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Cossitt Plaque

Cossitt Branch Library is Tennessee's First Literary Landmark


Cossitt Plaque

Inside the Cossitt Branch is a plaque designating the Cossitt Branch Library as Tennessee's first Literary Landmark. The status was bestowed in recognition of the part Cossitt played in furthering the career of author Richard Wright.

The plaque reads as follows:

Friends of Libraries USA
Literary Landmarks Register
Cossitt Library
33 South Front
In the 1920s Richard Wright (1908-1960) was denied access to the library because of race. A sympathetic white man helped Wright use the library, thus nourishing his dream of becoming a writer. This story is told in Wright's famous autobiography, Black Boy.

Tennessee Library Association
April 15, 1998