[1] Named after Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth,[2] the library houses the West Coast's largest collection of African-American literature and history.

[3][6] The library cost around $40,000 to construct, and it was the only branch at the time paid by city funds and not a gift from Andrew Carnegie.

[7] Through the 1940s and 50s, the library updated its collection to try and accommodate the influx of African Americans who moved into the Central District after World War II.

[3] Council member Sam Smith ensured that $46,000 was appropriated to the collection, and by 1969, a third of the library circulation was African American literature and history.

[11] On December 5, 1975, mayor Wesley C. Uhlman proclaimed that the library was renamed to the Douglass-Truth Branch in honor of Abolitionist leaders Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth.