The Ernest & Francille Wilson African American Library

Selected, curated, and developed over the course of their 50+ year union, the Ernest & Francille Wilson African American Library is a remarkable, one-of-a-kind blend of African American academia, 60s and 70s Black art and poetry monographs, and original 19th and 20th century African American historical texts. It also houses Ernest Wilson’s hand-written journals, covering a 60-year period between 1960-2020, a remarkable time in world history, American history, and African American history. 

The library intimately captures the central relationship – the 50+ year marriage between Francille Wilson, neè Rusan, and Ernest Wilson. That union, and its confirming, creative, collaborative power, becomes a model for African American achievement in their generation. It shows how the binding forms of love and devotion, and of a commitment to family and uplift, have always been the sine qua non of communal and cultural progress in the Black community.

The library captures their interests, passions, and loves, and outlines an entire age of African American scholarship, from the rise of Black Studies programs in the late-60s (happenings they were a part of) to the new criticism of the 90s and 2000s to the panoply of newer and younger and more diverse voices of the 2020s. The collection also reveals the arc of African American artistic expression, from its humble beginnings in the 1960s DIY Black Arts Movements to long-overlooked artists finally receiving their due at major American institutions. 

The library is supported through generous contributions from family, friends, and local institutions. 

The E&FW Library also hosts The Rusan Fellowship and The Francille Rusan Wilson Project and hosts talks, symposia, and publishes a small amount of books per year. 

For information about how you can support the library, please email library@takomafoundation.us.