LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer honored the legacy of a Black pioneer librarian and his wife Saturday by placing a headstone at his previously unmarked grave in Eastern Cemetery.
Reverend Thomas Fountain Blue, the son of enslaved parents, became the first African American to lead a public library in the U.S. when he was hired at Louisville's Western Branch. The Carnegie-built library at 10th and Chestnut became the first free public library in the country for Black people, staffed entirely by Black people, according to a news release.
Blue died in 1935, and was buried alongside his wife.
Despite his contributions, Blue's grave was never marked and the location was eventually forgotten.
A partnership between Western Library and the Friends of Eastern Cemetery eventually found his resting place and raised money to buy the grave marker.
"As we honor the legacy of Rev. Blue, a giant in our city’s history, with the placing of this headstone, we are only starting to repay the huge debt we owe to trailblazers like him for believing in our country, when our country did not believe in them," Mayor Fischer said in a news release. "As a city, we must commit to continue learning about Rev. Blue and other giants who earned and deserve recognition for helping shape the future we now occupy."
Blue's granddaughter, Annette, joined the mayor for the honor.
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