 6 PM |
Hours may vary on holidays.
📍 Location & Contact
Address: 2300 E Yesler Way, Seattle, WA 98122
Phone: (206) 684-4704
Website: spl.org
📖 About Douglass-Truth Branch
The Douglass-Truth Branch occupies a 1914 landmark in Seattle's Central District, originally opened on September 15, 1914 as the Henry L. Yesler Memorial Library and designed by architects Harlan Thomas and Woodruff Marbury Somervell in an Italian Renaissance style of buff tapestry brick and red mission tile. Uniquely among early Seattle branches, it was paid for entirely with city funds rather than as a gift from Andrew Carnegie. In 1965 members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the Black Friends of the Yesler Library, and community members founded an African American Collection that reversed the branch's declining circulation; today that collection holds more than 10,000 items of literature, art, and history and is among the largest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. On December 5, 1975 the branch was renamed to honor abolitionists Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, whose names had tied in a community naming contest. Designated a Seattle Historic Landmark in 2001, the building was expanded and reopened on October 14, 2006, with an underground addition by Schacht Aslani Architects, and its front lawn is home to the Soul Pole, a 21-foot carved artwork depicting 400 years of Black history.
⭐ What makes this branch special
- 1914 landmark, built with city funds — not a Carnegie gift
- Renamed in 1975 for Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth after a tied community vote
- African American Collection of 10,000+ items, founded 1965
- The Soul Pole out front: a 21-foot artwork of 400 years of Black history
📱 Free with a Seattle Public Library Card
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❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the branch named for both Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth?
When the community held a contest in 1975 to rename the old Yesler library, the names of abolitionists Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth received the same number of votes, so the branch honored both and became Douglass-Truth on December 5, 1975.
How did the branch's African American Collection begin?
In 1965 members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the Black Friends of the Yesler Library, and other community members built the collection, which reversed falling circulation; it now holds more than 10,000 items of African American literature, art, and history.
Was the 1914 building a Carnegie library?
No. Unlike most early Seattle branches, the original 1914 building — the Henry L. Yesler Memorial Library — was paid for with city funds rather than a gift from Andrew Carnegie, and it was designated a Seattle Historic Landmark in 2001.