About: Ethel Martin Bolden

Ethel Evangeline Martin Bolden (December 14, 1918 – October 20, 2002) was an African-American librarian, educator, historian, and community leader. Bolden educated generations of residents in Columbia, South Carolina. Bolden established libraries in Columbia's Black elementary schools and emphasized collecting books about Black history. She wrote, "It is now an established fact that the lack of a knowledge of the history of black Americans does harm not only to blacks but to whites as well. A lack of black history leaves the white student only half educated in American history, and only half prepared for the American future." Her dedication continued when she integrated Dreher High School as its head librarian in 1968.