The Free Library system comprises 54 neighborhood libraries throughout the city, many named after celebrated Philadelphians. While the branches have become household names to their respective patron bases, some remain in the dark about who exactly their local library is honoring, and why. In honor of Women’s History Month, find out more about the Free Library’s famous female namesakes.

Blanche A. Nixon

Blanche M. Askew Nixon (1928–1989) was a renowned community activist and mother of six from Southwest Philadelphia, where her namesake library can be found today. Nixon was heavily involved in her community as co-chair of the Southwest Philadelphia Interracial Mothers Council and the Safe Street Advisory Board, as well as working with the Citywide Parents Council, Cedar Park Neighbors, Citizens for Unity, and Baltimore Avenue Business Association. Nixon believed there was "no such thing as a bad child." She found her calling working with the Crisis Intervention Network helping to identify and intercept high-risk students susceptible to gang influence during rising incidents of violence among Philadelphia youth in the 1960s and 70s. During the height of this conflict, Nixon met with opposing gang leaders and was a key figure in easing tensions and decreasing violence.

Nixon's local Free Library branch in Southwest Philadelphia was also central to her community outreach. She oversaw two significant projects there — a garden on the library lawn to deter loitering, and a large mural on the outside of the building to discourage graffiti. In 1990, a year after Nixon's passing, Cobbs Creek Library was renamed the Blanche A. Nixon/Cobbs Creek Library at a ceremony attended by then-mayor Wilson Goode alongside many community leaders. Nixon was the first African American woman in Philadelphia to have a library branch named after her.

Katharine Drexel

Katharine Drexel (1858–1955) was a Philadelphia heiress, philanthropist, educator, and the second American to achieve sainthood status in the Catholic Church. Drexel's father was a prominent banker who left a sizable fortune to his three daughters, which he encouraged them to use for charitable works. Heeding her father's wishes, Katharine Drexel used her inheritance to fund schools and missions in Black and Native American communities. She shocked her family and Philadelphia high society when she devoted her life to missionary work at the personal request of Pope Leo XIII. In 1889, Drexel entered the Sisters of Mercy convent and later founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, an order of religious sisters that furthered her work with underserved communities.

In 1969, the Free Library branch on Knights Road in Northeast Philadelphia became known as Katharine Drexel Library in her honor.

St. Katharine Drexel became canonized on October 1, 2000, by Pope John Paul II, citing her work addressing social inequity, educational outreach, and selfless service. She is officially recognized as the patron saint of racial justice and philanthropists. She has parishes, schools, and churches dedicated in her name.

Louisa Lovett

Louisa Lovett was born to a prominent Northwest Philadelphia family in the 1800s. The Lovetts owned a ten-acre estate along Germantown Avenue on which the namesake library now stands. In 1885, Louisa Lovett co-founded the Mount Airy Free Library in a single rented room of a lumberyard. Lovett served as the library's Secretary and Treasurer. The library began in earnest with 421 books and a treasury of $11.20, relying primarily on donations and volunteers to keep afloat.

Two years later, Louisa Lovett's aunt funded the construction of a dedicated building for the library at Germantown Avenue and Sedgwick Street. With the new building came a new name: the Memorial Free Library. In 1894, the library managers voted to incorporate the library and set aside plans for expansion and future endowments. The branch became part of the Free Library system in 1924.

The Lovett Memorial Library stands on the same parcel of land since 1887. The original building is now the meeting room, with the same fireplace from the 1800s.

Lillian Marrero

Lillian Marrero (1956–2005) was born in France to Puerto Rican parents. She was passionate about education and held three master's degrees: one in Library Science, one in Instructional Design, and one in Educational Technology. After relocating to Philadelphia, she began working as a librarian for the Free Library in 1991. Marrero served her North Philadelphia community by assisting patrons with housing, work, and educational opportunities. She dedicated much of her time and resources to helping patrons learn English and computer skills. She was a longtime member of the REFORMA Northeast Chapter and Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, as well as holding leadership positions in the American Library Association. Marrero's love for her library extended beyond patron service, as she could often be seen working in the garden and cleaning up litter at the branch. 

In 2005, the Free Library renamed the Lehigh Avenue branch to Lillian Marrero Library shortly after her passing. 

Ramonita G. de Rodriguez

Ramonita G. de Rodriguez (1908–1973) was a journalist, educator, and community leader who came to Philadelphia from Puerto Rico to earn her master's degree from Temple University. In 1947, Rodriguez became the first Puerto Rican teacher in the Philadelphia school district. In addition to teaching, Rodriguez wrote a recurring column for the Philadelphia Daily News called "El Camino," written in both English and Spanish and featuring news items for Spanish-speaking Philadelphians. She was active in community organizations, founding the Puerto Rican Women's Committee and eventually working her way up to a supervisory role in the Board of Education's bilingual program. 

Rodriguez passed away from cancer in 1973 at age 65. In 1977, the Philadelphia City Council voted to rename the Free Library branch at 6th and Girard Avenue to Ramonita G. de Rodriguez Library in her honor.

H. Josephine Widener

H. Josephine Widener was the wife of Peter A. B. Widener, a Philadelphia butcher-turned-businessman. Together, in the late 1800s, they built one of the wealthiest family empires in America at that time. The Wideners purchased enough stock to control the Philadelphia streetcar system and, in 1887, they built a mansion at the corner of Broad Street and Girard Avenue. Josephine Widener passed away in 1896, and in his late wife's honor, Peter transferred the mansion to the Philadelphia Library.

The Library sold the mansion in 1946, using the funds to renovate a former North Philadelphia bank into a new branch. The Free Library operated the branch out of the former bank building for decades before moving the Widener Library a few blocks away in 2005.

Barbara Gittings

Barbara Gittings is widely considered the mother of the American LGBTQ+ movement. She was a prominent gay rights activist, editor, public speaker, and lifetime library advocate. Born in Vienna, Austria, and later relocating to Wilmington, Delaware, Gittings was always aware of her attraction to the same sex. In high school, Gittings experienced her first instance of overt discrimination when she was rejected from joining the National Honor Society based on her "homosexual inclinations." While in college, she received an offer from a psychiatrist offering to "cure" her of her attractions, but she could not afford the treatment. Gittings began researching homosexuality to understand herself better; however, she found that the topic was overwhelmingly "dismal" and mostly focused on men. Gittings began spending much of her time in libraries in her quest for knowledge.

At 18, Gittings left home and moved to Philadelphia. On weekends, she would hitchhike to New York City to visit gay bars in the hopes of meeting like-minded people while continuing to collect books on LGBTQ+ subject matter. In 1956, Gittings traveled to California to attend a meeting of the Daughters of Bilitis lesbian civil rights organization. In 1958, Gittings started her own chapter of the organization on the East Coast and began editing the organization's magazine, The Ladder. She distributed the publication in bookstores around Philadelphia and New York City.

Gittings is most well-known for participating in some of the United States' first LGBTQ+ rights protests. Her transformative activism work assisted in convincing the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality as a mental disorder from the DSM and helped normalize pro-LGBTQ+ materials in public libraries. Gittings has been featured in documentaries Gay Pioneers, Before Stonewall, After Stonewall, Out of the Past, and Pride Divide.

In 2001, Gittings became the namesake of the Free Library's Barbara Gittings Gay/Lesbian Collection of books dedicated to LGBTQ+ issues. The collection can be found at Independence Library.