Carter g. Woodson library in chicago. We thank you for being here today. Its such a joy to have this project between book covers now. You know, its been so long. And, you know, weve been talking with michael, you know, and eventually going get this project done. Each step of the way he keeps saying, you know, one day were going have that big event at the library. Here we are. Its finally here. So im happy to have all of you here with me today. And thank you for coming out on a saturday afternoon. Today i want to begin by talking about how i found this project. Sort of how it found me. Tell some of the background how the negro in illinois was conceived. The individuals who carried it out, then read some passages from the book. My wife and i moved to town to 2004 to urbana champagne, it didnt take me too long to find the Harsh Research Collection. It was straight up the interstate. I came here pretty promptly. I was interested in a fascinating figure. He had been a harlem renaissance poet. He written a couple of excellent novels during the depression. He was best friends with Langston Hughs. He had written several childrens novels. Still a largely unrecognized figure. I wanted to look up and came and started asking question of the staff here and what they had. They started bringing out the boxes. First of the 50 boxes, and i had never heard much about this project. Theyre labeled negro in illinois. Illinois writers project innocuously on the box. I start looking through them and realize years of virtual yule treasuretroves of materials never published. Never seen the light of day. So i start hearing from michael that this is one of 17 projects carried out by the federal writers project, illinois being one of the chapters. You know, i had seen the state guidebooks put out by the federal writers project. There was one for each state. You can find them at used bookstores today. They are kind of tourist guides. They have maps in them of places you want to visit. But i had never heard of these 17 separate projects undertaken and headed by by sterling browne, the famed black poet Howard University professor sterling brown. Additionally on the negro in illinois. These famous writers worked on. It all of these famous people had worked on the project. Michael tells me these are the most frequently visited papers here at the collection. At this point my ears are starting to tingle. Im starting to realize exactly what this project is. And yes, its an obstacle with the onethird of the chapters were missing. We know theres original 29 chapters. We have the original outline. Michael went to Great Lengths and late 80s, early out to organize these in different chapter. It was clear from what we had that onethird of the chapters were missing. So i decided to go on this Treasure Hunt to try to track down the missing chapters. And i first went to the university of illinois. Thankfully they were interested in the project. You know, there was various obstacles along the way. You know, these dont get in to the book, you know. There was somebody else who had in mind piecing together, you know, the chapters that we had and we werent quite sure he was going to do a good job. I had to muscle in and get the project together. And the press picked it up and we went with it. So i had to try to track down the missing chapters. First i went to the new Berry Library on the north side of the coast, just right next to bug house square. I went to the new Berry Library and visited the paper of jack con roy, the noted parliament writer. The son of a miner in missouri. He was coed or it on the project with him. But a unique case of interracial collaboration, black and white authors here. I went to the con roy paper and found some wonderful stuff but not the three missing chapters. I found some additional chapters. Some drafts but i came out of new berry still missing three chapters. Next i had to go to the abraham president ial library. The individual on the writers project send copies on to springfield and d. C. I found a few things. I went to washington, d. C. , next. The library of congress. I found some of Richard Wrights writing there. Theres a eat it l of ten he did while on the project. But still, i was left after visiting the library of congress missing three of these chapters. The three missing chapters. John brownes friend. The story of john jones. The chapter on music, obviously, a great interest. And lastly, one of the chapters that had been referred to frequently in memoirs but we couldnt find called what is africa to me. The chapter on black nationalism. Next i went to Syracuse University. Where he donated all the papers all the way in new york state. I wept to Syracuse University and go through the files there. He knew just about everybody in the black literary world. Its a fabulous collection. One little folder there list that in gods country which was one of the working title for the study. There they had the last three missing chapters. So i called michael from the lobby excitedly telling him we found and restored all the original 29 chapters. At this point, i came back to chicago. I wrote up a project. I sent it to the society. I got a fellowship to work on the project. I spent the summer of 2010 here going through the papers, you know, i got to really know the staff here, which has been wonderful. Beverly cooke, all the staff here. Denise english, cynthia, lou lucinda samuel. Its a unique here. Its a peoples library. Its been a joy to work here. So i finally sit down and going through the chapters and going through all the drafts and i finally find the most recent versions. I put things back together. I type them all up. I show them to michael. Michael says thats great. Now we need footnotes. So i have to come up with a layer of footnotes all throughout the chapters. Pointing to all the other materials that exist over here in the