Southside Hampton Roads

Welcome to the Sargeant Memorial Collection's LocalWiki for the history of Hampton Roads!

The Sargeant Memorial Collection (SMC) is the archives and special collections department of the Norfolk Public Library. The SMC is housed within Slover Library and recently celebrated its 90th year of service. The SMC is named in honor of William Henry Sargeant, the first librarian for the Norfolk Public Library who served from 1894 until his death in 1917. Sargeant began the collection by gathering local newspapers and city directories along with a small collection of rare books from a former 19th century subscription library in Norfolk. The collection grew and was eventually renamed the Sargeant Memorial Room in 1927.

Since that time, the staff of the Norfolk Public Library has continued to collect and maintain a historical collection of local history and genealogical research materials, growing from a small local history room into a regional archives and special collections of more than 24,000 books, 175 periodicals, 11,000 microforms, 150,000 photographs, 6,000 maps and architectural drawings, and 3,000 linear feet of archives and manuscript collections. Much of the collection is made up of donations from local individuals, families, organizations, and businesses, as well as materials from the City of Norfolk. A policy of not circulating the materials in the Sargeant Memorial Collection is essential to its preservation and longevity.

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