Carnegie Library

Lawton's Carnegie Library would seem to represent some kind of a record for municipal persistence. The city itself first appeared on the short grass prairie of Southwestern Oklahoma on August 6, 1901, with opening of the vast Kiowa-Comanche lands to white settlement. Less than a year later, on August 2, 1902, the first letter was sent eastward to Andrew Carnegie, Esq., asking for his help. An interesting example of cultural ambition on what is often thought of as the "raw frontier" (a wasteland interested primarily in guns, cowboys, and hostile Indians), this first solicitation letter is both brash and straight-forward.

Written by a member of the law firm of Smith and Moore, and addressed directly to Mr. Carnegie, it read in part: "This place... started one year ago... now a town of 8,000 ... destined to be a leading town in this country... a city library is needed greatly." The drive had begun. And almost twenty years later -- on June 22, 1922 -- the library was finally dedicated ... the last to be built in Oklahoma by the Carnegie Corporation, and thought to be one of the last in the United States.

The delay was caused by lingering doubts in both Lawton and New York. Many citizens of the new town, for example, wanted a library and were willing to work for it. The Federation of Women's Club established a free city library in 1904 - in a room of the Citizens State Bank. It was later moved to City Hall. And early in 1910 the city council authorized the city clerk to communicate with the Carnegie Corporation "to ascertain what conditions and terms a Carnegie library may be built in this city... the Chamber of Commerce would furnish the site..."

But many Lawtonians also had reservations. A proposal to accept $20,000 from the corporation toward cost of the project was put to a vote of the electors in 1915 and a majority approved. However, one citizen, a Harry Buckingham, promptly wrote in to note that the count showed only 536 for, 481 against, "giving a majority of only 55 in 1017 votes, ... Many of us feel we cannot afford the increased cost..." Other citizens expressed doubts, as did a member of the Oklahoma Library Board. This prompted James Bertram, secretary of the Carnegie Corporation, to express some doubts of his own. In a letter to Stratton D. Brooks, president of the University of Oklahoma he noted:
"The situation is now that out of 16 library buildings (in Oklahoma) statistics from the communities concerned show that in the case of four, pledges have not been kept. An official application signed by the Lawton city commissioners was received and $20,000 was promised March 31, 1916, for the erection of a library building.