Racism, Idealism, and Uneven Advertising: Promoting the Early Kansas Traveling Libraries in White and African American Newspapers, 1898–1910

ABSTRACT This study examines how Lucy Browne Johnston and other white library leaders in Progressive Era Kansas used newspapers to publicize traveling libraries from 1898 to 1910. These small portable collections of books were sent from Topeka, the capital city, to communities across the state. Based on archival research and historical analysis of Kansas newspapers, this study explores why Johnston and other white library leaders promoted traveling libraries aggressively in the white Topeka press but rarely in Black newspapers. Turn-of-the-century racial prejudices and adherence to the doctrine of parallel development, or the belief that African Americans should develop within their own segregated social world, negatively impacted how Johnston and other white library leaders shared information about the traveling libraries. Despite claims of universal access for the traveling libraries, Johnston and other white library leaders in turn-of-the-century Kansas did not prioritize outreach to African Americans. In fact, these white library leaders did not reach all groups equally with information about the traveling libraries.