PORTSMOUTH - Bertha Mae Winborne Edwards, 89, left to join the Lord Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009, after a short illness. She was born in Portsmouth, the daughter of the late Carey J. and Annie S. Winborne. She was the widow of the late George I. Edwards.

She attended public school in Portsmouth and was a 1937 honor graduate of I.C. Norcom High School. She received a B.S. degree in 1942 from Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) with a double major in social studies and library sciences. After graduating, she taught in the Zion Baptist Church kindergarten and worked at the Norfolk Naval Operating Base for a brief time. In May of 1945 she received the call to do what would become her life's work and passion.

Hired by the City Council to become the first public librarian for blacks in Portsmouth, she organized and established the Portsmouth Community Library. She worked in this position from the library's opening in December of 1945 to 1963 and also served as a consultant helping to open three other elementary school libraries as well as another church library. In 1963 when integration of libraries began in the city of Portsmouth, she became reference librarian, retiring in 1980 after 17 years and 35 total years of service to the Portsmouth Public Library system.

Bertha Edwards also served the community as a member of the Portsmouth Mental Health board, the Portsmouth Library board, the Women's Board of the Effingham YMCA, as well as the NAACP. She was a proud charter member of the Merry Makers Club, a deputized volunteer registrar of the City of Portsmouth, a Golden Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, a member of the Afro-American Historical Society of Portsmouth, and a life member of the Virginia Library Association. She was a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church for more than 77 years and at various times served as a member of the Junior choir, pianist for the Sunday school, assistant Sunday school teacher, a member of the Women's Service League, a member of the Board of Christian Education, the library committee, and the board of directors for the Ebenezer Non-Profit Corporation. Mrs. Edwards compiled and authored several books, including a two-volume History of Blacks in Portsmouth, seven volumes of a Pictorial History of Blacks taken from the Lee F. Rodgers collection, a history of black baseball in Portsmouth, and a biographical sketch of Afro-American men in Portsmouth in 1974 and 1996. All are part of the collection in the Local History room of the Portsmouth Public Library. She received many honors and recognition for her community service and life's achievements including the Pump Handle award from the Portsmouth NAACP in 1992, the first award for Excellence in Librarianship from the Tidewater Area Minority Network in 1997, the Finer Womanhood Week award from Zeta Phi Beta Sorority in 1999, and citations from Celestial, Zion, and Mount Calvary Baptist churches. Her biographical information is listed in the following references: "The Black Librarian in the Southeast," "Who's Who in Library Service 1948," "Dictionary of International Biography 1966," "Virginia Lives - The Old Dominion Who's Who 1964," "Who's Who of American Women," 2nd and 4th editions, and "100 Influential Americans in Portsmouth, VA 1997."

Left to cherish her memory are a sister, Anne W. Alexander of Virginia Beach; two sisters-in-law, Jonnie Mae Winborne of Portsmouth and Ellen E. Brathwaite of Bronx, N.Y.; a brother-in-law, Thomas Edwards of Portsmouth; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives, as well as scores of friends and people whose lives she touched.

A funeral will be held in Ebenezer Baptist Church, Monday, Nov. 2, at 11 a.m., with the Rev. Leroy Hill presiding. Internment will be in Lincoln Cemetery, Portsmouth. Fisher Funeral Home, 1520 Effingham St., is handling the arrangements. The body will be in the church Monday at 10 a.m. Viewing will begin Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. where the family will be present from 4 to 5 p.m. and the Omega Omega Ceremony of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. will take place.

The family will assemble at the funeral home at 10:15 a.m. Monday for the procession to the church. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to The Black History Museum Portsmouth Community Library, c/o The African American Historical Society of Portsmouth, P.O. Box 2468, Portsmouth, VA 23702. www.fisherfuneral.com.

Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA) - October 31, 2009