library. Some of which ill go through today. But really throughout this project one of the best things for me has been working with michael and im so grateful he would take young scholar like myself and trust me to take on this project. I feel very fortunate. Im also grateful for the other scholars who can be here today. Darlen and christopher who offered criticism and encouragement along the way. Im happy to be part of the growing community of scholars doing work on chicago right now. Im also grateful for the community that exists in chicago supporting this work. When i first got to town, i remember looking at an exhibit over here and Susan Woodson introduces herself. Telltell mes me to come to her apartment to see her Art Collection comp is one of the best in town. And although she has since passed and left us. I want to acknowledge she was one of the people who invited me in to her home and invited me to the community here in chicago. So next i want to tell the story of the illinois writers project which officially started in mid 1935 when the federal writers project began. In addition to putsing americans bark to world building roads, bridges, thing like lake shore drive here built by the wpa. They put writers back to work, which is a kind of by disaster notion for the time. They put writers to work. There were four arts project, a music project, the theater project, and the writers project. Each had different state offices we had here in town the illinois writers project. Throughout illinois there were some hundred different projects. This was a really massive undertaking. Nationally there were some 25,000 workers working for the cultural projects. And those on the writers project where tasked with writing state guidebooks, collecting local history, culture, and folklore. They first started coming out in the 37, 38. The first guidebooks, though, that came out presented a lily white image of the nation, as you might imagine. Black leaders in washington, d. C. , pressured the Roosevelt Administration and they got sterling brown appointed to oversee several independent black projects. Studies which would archive africanamerican life. When i first talked to michael. He told me there were 17 project initiated by sterling brown. I said how do you know there are 17 . He said i dont know. I had to go part of that tour was finding those 17 projects. It wasnt until i found a role of microfilm. I finally found the list of 17 projects. Let me see if we can get this going here. Not too many people might be familiar with him. Hes here on the right with Langston Hughs here at fisk university. He was head librarian for 30 years. He invited the people to visit him. Sterling brown the National Editor of the writers project based in d. C. And here is the list of 17 projects. But the list of 17 number 15 was the negro in chicago laider became the negro in illinois dated november 1939. It says negro in chicago has begun. Its already underway. The best some of the first finally, some of these black projects started coming out. One of the most famous eventually became crumb drums and shadows. Collection of slave narrative. The actual during the day in 1940 the negro in virginia was published. And so this started getting him going. Moving on the project. He starts working more quickly in 1940, 41, and 42. In the early day of the project the black writers worked alongside white writers. In downtown, these were known as the eerie street offices east of Michigan Avenue near the navy pier. One of the earliest black writers to work on the project was Richard Wright. Here he is with vivian at the library down at 48th and michigan. Here is richard with vivian. He did a lot of the ib bwp workers did their work at the library. This is where they went to cothe research. It was the best archive in town for black history. The first document bearing wrights name isth largely about the great migration and black what he called mall adjustment of the urban environment. You see some of the language of the Chicago School of sociologies in the title itself. After Congress Passed the 18month law limiting the time when you could collect relief to 18 months. Some of you might also be familiar with the landmark study of Chicago Black metropolis headed by horace caton. Heres caton at his desk at the parkway center. Cayton ran about 20 wpa projects while he was a grad student at the university of chicago. Some of them had overlapped with the illinois writers project. Among them was a study of the black press, and there were several individuals who worked on this study, the black press, including Richard Durham, Margaret Walker who i mentioned. Richard durham, some of you might have heard as the writer and inventer of the famed radio show called destination freedom sponsored by the chicago defender. Were happy to have mrs. Durham here, i saw, in the audience today. While on at wpa, Richard Durham filled out several questionnaire forms on the study of the black press. He collected information on newspapers in town like the chicago bee, the conservator, a newspaper called the bronzeman. But most interesting is a chapter he wrote for an unfinished book, a whole book on the black press that was supposed to be completed. He wrote a chapter called quality dont spend your called dont spend your money where you cant work, between the years of 1929 and 1932. This is a fascinating essay, although it didnt make it into the final book. But you can actually go read it here at the harsh collection. You know, these were public documents, you know . These werent supposed to be stuffed away in the archives to collect dust, although they did that for many years. But they were supposed to be open to the public and available to the public and here at the harsh you can go read some of these materials. Another person you probably heard of is Katherine Dunham who worked on