Blue, Thomas F., Sr.
(born: 1866 - died: 1935)Thomas Fountain Blue was born in Farmville, Virginia. Blue was a minister, an educator, and a civic leader. He was a graduate of Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (now Hampton University) and Richmond Theological Seminary (which was merged with Wayland Seminary to become Virginia Union University). In 1905, Blue became the first formally-trained African American librarian in Kentucky and also managed the country's first library training program for African Americans in the Louisville Colored Western Branch Library. In 2003, at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Toronto, Canada, Blue was recognized with a resolution of appreciation. Thomas Fountain Blue was the brother-in-law of Lyman T. Johnson. For more see Thomas Fountain Blue: pioneer librarian, 1866-1935, by L. T. Wright; Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky, by R. F. Jones; Thomas Fountain Blue, a Louisville Free Public Library website; and R. F. Jones, "Spotlight: Reverend Thomas Fountain Blue," Kentucky Libraries, vol. 67, issue 4 (Fall 2003), pp. 6-7.
