Abandoned Library and community center for Blind People in Saint Louis

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Originally built as a telephone exchange in 1899 and in 1904 for the Bell Telephone Company (later Southwestern Bell) by the architectural firms of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge and successors Mauran, Russell & Garden, the building became the first home of the Henry L. Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind. When the library opened in 1938, it was the first of its kind in the United States; there was no other library for the blind situated in its own building with the facilities organized purposely for the convenience of its patrons. The annual report of the Library of Congress for 1940 showed that Wolfner distributed more Braille and talking books than any other library in the United States (after the Library of Congress) and that it housed the second-largest collection of materials for the blind (also after the Library of Congress). The library was the first branch library building to be given to St. Louis by a group of citizens; it served a tri-state area including Missouri, Arkansas (until the late 1950s) and Kansas (until 1971). The building housed a community center and numerous organizations for the blind, the two most important being the Carver League for the Negro Blind and the Cultural and Service Club for the Blind- a club founded to serve as a social, recreational, and service organization dedicated to the physical and mental well-being of the blind. Wolfner remained at 3844 Olive until 1971.

The St. Louis Public Library began loaning Braille books to blind patrons before an actual department was formed at the request of the St. Louis Society for the Blind. Organized in 1924 as an independent venture and directed by Edward F. Endicott (blind himself), the new department located in the Main Library basement (at Olive and Thirteenth) contained 360 volumes for use by blind St. Louisans. In addition to the department, literary clubs and a music society were also formed there. A national program of free library service for blind adults was established through the Pratt-Smoot Bill in 1931. President Herbert Hoover authorized an annual expenditure from the federal government of $100,000 to develop the program regionally and nationally. In that year, the Library of Congress selected the St. Louis Public Library as one of eighteen regional libraries to conduct this free blind service and to circulate Braille books furnished by the federal government.

Standard English Braille was adopted in 1933. In 1934, the federal government initiated the talking book program (a phonograph recording of reading materials); the government constructed and provided the talking book machine which brought reading materials to those who could not read Braille. In St. Louis, Endicott reported that circulation had reached 52,000 in 1934; the library contained 15,000 volumes of which 500 were talking books. Prompted by a need for a separate facility to house the growing collection for the blind, a St. Louis corporation headed by Dr. Meyer Wiener was formed in 1936 to raise funds for the erection of a library and recreation building for the blind. Until a new library could be realized, two temporary reading rooms for the blind were established in the Marquette School (razed) at 4015 McPherson Avenue, while the main collection remained overcrowded in the basement of the Main Library.

By May of 1937, Dr. Wiener and the corporation had raised $35,000 (in both public and private subscriptions) and announced their plans to purchase an attractive, older brick building located at 3844 Olive Street as the new home of the library for the blind; the title would later be transferred to the St. Louis Public Library. The building was to be renamed the Henry L. Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind as a memorial to Dr. Wolfner, a locally noted eye specialist and colleague of Dr. Wiener who died in 1935. Originally designed as a telephone exchange by the St. Louis office of the Boston architectural firm Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge in 1898 (front) and the successor firm Mauran, Russell & Garden in 1904 (rear), the buildings first housed the Lindell office of the Bell (later Southwestern Bell) Telephone Company and the Southwest Telegraph & Telephone Company Operator's Training School until 1932; during 1937, it housed the Works Progress Administration sewing project.

The Henry L. Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind formally opened on June 7^th, 1938 and it remained at 3844 Olive until 1971. The Library was the first of its kind in the United States; a Library of Congress survey revealed that there was no other library for the blind situated in its own building with the facilities organized purposely for the convenience of its patrons. It not only housed the nation's second largest collection for the blind, the Library also served as a vital social center for the St. Louis blind. The location was perfect in that it was on a streetcar line and within reach of ninety percent of the city's blind population (between 1,600 and 2,000 individuals); a population that did not have a place to meet previous to 1938. The Henry L. Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind was the first branch library building to be given to St. Louis by a group of citizens.

All of St. Louis's newspapers covered the opening of the new library, an event witnessed by over 300 including Mayor Bernard F. Dickmann, library officials and leaders in education for the blind. The St. Louis Star-Times featured a story proclaiming "Henry L. Wolfner Library for the Blind Formally Opened." The story proudly recalled the man for whom the institution was named:

Dr. Wolfner was born in Chicago in 1860 and received his degree in medicine from the Missouri Medical College in 1881. Dr. Wolfner's postgraduate work was in diseases of the eye; he attended several European universities. For a number of years he was a professor of clinical ophthalmology in the Washington University School of Medicine and was a staff member of the Jewish and Bethesda Hospitals. In November of 1931, Dr. Wolfner was honored by the St. Louis Medical Society for having practiced here a half-century. Dr. Wolfner was a member of the Board of Education for nine years and served a term as president. He was also president of the Board of the Home for Aged and Infirm Israelites.

