Peabody Library: SHSU’s “Crown Jewel”

Leslie Cordova and the Houstonian (Apr. 1) have another in their series of the campus buildings, this one about the crown jewel that is the Peabody Memorial Library:

The Peabody building was known for its reading rooms with an arched metal ceiling, ornamental design, busts of distinguished literary figures and stained glass windows which were gifted by the class of 1902. All of these glass windows are originals, aside from the framed window on the right when entering the building which was constructed of glass salvaged from the massive windows in Old Main Auditorium after the fire of 1982.

The building was designed in the shape of a cross and contained a reading room, book room and office for then-principal of Sam Houston Normal Institute, Henry Carr Pritchett. The building housed the library holdings of the school for almost three decades.