The plaque on the marble-lined wall of this vestibule declares the new library on Elmwood Avenue a lasting memorial for Robert Brayton Knight (1826-1912) and Josephine Webster Knight (1829-1912), dedicated by their children.
Josephine Webster Knight had been an active supporter of the local Elmwood Public Library Association, which was established in 1915. When it outgrew its existing space in Greenwich Street by the early 1920s, the Elmwood Public Library Association and the Knight family came to an agreement that the new memorial library, when built, would become the Library Association’s next home. The project broke ground on September 28, 1922. The Knight family effectively loaned the building to the Association, paying for the building’s overheads and utilities through the generosity of the Knight family and an endowment fund created by a $125,000 bequest from Edith Webster Knight, Robert’s daughter and library supporter, who died in 1921. The library was dedicated and opened to the public in May 1924.