At the opening, Mayor Bernard F. Dickmann declared that "the new library, the first branch library building to be given to St. Louis by a group of citizens together with the Missouri School for the Blind and other facilities here for the sightless, made St. Louis an outstanding educational and cultural center for blind citizens." Also in attendance, Miss Adaline A. Ruenzi, President of the Cultural and Service Club for the Blind, stated for the St. Louis Star-Times that before Wolfner:

The library was located in the basement and first floors and covered 17,000 square feet; parts of the basement were allotted for a storage room and a clothes exchange. The first floor housed Braille books and a library reading room. A large auditorium (seating 400) and several meeting rooms were located on the second floor. These second-floor rooms included a community center as well as cultural and service organizations for the blind, the most important being the Service Club for the Blind and the Carver League for the Negro Blind. The building housed over 47,000 adult Braille volumes and a children's library for the blind containing over 23,000 volumes (until an amendment of the Pratt-Smoot Act in 1952, children's services were not free). Music and books were transcribed into Braille by friends of blind individuals at the library. The library was the first of its kind in the United States and its circulation only second to that of the collection for the blind at the Library of Congress.

Elaborating on the uniqueness of the institution, Ms. Ruenzi stated for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat:

The Cultural and Service Club for the Blind & Carver League for the Negro Blind

The Cultural and Service Club for the Blind was founded in 1934 by Adeline Ruenzi (blind herself) to serve as a social, educational, recreational, and service organization dedicated to the physical and mental well-being of the blind. The early activities of the Club were limited to monthly socials, and when funds were available, the Club purchased glasses, medicine and clothing for the blind. The first meetings of the Club were held at the Catherine Springer Home for Business Women, in St. Louis. With Ruenzi as Director of Education, programs soon expanded to include dancing classes, the organization of a club orchestra and chorus and sponsorship of home teaching including selling materials at cost to the blind and placing talking book machines in the homes of the blind. The Club incorporated in 1938 and had over 400 members, yet still not a permanent home. Financial difficulties led the Missouri Commission for the Blind to discontinue its operations (with the exception of its pension department) in 1939. Ruenzi held fast and set out to take control of the Commission's responsibilities on her own. Through her strength and the generosity of Dr. Meyer Wiener, the Club found its first permanent home on the second floor of the Henry L. Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind at 3844 Olive in 1939. From this location, Ruenzi sponsored the distribution and maintenance of the 800 Talking Book Machines then assigned to Missouri. She created a Home Teacher Division, and sold raw material to the blind (at cost) for their home industry in addition to establishing retail outlets for their finished products.

Through the early 1940s, the Club took over added responsibilities by continuing work stopped by other agencies. Prompted by the Red Cross discontinuing its Braille department and the closing of all WPA projects, the "Give Thanks For Your Sight" Canister Campaign was inaugurated in 1941 by the Mayors of St. Louis City and County. It was also during this period that the Club began to supply work to the blind and industrially inclined blind in their homes; finished products were sold in department stores and specialty shops and sales were arranged by private groups.

Club services were continued on a private enterprise basis until the Missouri Commission for the Blind began to function again in 1946. Relieved of some of the financial burdens, the Club was able to extend its programs; a social worker was hired and the Club began to care for the sick blind. At its home inside Wolfner through 1950, the Club continued to grow into national prominence as a philanthropic organization for the blind; activities increased a hundred fold. The services at Wolfner increased in addition, and the Club was forced to move to 4312 Olive late in 1950 (demolished).

Fundraising campaigns and generous donations relieved more of the financial strain between 1946 and 1948 and allowed Ruenzi to found the Carver League for the Negro Blind, a social and recreational organization for the African-American blind of Greater St. Louis. Although the Cultural and Service Club for the Blind was open to any person regardless of race, creed or religion, African Americans had not participated in the recreational activities of the Club to any extent. The Carver League was sponsored by the Club and made its home at the Henry L. Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind.

