Back in the 1970's, after having moved to Virginia, I worked with a colleague who happened to be the seventh generation direct descendant of George Washington's brother, Bushrod Corbin Washington (BCW). As a matter of fact, he was named BCW the seventh. He hated the name Bushrod and went by his middle name, Corbin, and vowed if he ever had a son that he wouldn't name him the VIII. Anyway, I remember telling him I didn't think the name Bushrod was so bad and I mentioned there was a library in Philly named Bushrod. I don't think he was impressed with that however and still went by his middle name. The Bushrod Library has a place in Philadelphia history: it was the first newly constructed branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia since the Central Library was built in 1927. It opened in 1950. Are there any blog readers who saw the library being built or were there the day it opened? For me, Bushrod is one of the key landmarks of Oxford Circle. It was where I got my first library card, sometime in the late fifties. I remember the library had two stories: one I believe was for children, the other for adults. Does anyone have any specific memories of the library back then? I understand that the library has undergone a major renovation, so I'm not sure what it is like today.
14 comments:
You bet I remember it! I loved climbing the stairs. Used to take books out...and then it took me hours to ride my bike home to Algon and Levick. I would stop a billion times on the front steps of houses so I could read. In fact, sometimes I finished the books before I got home. :) I only wish I had the time to read the way we used to as kids.
They used to take us from Spruance in the early 60s, we probably walked. Remember those big fans in the summer. Snip, Snap and Snur books. Nancy Drew. Flick Ricka and Dicka. One of the librarians was Mrs. Specht, I think her son was in my class. Remember the beige and black FLP iin the back of the book to put the 'Due Date' card. What a piece of architecture, something out of Frank Lloyd Wright.
I was there about 6 months ago. My Dad passed away and I was returning some movies he had rented (there's something we couldn't do then). When we were teenagers, my friends and I used to say we "hung out" at (outside) the library, because it was a point close to where all of us lived. I loved the cornerstone with the date because it was the year I was born (1949). I also got my first card there, and came with my class from Carnell.
I remember it being much larger (although I visited the old haunts last summer and saw how the library had shrunk when I took a picture of it from across the street). My cousins finally got nervous when I went to check out the alley behind my old house on Sterling St and insisted we return to the car.
Then we went and walked around Elkins Park for awhile, where my family moved in 1969. Elkins Park is still beautiful. I even walked down a block which I didn't recall except in dreams, where I used to have to duck through a hedge to the "dream Elkins Park" which had seedy-trendy art galleries and eateries. But I recognized it instantly. The creek behind our house even smelled the same, stagnant but comforting.
But this is Oxford Circle Memories, so enough of my weepy Cheltenham Township reminisces.
I wish I'd gotten a chance to get pictures of Spruance but my cousins were running low on patience. I should have gone on my own.
I went to that library as a kid, took MY kids there when they were small, and STILL go there for books, movies and magazines.
Still pretty much the same, just renovated a bit.
I spent many great afternoons and Saturday mornings at the Bushrod in the 1950's. The children's level was down a few steps from the street, while the adult level was above it.
On many Saturday mornings the librarian would read stories to the younger children, who would sit in a semicircle in front of her. I remember hearing 'The Five Chinese Brothers'. :-)
In my early teens I'd take out all the Winston Science Fiction Series books from the library. It was only a mile or so away from my house, a nice after-dinner walk in nice weather.
Does anyone have a picture of the gorilla on top of Doctors pet shop on Cottman Ave next to Nicks roastbeef?
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Great memories of the library through the '50s, my elementary school years. As I recall, one could take up to 5 books at a time from the children's floor. I remember thinking that it was my responsibility to read every book in the library.
I actually lived at Oxford Circle and when I was young, walking to the Bushrod Library was a chore. But I loved reading so much I did it, I sometimes brought home as many as 10 or 12 books at a time. There were no backpacks in those days. I loved that library. But I have to admit when I got into College and Northast Regional library opened, it saved my life. No trekking into town.
The red haired ya librarian inspired me to become one......lived at this library for many years!
Bushrod Library! My home away from home. First floor was adults, second floor, children. I spent, I think it was, five years there each summer in Vacation Reading Club. Each year you belonged you got a certificate at the end of the summer with a different color bright seal on it. I think they were blue, red, bronze, silver, and the last, fifth one, was gold. By the end of the 5th year you had all five sticker seals on your certificate. You had to read ten books and write a report on it to obtain the certificate each summer. Yes, I was a huge reading nerd. I bought ride my bike with the big front basket for my books from Lardner St. to the library every week. I would often go to there just to do research and look things up. I'm still a voracious reader and it's still one of my favorite past times.
Actually, what I remember the most from the mid-fiftiest, was the distinct aroma within the Library, it must have been from the varnished wood Tables and chairs. remember going there in my first car a 1963 VW Beetle with my friends.
I lived on Eastwood Street near Magee. In 1962 I received my very first library card at The Bushrod Library. As I recall the children’s section was on the lower level. I was so thrilled to possess that library card, which at the time counted as my most prized possession. The first book I checked out was, ‘The Blue Nosed Witch by, Margaret Embry.
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