the project 1938, 1939. She oversaw a project studying what were then called black cults and storefront churches. And she and her group was among the first to study the nation of islam here in town. She dunham recalls meeting Elijah Mohamed and being, quote, impressed by his sincerity. But theres only one document with dunhams name actually on it. This one i found be here at the library of congress, this is the revolt in green pastures. This was the book project that was to come out of this study of black religious groups. Here shes kind of riffing on mark connollys play that was popular in the 30s called green pastures. She calls it revolt in green pastures, this story. Of startup black religious groups dated here april 24, 1939. Among dunhams staff was a young frank yerby who later became famous writing several poppe to lahr novels popular novels set in the south, romance novels. And frank yerby, first black author to make a Million Dollars writing books. Black and white writers worked together on the illinois writers project, but in this particular study they would try to send in white workers into places like the nation of islam or places like temples, and the white writers didnt get very far, so they started sending black writers, people like frank yerby, and he went in and started writing stories, firsthand ats, okay, account, okay, and he left some documents behind. Some of them eventually made it into the book. And negro in virginia, published in 1940, he was, quote, struck by the idea that a similar book about negroes in illinois should be even more interesting. Bontemps had supervised the study of black music. Keep in mind at this time he was ghost writing a biography for the father of the blues. He headed a team that produced pamphlet called the cavalcade of the American Negro, a pamphlet that was sold for a quarter. They pressed up some 50,000 copies and distributed them at the 1940 American Negro exposition which was another major event here in chicago in 1940, what adam green calls black americas first worlds fair. And here you see the illinois writers project compiling the papers. Fenton johnson, bontemps, several of them worked on it. He was then appointed to supervise the negro in illinois with jack conroy who worked on the missouri writers project previously, and conroy a radical was fired, run out of town for trying to unionize the writers project in missouri. And so eventually his friend nelson recruited him to chicago and got him a job on the illinois writers project. Perhaps a somewhat more progressive writers projectthan any other in the country really. Conroy took up that study of black cults that dunham had started, and when she moved out to new york to pursue her dancing career, conroy took the study over. This is the first actual document i was able to find documenting the start of the illinois writers project. You know, what we have are papers with dates on them, we can kind of figure things out. But here is a newsletter produced by the illinois writers project. I found this in springfield. And you see here published october 18, 1940, the new work received, it says, the knee grow in negro in illinois, jack conroy doing a little writeup about the launching of this new study. And according to the article, the project is funded by the rosen wald fund, a chicagobased Philanthropic Organization founded by julius rosenwald, a sears heir. And the project would be housed at 4901 south ellis avenue where the Rosenwald Fund was also headquartered. They oversaw a staff of young and older writers, among them was Fenton Johnson, among the older set. Fenton johnson, born 1888 in chicago published three books of poetry in the 19 teens, this is before the harlem renaissance. And during the 1920s johnson founded two journals. Despite a long career, johnson was broke in the 190s, and the 1930s, and the wpa helped to sustain him during these years. As conroy recalls, johnson was always morose and taciturn when he was in the office. Bontemps was a longtime champion of johnsons work. While he was on the project, Fenton Johnson wrote several essays like racial friction in chicago, one called negro aristocrats, and he also wrote much of the material that appears in the first four chapters for the negro in illinois. Someone you probably have not heard of but who i think is an important figure is robert lucas. These are photos of him from 1945 and 1947. Lucas wrote several drafts for chapters in the negro in illinois, among the lincoln and the negro, recreation and sports, music and theater. Previously had worked on the study of black religious groups along with Katherine Dunham. And here is one of the famous group photos that we have here in chicago, and, you know, we can identify just about all these people. Margaret brundage, the white woman on the left, tom conroy, jack conroys son, and fern gayden, Gwendolyn Brooks right in the middle, margaret burrowings, Marion Perkins you can see in the back as well, vernon jarrett, the famed journalist, and robert lucas here way out on the right. I always thought lucas was sitting down here, but hes actually short, about five foot tall. [laughter] present here in these photos, but we know very little about him except that he worked on the wpa. Another littleknown individual, the other robert, robert davis. And, again, were happy to have his sister here today, robert davis sister. Although rarely mentioned, davis was a central figure in the black chicago renaissance. The first meeting of the important south Side Writers Group took place at davis home on south parkway, now Martin Luther king drive. And for a time he was on the staff for the south Side Community arts center. Robert davis worked on the illinois writers project from 37 to 1939. He was one of those who, again, worked on the study of black cults with Katherine Dunham, although he didnt work on any of the