Other accomplishments at the Henry L. Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind

In 1939, Wolfner extended its services to include the distribution of books to the Missouri School for the Blind. Talking books were also sent to blind patrons in Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas. The annual report of the Library of Congress for 1940 showed that Wolfner distributed more Braille and talking books than any other library for the blind in the United States; nearly 81,345 volumes had been issued to 2,265 blind readers in Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas.

After WW II, Wolfner directed its attention to providing talking books to blinded veterans of the war. By 1950, service had increased to an extent that the Cultural and Service Club for the Blind had to move a few blocks down the street. Another new program, in 1951, was the recording of textbooks for blind college students. Previously, these recordings were made solely by the New York Public Library for the Blind. In 1952, the Pratt-Smoot Act was amended to include library services to children and Wolfner added a children's room to accommodate this new service. In June of 1959, more than 2,000 patrons were borrowing books from the library. Efforts were directed even further to reach more patrons by urging doctors to tell their blind patients about Wolfner.

Until 1961, the St. Louis Public Library had funded the building, equipment and staff for library service to blind readers in Kansas and Missouri. Service to Kansas was arranged on a cost basis after 1961. In 1963, the State of Missouri began to pay the St. Louis Public Library for Wolfner's services; this additional reimbursement allowed services to be improved. In July of 1964, the Wolfner Library was cited in "Talking Book Topics" as 'library of the month.' Within a year about 3,165 blind had received library service; 121,503 books were loaned. In 1966, the national program was extended to the physically handicapped through Public Laws 89-522 and 89-511. Wolfner's name was changed to the Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in 1968. Also in that year, the library became the Talking Book Machine Agency for Missouri. In 1969, a cassette program was added to improve services at Wolfner.

Wolfner remained at 3844 Olive until 1971, when the library moved to 1808 Washington. Expanding the staff to twenty, Wolfner provided over 4,200 blind and handicapped persons in Missouri with talking books, Braille and large print books and tape recordings. In 1977, Wolfner was administered by the Missouri State Library and designated by the Library of Congress as the state's library for the blind and physically handicapped. Wolfner moved to its final home in Jefferson City in 1985 and merged with the Missouri State Library. By then, Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped was one of the 56 regional and over 100 sub-regional libraries for the blind and physically handicapped in the United States, but the only one in Missouri. The Library mailed recorded books and Braille books to over 9,000 Missourians.

The Henry L. Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind retains integrity; its exceptional architectural design conveys a sense of the library and the service clubs that once made the building home. It is one of a few original buildings still extant in a once-dense residential and commercial neighborhood. The new owner envisions an adaptive reuse that includes an art gallery and residence; the building will make a valuable contribution to the arts and theater district of Midtown, St. Louis.

Building Description

The Henry L. Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind, located at 3842-44 Olive Street in St. Louis, Missouri consists of a pair of joined two-story buildings with basements. The first building, designed as the Lindell exchange for the Bell (later Southwestern Bell) Telephone Company by the St. Louis office of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge in 1898, bears the primary facade facing Olive; it is a rectangular-shaped, Italian Renaissance-style red brick building with unusual glazed terra cotta and limestone ornamentation. Its Italian Renaissance styling is reflected in such elements as a symmetrical facade, arched recessed entries, full-length first-story windows with arches, and brackets which once supported a terra cotta tiled parapet. The building is accented with intricately carved limestone ornament, green terra cotta medallions, and yellow terra cotta cornice brackets. The primary facade is approximately 50 feet wide and is divided into three bays at the first story. An arcade featuring five bays of paired windows lines the second story. Built as an addition at the rear of the original telephone exchange, the second building was designed by the prominent local firm of Mauran, Russell & Garden (successors to Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge in St. Louis) in 1904. It is constructed of red brick and has terra cotta sills and a parapet. Inconclusive building permits suggest that the two building portions were connected in 1916. Both buildings have flat roofs and limestone foundations. The buildings are in relatively good condition despite years of vacancy and general neglect. The property is the last of a handful remaining on its side of the city block and is awaiting an adaptive reuse. Although the terra cotta parapet is missing, window frames have fallen out, an entrance was converted to a window and one arcade column has collapsed (on the main building), these repairable details do not diminish the building's important historical associations. The strong, formal composition still conveys sufficient integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.

The Henry L. Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind, on City Block 3926, is located near the Midtown Historic District east of what was formerly known as "Gaslight Square." The building measures approximately 50 feet east to west and 130 feet north to south; it is divided into two main portions. The block is bounded by Olive Street to the north, Spring Avenue to the east, Westminster Place to the south, and Vandeventer Avenue to the west.

