BPL Board of Trustees to Honor Shelly Millender Jr. for His Desegregation Efforts

 

On April 10, 1963, Miles College students, including Shelly Millender, staged a sit-
in at the Birmingham Public Library. The library leadership agreed to end segregation in the
institution, making it one of the few public facilities in Birmingham that was peacefully de-
segregated. Courtesy of the Alabama Department of Archives and History

The Board of Trustees of the Birmingham Public Library today will present a resolution to the family of the late Shelly Millender Jr., who as a Miles College student in 1963 participated in a sit-in of the downtown Birmingham Public Library that eventually led to the desegregation of BPL.

Millender passed away at age 86 on July 17, 2021.  

The BPL trustees will honor Millender for his bravery that opened up libraries for people of color in Birmingham during its board meeting that begins at 4:30 p.m. today, Tuesday, August 10, in the Arrington Auditorium on the 4th Floor of the Research Library Building, 2100 Park Place. Board meetings are open to the public and press, but masks are required for attendees.  

On April 10, 1963, Millender and former U.S. Federal Judge U.W. Clemon were among Miles College students who staged a sit-in at the downtown Birmingham Public Library protesting a policy that banned blacks. The library leadership agreed to end segregation in the institution, making it one of the few public facilities in Birmingham that was peacefully desegregated.

In an interview with WBHM (the NPR station in Birmingham) prior to participating in a panel discussion, "The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South" in May 2018 at the Central Library, Millender, a former U.S. Army veteran, said, "If I could put my life on the line for the country, certainly I shouldn't be barred from the library."

BPL Board of Trustees resolution reads in part:

* Whereas Shelly Millender Jr. walked into the downtown Birmingham Public Library on April 10, 1963, and stood up to a librarian who told him "to go to the colored library" by saying, "No, I want to use this library" and refused to leave...

* Whereas because of his actions, leaders of the Birmingham Public Library agreed to end segregation soon after in what w described as one of the few peaceful desegregation efforts in Birmingham....

* Whereas Shelly Millender Jr. and his brave actions were featured in library historian Wayne S. Wiegand's book "The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South: Civil Rights and Local Activism" and participated in a panel discussion about the event at the Central Library on May 1, 2018

Birmingham was the 20th stop in Wiegand's book tour about desegregating library efforts.  

In an interview with BPL before his lecture, Wiegand calls black activists like Millender who desegregated public libraries "hidden figures" who helped improve life for Blacks in the Deep South. 

The American Library Association apologized for its silence during the 1960s on library segregation after Wiegand addressed the group at the 2018 ALA Conference in New Orleans. 

 Before attending Miles College, Millender served in the U.S. Army. At Miles, he served as a student government president and actively participated in the civil rights movement.  Millender began his career at Coca-Cola Bottling Company and then became one of the first black automobile salesmen of luxury cars in Birmingham. 

After spending decades in the car business, Millender hosted a popular radio show called "Let's Talk" for years discussing political and social topics of the day.