From DC Public Library

Library Naming Request

The Library has received two requests to rename the Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library. The Library is inviting the community to provide comments on the two requests. Comments may be submitted via email to lamondriggs.naming@dc.gov. The deadline to submit comments is April 8. The Library’s executive director will review all comments and provide a recommendation to the Library Board of Trustees at an upcoming meeting.

Below are bios for the two individuals whose names have been put forward.

Lillian J. Huff was an activist and organizer who, for nearly 20 years led the quest to attain a library in the Lamond-Riggs neighborhood.

 Ms. Huff was a tireless volunteer in the Lamond-Riggs community, devoting thousands of hours to improve education, health care, correctional institutions, community relations with the police force, services to young and elder individuals, and the school lunch and food stamp programs, among other initiatives.

She was instrumental in securing funding from Congress to build the original Lamond-Riggs Library, and, after the library opened in 1983, she served as the first President of the Friends of the Lamond-Riggs Library. 

Other roles in which she served her community included Vice President of the Federation of Friends of DC Public Library and President of the Lamond-Riggs Civic Association.

In 1978, Ms. Huff was elected to lead the District of Columbia’s Delegation to the White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services, and was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve as the Vice-Chairperson of the Pre-White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services.

Robert Bryant was an African American architect who, along with his brother, Charles, owned Bryant & Bryant, the firm that designed the original Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library. 

Robert Bryant attended Armstrong Technical High School in D.C. and went on to study architecture at Howard University. He served his country as a US Air Force Architectural Engineer in Clovis, New Mexico from 1954-1956.  

Following his service, he and his brother Charles formed Bryant & Bryant, one of the oldest African American architecture firms in the country. The firm had 600 commissions, including such recognizable projects as the University of the District of Columbia’s Van Ness campus, the Lamond-Riggs Library, the Shepherd Park Library, Dunbar High School, and the New Carrollton Amtrak Station.

Throughout their careers, Robert and his brother encouraged learning and diversity. Their firm served as a training ground for many students from historically black universities. Knowing how difficult it was for minorities to enter the architectural field, the Bryant brothers sought, mentored and trained these students.

Robert Bryant moved to the Lamond-Riggs community in 1961, and lived about a block from the Lamond-Riggs Library for many years.