Dr. E.J. Josey Dr. E. J. Josey, the first black man to become President of the American Library Association (ALA) and Professor Emeritus, Library and Information Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh (PA), passed away of natural causes in Washington, NC. He was 85.

Dr. Josey was active in the 1960s civil rights movement in Savannah, GA as Youth Advisor of the Savannah State College NAACP Chapter as well as a member of the Executive Committee of the Savannah, GA Branch of the NAACP under the leadership of W. W. Law.

Josey was a Social Science Instructor at Savannah State College, from 1954-55 and then returned as librarian and associate professor from 1959-1966.

His NAACP work continued in the 1980s as President of the Albany, NY Branch of the NAACP and Josey has been the recipient of many honors by the NAACP for his service.

While in Savannah, Dr. Josey was very active in the community. A member of Second African Baptist Church, Josey served for a period as organist and choir director under Rev. Edgar Perry Quarterman.

In addition, Josey was one of the founders of the Economic Opportunity Authority.

He also contributed his leadership in the development of the Civil Rights Museum in Savannah.

Josey is fondly remembered as the founder of the Black Caucus of the ALA (BCALA), and has several scholarships named in his honor.

He led a walkout of 300 conference attendees in protest of the defeat of the resolution condemning the war at the ALA convention in 1970.

As President of the ALA, Josey chose the theme, “Forging Coalitions for the Public Good.”

“Coalitions for Josey meant, throughout his term and career, pushing for gender equality in libraries, pushing for bilingual and multilingual collections, and pushing for access for people with physical disabilities.

Most of all Josey's vision meant advocating for continued and expanded free access to the wealth of knowledge and information in libraries.

On the international scene, Josey led the fight in the 1980s to maintain sanctions on South Africa in protest of the country's former apartheid system of official segregation and inequality.”

Josey was a noted lecturer for the United States Information Agency in Africa. He authored 12 books, over 400 articles, and was the recipient of numerous awards from various state and international library associations. The ALA bestowed its highest award---Honorary Membership to Josey in 2002.

In 1985, Dr. Josey received a Congressional Resolution from the United States Congress in recognition of his outstanding and numerous achievements.

Funeral services will be held at Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, North Carolina on Saturday, July 11 at 1:00pm followed by a Memorial Tribute at the University of Pittsburgh (PA) later in the summer. Rev. Jesse Blackshear of Savannah, GA will eulogize Dr. Josey.

Josey is survived by his only child, Amina Josey Turner (nee Elaine Jacqueline Josey) and her husband, Lawrence Richard Turner, III; his ex-wife, Rev. Dorothy J. Josey; six grandchildren and their three spouses and ten great-grandchildren throughout North Carolina.

Daughter Amina Josey Turner currently serves as the State Executive Director of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP.