Library History

The Schuyler Otis Bland Memorial Library, which opened for service on March 17, 1969, was named after Representative Bland, a member of Congress from Virginia from 1918 until his death in 1950. From 1922 until 1950 Representative Bland was a member of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, and its predecessor, serving as chairman for 16 years. Congressman Bland is principally remembered as "father of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936," the nation’s basic maritime statute.

In announcing the selection of the name of the library, Mr. J.W. Gulick, Acting Maritime Administrator, stated: "Naming the new library for Schuyler Otis Bland places before all users of this facility the name of an outstanding leader in the development of basic policies and programs to maintain an effective, efficient American Merchant Marine…His contribution to creative, dynamic thinking in relation to the American Merchant Marine, and his association through the Merchant Marine Act, with the establishment of goals and policy vital today for our merchant marine make his name particularly appropriate for the Academy Library, as a source for knowledge and ideas concerning the American Merchant Marine."