Southern University was chartered by the Louisiana legislature in 1880. The first campus opened in New Orleans. The University's Agricultural and Mechanical College opened in Baton Rouge and was "a light of hope" for African Americans post Reconstruction. It is home to the John B. Cade Library.

The Cade Library has digitized a series of letters and documents of interviews with enslaved people that are now available on the library website. "The Record of Opinions Regarding Slavery: Slave Narratives"  was compiled in 1935 by John Brother Cade, Sr. and includes reports of formerly enslaved people from 17 states. The documents reveal their thoughts about slave owners, abuse, clothing, religious life, superstitions, and religion in their communities. How did they feel about the forced separation of their families, the brutality of slavery, and living with no hope of freedom?

The Southern University System is now made up of five schools and is the only remaining historically black Land Grant university system in the nation.

The Library will be closed on Sunday, June 19, in observance of Juneteenth National Independence Day.

On Juneteenth: A Book Discussion
Monday, June 20, 7:00 p.m.

In celebration of Juneteenth this year, the Norfolk Library invites you to attend a book discussion of On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed at the Library. A New York Times Best Book of 2021, it provides the sweeping story of Juneteenth’s integral importance to American history, as told by a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and Texas native. On Juneteenth is available to be borrowed on hoopla with your Norfolk Library card. June 19 is now officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Please register here or by calling 860-542-5075 ext. 2.

Click Here to view the The Norfolk Library Night Owl - June 17, 2022