Thomas Fountain Blue

Early years Thomas Fountain Blue was the second child of Noah Hedgeman Blue and Henry Ann Crawley, both former slaves. In 1914 he was also made Librarian in charge of the newly opened Eastern Colored Branch of LFPL.

From 1919 to his death in 1935 Blue was the director of all library work for African Americans in Louisville, including work bringing library collections to seventeen schools in the Jefferson County area. he was the first African American to be on an ALA program. The Negro library training program that Blue established at LFPL continued as the Hampton Library School.

Personal life Blue married Cornelia Phillips Johnson in 1925; they had two sons together.