The Richard B. Harrison Community Library in Southeast Raleigh is marking its 90th anniversary. The library was founded in 1935 by Mollie Huston Lee. It has provided access to books and resources, especially for Black residents in Wake County. Wake County Public Libraries will hold a celebration on Sunday, November 9, 2025, at the Tarboro Road Community Center in Raleigh. The event will recognize the library’s history and the work of its founder, Mollie Huston Lee.
Wake County Commissioner Tara Waters highlighted the library’s role in the community and encouraged residents to attend. The library first opened in a storefront on West Hargett Street, later moved to Blount Street, and is now on New Bern Avenue.
Under Lee’s leadership, the library hosted speakers such as Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. It also created an early collection of Black literature, now called the Mollie Huston Lee Collection, which documents African American history and the African Diaspora…