Harold Washington Library Free Author Lecture Series

Harold Washington Library Free Author Lecture Series.

Where: Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State Street, 312-747-4300.

Most events are in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, Lower Level. Schedule subject to change or cancellation. Always call to confirm or check the CPL website. Seating is available first come, first served.

Author Rachel May: “An American Quilt: Unfolding a Story of Family and Slavery” Tuesday, June 19, 2018 (6:00PM – 7:15PM)

Author Rachel May joins us to discuss her new book “An American Quilt: Unfolding A Story Of Family And Slavery.” While researching her PhD and examining a quilt top from the 1800s, May discovered in its backing some letters revealing the stories of urban slave women. Extensively researched and richly imagined, An American Quilt is a luminous historical examination and an appreciation of a craft that provides a tactile connection to the past.

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About the Chicago Public Library

1871: After the Chicago Fire, Thomas Hughes, a prominent member of British Parliament and children’s author supports a plan to donate more than 8,000 books to Chicago.

Chicago citizens petition for a free public library. Previous libraries were private membership-only organizations. The Children’s Library at Harold Washington Library Center is named after Thomas Hughes

1872: The Illinois Library Act of 1872, authorized cities to establish tax-supported libraries throughout the state. In April, the City Council passed an ordinance proclaiming the establishment of Chicago Public Library.

1873: The Chicago Public Library opens at the southeast corner of LaSalle and Adams streets in a circular water tank that survived the fire. The library moved several times during its first 24 years, including an 11-years on the fourth floor of City Hall.

1874: A delivery station system of outposts served Chicago’s neighborhoods mostly in stores. Patrons could call for a book, which was delivered by horse-drawn carriage to the outpost nearest their home.

By the early 1900s deposit stations accounted for two-thirds of the circulation of the Chicago Public Library.

1897: October 11, the Central Library, on Michigan Avenue between Washington and Randolph streets, opens in what is now the Chicago Cultural Center. The building cost about $2 million, was designed by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge.

The building was designed to be practically incombustible. Preston Bradley Hall, contains a dome and hanging lamps by Tiffany Glass.

1904: Isabella N. Blackstone donates funds to construct the first branch library, located in the Hyde Park and Kenwood neighborhoods. The library was modeled after the famous Erechtheion on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.

1916: Chief Librarian Henry E. Legler presented a library plan calling for an network of neighborhood library locations to bring library service within the walking distance for every person in Chicago.

The plan called for several regional libraries with more comprehensive collections. The first regional library, the Henry E. Legler Regional Library, opened in 1920 in West Garfield Park.

1918: Carl B. Roden, who began work as a library page in 1886, was appointed chief librarian. Over 32 years (1918-1950) he increased staff, holdings, circulation and total expenditures exponentially.

The Carl B. Roden Branch in the Norwood Park neighborhood, where he resided, is named in his honor.

1960s: CPL added a significant number of neighborhood branch libraries, via new construction or leasing storefronts or reading rooms. By 1985, there were 76 branches.

1991: The new main library the Harold Washington Library Center opened October 7.

1995: Chicago Public Library established its website.

1996: A three-year, $65 million capital improvement plan begins building or renovating 52 neighborhood libraries.

2000: $44 million in neighborhood library construction begins.