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Since their inception, public libraries in the United States have been understood to be free for all to use. Yet throughout their history, socio-political currents and developments limited or barred access for certain segments of the population. The paper looks at the accessibility for women and Black Americans during the 1850–1950 period, taking into account the image of women in the Victorian and New South era, as well as the Jim-Crow segregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]