Ponce De Leon Library Renamed To Honor Joan Garner, Fulton County’s First Openly LGBTQ Commissioner
Even in death, Commissioner Joan Garner continues to make history. On Monday afternoon, dozens of supporters, city officials, and friends gathered outside of Ponce De Leon Library in Midtown for a renaming ceremony in honor of the late Fulton County Commissioner who passed away in 2017 after battling breast cancer. In 2011, Garner became the first openly LGBTQ+ Fulton County Commissioner, representing District 4. Now, she becomes the first Black openly LGBTQ+ person to have a Fulton County public library renamed as the Joan P. Garner Library at Ponce De Leon, in her honor.
A vision of CNP Executive Director Charles Stephens, who also served on the renaming committee that worked to secure Garner’s name on the library, he and other city leaders, including Garner’s widow Fulton County State Judge Jane Morrison, Marvin Arrington, Fulton County Board of Commissioner (District 5), and Natalie Hall, Vice-Chair, Fulton County Board of Commissioners (District 4) and Garner’s former chief of staff, were among those who spoke about the impact of Garner’s life and legacy.
“When you think about public service, Joan Garner was the example of what we all ought to aspire to be. I’m glad her name is going to live on in this building,” said Arrington.
“When you think about public service, Joan Garner was the example of what we all ought to aspire to be. I’m glad her name is going to live on in this building.”
“This is so befitting because she [Garner] loved to read and she loved community,” said Hall. “For this library to be named after her it is an honor. We live not too far from here in the Old Fourth Ward and this is one of the libraries she would come to.”
Hall, who had a successful career in IT management before becoming Garner’s chief of staff, shared how Garner had an ability to see greatness in people before they often did.
“She kept coming after me after she won her election," said Hall. "And I said that’s the craziest thing on this earth. I've been an IT manager for 20 years. What do I look like being the chief of staff? She said, ‘there’s something in you that I see and I know that you’re about community. You’re the most social IT person I’ve ever seen in my life.’ And so that’s how I became her chief of staff. I know that’s she looking down on us and she’s probably so happy right now.”
Garner’s widow, Judge Jane Morrison, spoke on behalf of the family, and in a full-circle moment for her late wife, painted a picture of a young Joan Garner navigating the streets of her native Washington D.C. and the Library of Congress.
“Washington D. C., The Mall, the buildings were her playground. She was very adventurous, bold, and determined that she would ride the bus and get to know her city,” said Morrison. “So when she later was a very determined, hard-working student, and she needed a place to study, she would do her studying in a library, in our library, in the Library of Congress. Libraries were very important to Joan, always. This place has a special place in her heart.”
Morrison ended her remarks by thanking “the dreamer among us, Charles Stephens.”
"Many people knew Joan, and Charles, you certainly knew Joan and understood her in a very important way. I’d like to think I knew her best, but many of you knew her well and cared for her,” added Morrison.
Stephens recalled being in “awe” of Garner after appearing on a 2014 panel on the legacy of Bayard Rustin in which Garner served as moderator.
“Following the program, I went up to thank her,” said Stephens. “And I remember she was so gracious and so nice. And that is one value I think is so important in public service, to not only work hard, to not only be smart but to have grace. And in these times, I think we need courage, certainly, but I also think we need a little more grace,” he said.
“To not only have a building in the city named after a Black LGBTQ person, which is very important, but also to honor Joan Garner because she represented the very best of us. We can only achieve greatness in this world and a better city if we remain connected to the greatness in us.”
Stephens also spoke on the significance of having a public building named after a Black LGBTQ person.
“To not only have a building in the city named after a Black LGBTQ person, which is very important, but also to honor Joan Garner because she represented the very best of us. We can only achieve greatness in this world and a better city if we remain connected to the greatness in us. More than ever, we need examples and models like the one Joan Garner set to provide clarity and purpose. To remind us of the importance of books, of ideas, of communication, of building bridges. Let this library serve as a space to commemorate the legacy of Joan Garner and also serve as a reminder of the example she set.”
