Gary N. Sudduth and the Sudduth African American History and Culture Collection at Sumner Library
Gary Neil Sudduth, a longtime Minneapolis Northside resident, was a widely respected civil rights leader, a champion of public libraries, and a strong believer in the importance and power of books and reading for all people, especially children.
Sudduth was an appointed member of the Minneapolis Library Board from 1980 until his untimely death in 1997 at age 44. He served as president of the library board in 1991 and 1992, and was appointed by President Clinton to the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science in 1994.
Sudduth was an active community leader from an early age. As a senior at North High School in 1971 he was a member of the N-Club (an athletes lettermen club), Student Council, Senior Committees, Track, Wrestling, Basketball, and Football. He earned a Bachelor of Elected Studies degree with a concentration in Social Work and History from the University of Minnesota and began his career as a group worker for the Hennepin County Detention Center in 1975. The next year he began working for the Minneapolis Urban League holding various roles including Street Academy Director, Vice President for Community Outreach and Advocacy Programs, and in 1992 was appointed President/CEO.
He was instrumental in organizing a cooperative effort between the Urban League and Minneapolis Public Library to motivate African American students to read more and improve reading skills. He negotiated for black police officers, fought for a new school superintendent who would support the fight against academic failure in the black community, and he even hosted a channel 5 television program “On the Other Hand.” They called him “the Mayor of North Minneapolis.”
In February, 1998, the African American History and Culture Collection at Sumner Library was renamed in Sudduth’s honor. The Sudduth Memorial Fund allows for continued growth of the collection, which includes over 5,000 fiction, non-fiction, and audiobook titles for children, teens, and adults. Items may be checked out. Visit Sumner Library to see the collection (611 Van White Memorial Blvd., phone: 612-543-6875).
Strengths of the collection include:
African background and cultural heritage of North Americans
Slavery
Free blacks
Antislavery movement and abolitionists
Emancipation and reconstruction
Discrimination
Civil rights movement
African American biography
African American fiction and literature