The Henry L. Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind is divided into two main portions. The front portion (1898) is a two-story red brick box accented with intricately carved limestone and features cream and green-colored terra cotta ornamentation. The rear portion (1904) is a larger two-story red brick rectangular-shaped building with terra cotta sills and parapet. A portion in between the two buildings (1916, and adjoining them) is lined with white glazed brick; adjoining walls from the two buildings have the same glazed brick.

The primary (north) facade of the Henry L. Wolfner Memorial Library for the Blind is executed in the Italian Renaissance style and features a symmetrical facade of red brick, white limestone, cream and green terra cotta and red granite. A limestone arcade of three unusual elliptical arches (centered in the facade) has ornate modillions (also acting as keystones), elaborately carved spandrels with shell motif medallions and a dentilled cornice with corona and cymatium. Two pilasters with shield and wreath ornaments divide three boarded window bays; the ends of the arcade have limestone quoins. Flanking the arcade are two carved limestone, round-arched openings; both were originally entrances. Intricately carved rosettes flank the sides of the arch; a limestone lintel is above. The arch at the right (west) side of the building leads to an inner marble, brick and wood-paneled stair hall that leads inside the building. The opposite arch originally led through the building to an inner courtyard; it is now a window with an arched transom. An exposed and polished red granite foundation supports a carved limestone base above. The second story features an arcade of five arches resting on a continuous limestone sill course; decorative plaques accent the ends of the course. Each arcade frames a pair of round arch windows; limestone imposts span the facade. Centered in each of the five larger arches is a green-colored terra cotta medallion with ornate shield and foliage motif. In between each arch is a cream-colored terra cotta cornice bracket; these brackets once supported a terra cotta parapet (removed), cast iron brackets are extant.

The east elevation includes the two buildings and connecting portion. The wall of the 1898 building is completely unadorned and without fenestration; a building once abutted this elevation. A tall chimney is visible; a boiler and furnace room are in the basement. Connecting the two buildings is a two-story stairwell and hall with basement (probably constructed in 1916); this portion has white-glazed brick. Three windows are two-over-two and three are one-over-one with terra cotta sills. The white glazed brick continues across three bays of windows at the rear (south) elevation of the 1898 building. A final window bay with an entrance below is contained in red brick construction. Windows on this south elevation are three-over-three with terra cotta sills. A granite stairwell and platform lead into the basement. The white glazed brick also continues on the north elevation of the 1904 building. Here, four two-over-two windows are on two floors; the basement has three two-over-two windows and an entrance. The east elevation of the 1904 building has six bays on two-and-one-half stories and a basement; the half-story of windows is located in a low place between the second-story ceiling and the roof; it is unknown if this was ever a usable space. The basement story includes eight boarded windows with granite wells. An entrance (reached by granite stairs and a platform) is flanked by two small windows at the first story. On one end there are two windows; one is open, the other double window is partially boarded. On the opposite end is a pair of two-over-two windows; two additional doubled windows follow. The second story includes four double windows and two triple windows. These windows are two-over-two. The half-story includes four double windows and two triple windows. Each window on this elevation has a terra cotta sill. The building terminates in a simple, yet attractive, terra cotta parapet.

The rear (south) elevation of the 1904 building is divided into three bays and includes an additional entrance reached by granite stairs; a small open window is to the left of the entrance. A chimney to the right of the entrance extends above the roof line. A single-boarded window is to the right. At ground level are two small open windows; a freight elevator entrance is between stories. A bricked-in window above the elevator suggests that there was originally a window here before the elevator. The second story contains three windows; two are open, the third is a two-over-two double window. Again, each window on this elevation has a terra cotta sill.

The west elevation of the 1904 building includes two stories of three-over-three and four-over-four windows; four per floor, some are boarded. The connecting portion and the remainder of the 1899 building are unadorned and lack fenestration. The roof contours are not level on this elevation; they are capped with terra cotta.

The interiors of the 1899 and 1904 buildings are in average condition, yet they retain their original architectural features. The main entrance contains its marble steps, brick walls and a wood-paneled ceiling. Cast-iron columns with Doric capitals are extant, and wood wainscoting on most of the columns is intact. Original light fixtures still hang from the ceilings; glass globes are broken. Two cast and wrought iron stairwells are intact; marble steps and clay tiles remain as well. The interior paint is flaking and peeling. Fifty or so badly damaged "Talking Book Reproducers," property of the U. S. Government, still lie lifelessly on the basement and first-story floors.

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