Fant Thornley
Fant Hill Thornley (born June 1, 1909 in Pickens, South Carolina; died April 13, 1970 in Birmingham) was director of the Birmingham Public Library from 1953 to 1969.
Thornley was the son of John Louis and Elizbeth Hill Thornley of Columbia, South Carolina. He graduated from Presbyterian College and earned his library degree at the University of North Carolina.
Thornley was employed as a teacher before joining the staff of the Richland County Public Library in 1934. He took a particular interest in rare illustrated books and maps. In 1938 he and library director Lucy Hampton Bostick republished Robert Mills' Atlas of South Carolina under their own imprint, Bostick & Thornley Publishers. The company went on to publish several books relating to South Carolina history.
During World War II Thornley served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He published a memoir of boot camp at Parris Island compiled by his fellow recruit Gilbert Bailey. After the war he returned to Columbia as a reference librarian. He came to Birmingham as assistant library director in 1949, and was promoted to director after the retirement of Emily Danton in 1953.
It was because of his friendship with Thornley that Birmingham investment banker Rucker Agee donated his extensive collection of antique maps to the library.
In response to a lawsuit filed by activist Lola Hendricks, Thornley successfully urged the library board to desegregate the city's library system during a called meeting on April 11, 1963. In taking this action, he and the board defied a pledge by Mayor Art Hanes to desegregate the libraries "only at gunpoint."
Thornley stepped down in 1969 and was succeeded as library director by Richardena Ramsay,. He died in April 1970 from an apparent heart attack at his home in the Claridge Manor Apartments. He was buried near his parents at Rosemont Cemetery in Clinton, South Carolina.
Thornley is thought by some to haunt the Linn-Henley Research Library in downtown Birmingham. In 1977 archivist Marvin Yeomans Whiting saw the elevator doors — then a set of swinging doors — open, followed by the smell of Thornley's favorite Chesterfield cigarettes. In 1989 an electrician working at the library says a ghost appeared and spoke to him. He refused to return to the archives area.
| Preceded by: Emily Danton |
Director, Birmingham Public Library 1953–1969 |
Succeeded by: Richardena Ramsay |
References
- "F. H. Thornley Dies in Alabama" (Fall 1970) The South Carolina Librarian, p. 30
- Milling, Chapman J. (July 1973) "Bostick and Thornley: Prestige Publishers." Sandlapper, pp. 52-54
- Bagley, Jim. "Birmingham Public Library Archives". Alabama Ghostlore- accessed March 22, 2006 (link via Archive.org)
- Barrett, Mark. (October 27, 2005) "Haunted hunt: Searching for the ghosts of Alabama." Birmingham Weekly
- "Haunted repository? Library staff isn't just blowing smoke." (October 30, 2006) The Birmingham News
- Baggett, James L. (September 22, 2009) "Birmingham Public Library" Encyclopedia of Alabama
- Brown, Alan (2009) Haunted Birmingham. Arcadia Publishing ISBN 9781614233749
- "Historical/Biographical Information" (n.d.) Bostick & Thornley Collection, Walker Local and Family History Center, Richland Library
External links
- The Haunting of Linn-Henley video on YouTube.com